The Daily Briefing highlights the news of the day and research that reveals the spirit of the day.
The Daily Briefing is a newsletter sent straight to your inbox every morning that provides biblical insight on today's news.
Top News
6. Trump exacts revenge in Indiana over redistricting vote, with five GOP legislators defeated (NBC News)
“President Donald Trump exacted revenge on Indiana Republican legislators who foiled his redistricting push last year in the state, backing challengers who unseated five incumbents in Tuesday's primaries, NBC News projects. One other GOP state senator who faced a Trump-endorsed opponent was locked in a tight race, while another survived.
“The double-digit defeats of the five incumbents, some of whom are veterans of the Indiana Legislature, underscore the influence Trump continues to wield over the Republican Party, even as his approval rating among Americans broadly sags amid rising gas prices and the Iran war.
“Trump’s intervention in the typically quiet local primary races attracted a flood of money and national attention. Roughly $12 million was spent on advertising across the seven contests with a Trump-endorsed challenge to a sitting state senator, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Most of that came from Trump-allied outside groups opposing the incumbents.”
Stayin’ Alive? Not so fast, Bee Gees. A few lawmakers are learning this morning how Deep the Love for Pres. Trump is, and their willingness to heed his direction. This raises a question: what is the impact of Pres. Trump’s endorsement in a race?
One study identified 2 key factors that come with a Trump endorsement: an increase in voters and dollars. Research found that Trump-endorsed candidates raised more money from more donors immediately following the president’s endorsement. But an endorsement from President Trump also benefited the endorsed candidate’s Democratic opponent. Then there are the voters. Races with a presidential endorsement had higher turnout than comparable races without an endorsement – but that didn’t always help the endorsed candidate, largely because it created a rallying effect often for the other side.
The endorsement of Epaphras… At the conclusion of his letter to the church at Colosse, Paul shared greetings with them and shared how Epaphras was “wrestling in prayer” on behalf of them. Paul then went on to endorse him, writing how he is “working hard” for them. At the core, endorsements hope to move people yet they always reveal a side of people – both the endorser and endorsee. They shine a light on the company you keep and how that company’s values keep working in you. (Col. 4, Pro. 13:20-25, 1 Cor. 15:33, Pro. 27:17)
5. Trump orders military to pause effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz (WaPo)
“President Donald Trump said late Tuesday that he was pausing the military’s new operation to clear a transit path through the Strait of Hormuz for commercial vessels, halting a mission that had only just begun, even as more than 1,500 commercial ships are still waiting to get through Iran’s closure of the critical waterway.
“Trump said the pause “comes at the request of Pakistan and other countries,” and means that U.S. military operations, including using warships to clear a path through the strait, will be halted “for a short period of time to see whether or not the [peace] agreement can be finalized and signed,” Trump wrote in a social media post.
“In the immediate term, that means that while the U.S. Navy’s interdictions of ships that have entered Iranian ports will continue, the air- and sea-based operations to clear the strait for commercial vessels are now on hold, Trump said. Both sides have exchanged fire in the past day over the strait.”
We are winning on the battlefield, and Iran is losing off it… The WSJ recently highlighted at least 3 areas Iran is racking up great losses: infrastructure, prices, and oil. Relative to infrastructure, postwar reconstruction could cost around $270 billion (GDP for the country was $341 billion last year). For context, the total economic costs of the 9/11 attacks were estimated to be between $33 billion and $36 billion.
Then there are prices. Due to the conflict, one million Iranians have lost their jobs directly; another million have lost their jobs indirectly. The cost of living has soared, with the annual inflation rate reaching 67 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to Iran’s central bank. In 1979, one US dollar traded for 70 rials. Today, that same dollar commands a staggering 1,130,000 rials.
Then there is oil. At the start of the war, the Iranians managed to get about 1.85 million barrels per day out of the country to buyers, according to Kpler. Now, they’re getting nothing out. So where does it go? In storage, which is significantly limited (estimates indicate they have only 12 days' worth of storage). Some have predicted that shutting down the oil pumps could create irreversible damage to Iran’s oil fields.
Is this now a War of Attrition? In such a war, the goal isn't necessarily a decisive battlefield victory, but rather wearing down the enemy's resources until they can no longer function. When the "pumps run dry"—as seen in the current analysis of Iran's oil storage crisis—the state loses its ability to fund both its military and its basic social obligations.
