"DAY AHEAD" - My Daily Editorial Note
July 10, 2026
It’s a getaway Friday for a lot of people, who are beach-bound, boardwalk-bound, barstool-bound or … well….. Buc-ees bound.
So let me begin the DAY AHEAD with a page torn from the travel and tourism section.
We’re getting a new glimpse this morning of the sketches and specs of a MASSIVE project that’s about to forever change the look, feel and tourist experience in the nation’s capital.
I’m reading through the public comments that’ve been submitted about President Trump’s huge Monumental Arch project near the National Mall. The National Capital Planning Commission reviewed the project Thursday. But there are still a tonnage of responses to sift through. And there are more deliberations ahead.
Wondering what this will look like? I’ve got ya covered!
Here are internal draft/sketch images from internal agency memos.
Here’s what the Lincoln Memorial looks like NOW from the bridge:
And……….. Here’s how it’ll look with the Monumental Arch:
That’s …. quite something.
Check out this summary of the public comments about how the Arch could overshadow the heart of the National Mall.
From National Capital Planning Commission records:
“Some commenters asserted that the height of the arch would exceed the Lincoln Memorial by more than double and would be visually incompatible with the surrounding skyline. Some commenters asserted that the arch would visually dominate, dwarf, overshadow, or visually compete with the Lincoln Memorial due to its height and massing, overwhelming the memorial’s visual prominence, historic setting, and restrained dignity. Some commenters asserted that construction activities would disrupt the visitor experience at the Lincoln Memorial and sever important symbolic and visual connections within the landscape.”
Here’s one more nugget that caught my eye.. Because it uses the word “alien” and “hazardous.”
“Some commenters asserted that the arch is alien, oversized, inconsistent with the McMillan Plan, visually jarring, and hazardous within a high-speed traffic circle central to circulation along the George Washington Parkway, and that the proposal includes insufficient planning for increased visitation to Memorial Circle, inadequate pedestrian-safety measures, and insufficient parking and circulation capacity along the Parkway.”
The National Capital Planning Commission must approve major new construction in Washington, D.C. Typically it’s a sluggish and exquisitely deliberate agency. But Trump has stacked the NCPC with surrogates. So a full approval is expected.
…… No matter how “dangerously alien” this whole project risks becoming.
There still might be changes recommended for the Arch’s height, due to DC’s limits on building height. (We don’t have skyscrapers here in the nation’s capital).
But Team Trump is rallying to ensure the monumental arch remains monstrously large.
Per the New York Times: “the National Capital Planning Commission considered a new interpretation of the 1910 Height of Buildings Act: that it was never meant to apply to federal projects, and certainly not to Mr. Trump’s 250-foot arch. The act ‘does not reference federal buildings,’ the Interior Department wrote in a memo submitted to the panel, arguing that ‘Congress did not intend” for the law to be interpreted the way the commission had read it for nearly 90 years.”
And yes.. The Arch is gilded…. To give it an unambiguous Trump-y touch. (Note how small the people look)
By the way…. I’m totally using the team name “Dangerously Alien” for my fantasy football team in September.
Speaking of Trump vanity projects……. Conservation groups are expecting a court filing within days from the Justice Department seeking dismissal of a legal challenge to Trump’s ongoing Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The Washington Litigation Group and its client, the Cultural Landscape Foundation, are seeking a court order to halt further work on the site by Trump’s hand-selected contractor.
Though Trump had pledged to once again “drain”, “fix” and update the Pool immediately after the July 4th celebrations on the National Mall, the work hasn’t begun yet. So the plaintiffs are hopeful to get some relief from the court to stop any more damage to the Pool site by Trump’s restoration crews.
The Justice Department’s court filing is likely to be submitted in approximately one week, to stifle the lawsuit. Then the plaintiffs will be permitted to respond to the Justice Dept in court in a separate filing later this month.
Washington Litigation Attorney Alexander Kristofcak explained the next steps, in a conversation with the DAY AHEAD editorial note:
We are also becoming the TARP capital of the world.
Trump’s vanity projects are draped in them.
Later this month, DC federal judge Christopher Cooper is going to hear some arguments about the ongoing “blockade” of the restored Kennedy Center sign. Yes – the obstruction still masks the removal of Trump’s name from the grand facade of the Kennedy Center.
The Reflecting Pool is blockaded by fences and obscurities, which feel painfully undemocratic and inaccessible.
More here:
And this set of tarps and coverings have popped up on the front of the White House.
Via Doug Mills:
Oh .. and per Administration records shared with the DAY AHEAD editorial note… $5 million in corporate donations will help pay for the construction of Trump’s new White House helipad.
(internally.. The project is technically referred to as “WHMO Landing Pad”)
Yes, I’d expect our taxpayer money will be used for the project too. But these donations sure are an effective friggin’ technique for corporations to cozy up to Trump.
Here are the other emerging news stories I’m tracking today:
1) Less than a week until his confirmation hearing, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is trying to minimize the importance of the memo from 1,200+ former Justice Dept. employees who are urging Senators to block Blanche’s confirmation.
Speaking with KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Blanche argued, “There’s 1,200 former DOJ employees, I think, out of what — 40,000?. I don’t know. I’m not a math guy, but that’s not a very high percentage.”
It’s not a terribly “small percentage”, considering any current employee would face termination for signing such a letter.
The group Justice Connection, a coalition of former Justice Dept administrators and attorneys, responded to Blanche’s claim, “That contempt for DOJ’s workforce is exactly what makes him unfit to lead it. “
Buckle up for Wednesday’s hearing. It begins at 9am eastern. Blanche will give an opening statement. So too will Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL).
Then Grassley will unleash a daylong set of questioning by Senators, alternating between Republicans and Democrats. (With proper time set aside for lunch and potty breaks)
I’m told that the Democrats seem certain to question Blanche about his handling of:
Epstein Files
Slush funds
Probes (or lack thereof) of fatal I.C.E. shootings
Trump sycophancy
The growing purge of Justice Dept employees
The shattering of political independence and norms inside the department
2) While we’re talking about Blanche and the Justice Dept. The agency has just filed a 33-page lawsuit against the state of Maryland over its local policies on immigration issues.
In April, the state passed its “Community Trust Act”, which tightens rules for I.C.E. agents operating in Maryland. Per WBAL’s summary of the new law: “It requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to get a judicial warrant in order to hold undocumented immigrant detainees. It also prohibits local authorities from holding undocumented individuals beyond their release date.”
Some Maryland sheriffs filed a civil suit challenging the new law in May.
Now those sheriffs have air cover from the feds. The Justice Department’s suit argues, “The Community Trust Act violates the Intergovernmental Immunity Doctrine by discriminating against the Federal Government in violation of the Supremacy Clause.”
The Justice Dept. wants a federal judge in Maryland to order a “permanent injunction” against the state law.
The suit is filed in Baltimore. Here’s a copy of it for you: https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1451931/dl?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Feels like both sides will have a political argument to wield.
Trump is wildly unpopular in parts of Maryland.
And Team Trump wants to fight fights about immigration issues, as the midterms approach.
3) Here in DC, Judge Amir Ali has scheduled trial in the case of January 6 Capitol pipe bomb defendant Brian Cole for Feb. 16, 2027.
Cole’s request for dismissal of his case was rejected this wee by Judge Ali.
Cole had argued he was sufficiently protected Trump’s blanket Jan 6 pardons. Judge Ali didn’t agree.
Cole has a large and accomplished legal defense team. The trial would expose the size and scope of Cole’s political allegiances to Trump and how much Cole subscribes to Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
The jury selection process would begin more than 6 years after the Capitol Insurrection. (Though Trump’s 2020 election lies are as fresh as a daisy)
In case you want to glance at it…. Judge Ali’s ruling on the “pardon” is a very quick read. Just three pages:
https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2026cr0001-82
4) I track the (growing) number of Freedom of Information Act lawsuits that the Trump Administration is facing here in Washington, D.C. There are dozens of pending suits, in which watchdogs or citizens accuse Team Trump of ignoring their rights under FOIA. Some of the suits are especially colorful. Here’s one: Judge Randolph Moss has just ordered the FBI to respond by July 30 to a lawsuit by watchdog group Democracy Forward which seeks records/communications from FBI Director Kash Patel’s security team.
Democracy Forward wants messages from the security staff that include the following terms:
Alcohol
Asleep
Drunk
Drinking
Hungover
Inebriated
Intoxicated
That beer guzzling episode after the hockey match at the Winter Olympics gave rise to many FOIAs and questions.
5) Looks like Graham Platner is gonna cut it close to the Monday deadline for submitting his formal paperwork, withdrawing from the U.S. Senate race. Today is the next-to-last business day for Platner to do so.
The jockeying is now well underway for the nomination. As the morning begins, there appears to be no “Secretariat” moment, in which one political horse is racing away.
This morning, WMTW-TV in Portland is reporting Platner has been encouraging State Representative Valli Geiger (D-ME) to seek the nomination. WMTW reports Platner told Geiger, “Valli you are a fighter, you have been with this movement since the beginning.”