This isn’t the first war of attrition… Before Gideon’s famous 300-man raid, Israel suffered through a 7-year cycle of agricultural attrition. Every time the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and Amalekites would "invade the land to ravage it." They didn't kill everyone; they simply destroyed the produce and took the livestock. This state of depletion eventually caused the people to cry out to God. In this instance, as the US continues to root out the evil in Iran, let’s pray that Iranians continue to call out and seek after God. (Judges 6)
4. GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards faces ethics probe over conduct toward female aides (WaPo)
“A spokesman for the campaign of Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-North Carolina) acknowledged Tuesday that the congressman is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee and said he welcomes a chance to refute allegations regarding his conduct toward female staffers.
“A person familiar with the investigation confirmed Tuesday that staff members on the panel have reached out to at least two former Edwards staffers who said they felt uncomfortable with the way the congressman interacted with them. Among the actions being scrutinized are Edwards’s remarks, his purchase of gifts and his hiring decisions, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share information the panel has not made public.
“The Republican lawmaker is facing a reelection challenge by Democrat Jamie Ager, a farmer from the mountainous swing district that Democrats see as a pickup opportunity as they seek to win back the House majority.”
These are just allegations, but we have seen an uptick in investigations. Since 2017, the House Ethics Committee has initiated 20 investigations into sexual misconduct by Members of Congress. This is a remarkably high concentration compared to historical data, which shows only 28 such public investigations in the last 50 years. Outside of the Ethics Committee, there have been 53 allegations of workplace sexual harassment made against at least 30 House and Senate members over the past 2 decades.
Crime doesn’t pay… but taxpayers do. Taxpayers have paid more than $300,000 in confidential sexual harassment settlements on behalf of 6 former members of the House of Representatives or their offices. Over a 24-year stretch, there have been 349 awards or settlements “to resolve complaints against legislative branch offices.”
The role of townspeople… I’ve read the story of Judah and Tamar countless times, always struck by how Judah failed to live up to his commitments and morally failed by violating Tamar. However, I read a commentary recently that highlighted the role of the townspeople in that narrative: the townspeople tell Tamar that Judah is on his way, they tell Hirah that there is no prostitute, and they relay the shocking news to Judah. The townspeople, like the Ethics Committee, not only play a role in the story but also in revealing the truth of the story. (Gen. 38)
3. Supreme Court lets Louisiana redistricting ruling take effect immediately, sparking angry words between Alito and Jackson (Fox News)
“The Supreme Court on Monday allowed last week's landmark decision striking down Louisiana's congressional map to take effect immediately, as GOP state officials scramble to redraw the map before this year's elections — drawing a sharp back-and-forth between two justices. The court ruled 6-3 in Louisiana v. Callais that the state's U.S. House map — which currently includes two majority-Black districts held by Democrats — is unconstitutional. Louisiana officials reacted by quickly suspending this month's House primaries and moving to draw a new map.
“Justice Samuel Alito tore into Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s lone dissent in a high-stakes Louisiana redistricting dispute on Monday, calling her arguments "baseless and insulting" after the Supreme Court decided to fast-track implementing its recent redistricting ruling ahead of the 2026 midterms. Alito used a concurring opinion, joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas, to directly rebuke Jackson, saying her "dissent in this suit levels charges that cannot go unanswered."
Night Moves? More like partisan moves, Bob Seger. District lines aren’t the only ones moving. Research indicates that the more salient problem, over gerrymandering, is that Americans are sorting themselves politically. Driven partially by increased polarization, roughly 3.5 million people have moved to areas matching their politics, with Republicans often favoring lower-tax, rural areas and Democrats moving toward walkable, urban areas.
Can geometry solve gerrymandering? Harvard’s Ronald Fryer, an economist by training, created the “Relative Proximity Index.” With every voter represented as a dot on a map, Fryer developed a system to draw districts in the most compact way. Each district generates a ratio, 1 meaning you’ve hit the geometric ideal and, say, 3 meaning voters within the district live on average 3 times as far apart as necessary. “Compactness doesn’t change which party starts with the advantage — it changes how many races are actually competitive, and how much voters’ choices can move the scoreboard. The empirical data show compactness is not cosmetic; it’s what turns a fixed match into a fair fight.”
While each party is attempting to secure more representation and power in the Capitol, our God was often looking for ways to give up power to serve others. Whether it was washing his disciples' feet or laying down his life for the world, his ways were strikingly different from what we see today. Tim Keller put it well when he said that politics is often responding to cultural trends, whereas Christianity, at its best, is solving them. (Jn. 13, 15)
News You Can Use
2. Donors pitch in to help Nebraska ranchers who lost everything
Watch it here. “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.” (Ps. 37:3)
1. Couple's quirky 'Lobster Day' tradition draws millions online
Watch it here. “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” (Eph. 5:26)