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has declared her candidacy. And she’s stood up her Shenna-for-Senate website:
In her opening message to the party faithful, Bellows argued, “The people of Maine have been building a movement that deserves to continue all the way to November when we beat Susan Collins. After serious consideration, I am announcing my campaign for United States Senate, because I believe that together we can unify Democrats in Maine at this difficult time, and forge ahead with a campaign that fights for working people, stands up to a broken system that’s working against us, and defeats Susan Collins.”
A report in NOTUS details polling that puts other possible contenders for an early dead heat with Collins. Nirva Shah and Troy Jackson are both within a point. (Shah up 1, Jackson down 1)
https://www.notus.org/2026-election/platner-replacements-poll-maine-senate
6) An eighth person has been taken into custody by the feds for an alleged plot to attack the June 14 White House UFC fight event. All eight have not been indicted by grand jurors.
Chandler Scaggs is the latest defendant. According to Justice Dept filings, “Scaggs was allegedly assigned to be one of the snipers in the plotted attack.”
These are some young guys. One is still a teenager. Discovery and pretrial hearings could reveal how developed this plot truly was.
7) It looks like the criminal case of David Hearn, the former Olympian charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool, is shifting into the slow lane.
A status hearing is scheduled for early August at the DC Superior (local) courthouse.
Hearn’s defense attorney Norman Eisen told the DAY AHEAD editorial note that the defense is ready for a long, strong fight.
Check out Rep. Jamie Raskin’s (D-MD) statement defending his Hearn.
Hearn is a constituent of Raskin’s.
And Raskin ain’t subtle:
“Davey Hearn would never desecrate a federal building or landmark by writing his name on it or affixing his name illegally to it or engaging in any other kind of political graffiti, vandalism or delinquency. He would never intentionally damage government property. Whether we are talking about the White House, the Reflecting Pool or the Kennedy Center, Davey would never try to alter, bulldoze or redesign federal property or buildings without explicit Congressional authorization and direction. Davey is an honorable and law-abiding citizen who has won real giant prizes, including eight world championships. He did so without any corrupt practices and only through his magnificent hard work and surpassing dedication to the team. He would never try to undercut or sabotage anyone, much less our entire community”
8) As war resumes in Iran, I spotted this overnight alert from the Joint Maritime Information Center. It urges mariners to use a “southern” route through the Strait of Hormuz, due to a “severe” threat level.
Here’s the verbatim: “Notwithstanding recent unprovoked attacks on merchant vessels, mariners are reminded that the southern route of the SoH has been expanded and remains available for all traffic.”
The other overnight updates indicate fears of a spreading war. From my news partners at WSB radio: “Just as Iran prepared to bury the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hit areas across southern Iran. The country's theocracy hasn't directly blamed anyone for the strikes, though one lawmaker issued a warning to the United Arab Emirates over allegedly providing support to the United States in its campaign against Iran.”
Trump doesn’t have public appearances over the weekend. Updates might be coming from ….. Truth Social.
9) Trump relieved the remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission from their duties, which kneecaps the federal agency. The move undercuts an agency which helps support, train and equip local elections administrators.
This is going to be viewed suspiciously as an attempt by Trump to screw with the midterm elections.
Here’s the blistering reaction from Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY), who have oversight over elections issues.
“Here we go again. President Trump is trying to dismantle yet another independent guardrail of our democracy designed to keep elections fair and secure. Purging commissioners just months before the midterm elections and further gutting support for our state and local elections officials is a blatant part of his plan to politicize our elections and enable more unlawful and dangerous election interference. Trump continues to double down on his efforts to erode trust in our elections, undermine independent oversight, and further his Administration’s attempt to ‘take over’ elections. Americans deserve elections that are safe, secure, and run free from political interference — not overseen by partisan loyalists and election deniers beholden to Trump.”
10) AFFORDABILITY WATCH: The Greenwich, Connecticut newspaper this morning warns of what’s coming soon to our wallets.
Connecticut’s primaries are quickly approaching.
11) FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez is warning the DAY AHEAD editorial note about looming mergers in the news industry, which threaten to contract/shrink more legacy news outlets.
This morning’s headline in Rockford, Illinois underscores Gomez’s alert.
Here’s Gomez clip with DAY AHEAD:
I’m on duty all WEEKEND. Updates will be frequent.
Thank you for subscribing. It means an awful lot to me!
I love Rep. Jamie Raskin’s statement in support of David Hearn in the reflecting pool “vandalism” case. Thanks for sharing this, Mr. MacFarlane.
Best read of the morning.