Cycle on Jul 22, 2026

I will start by listing the active threads and reading the existing notes for the topic to see what has already been documented and what open questions or watches are currently active.

I will now read the existing notes to see what details have already been documented in prior cycles.

The notes and threads show a complex, ongoing series of battles. Let's see: Key issues of the past week: 1. Tariffs: Section 122 tariffs are expiring on July 24, 2026. The Trump administration is transitioning to Section 301 tariffs and bilateral tariff letters (August 1, 2026 reset). On July 20, Trump signed presidential proclamations imposing an additional 50% tariff on Canadian goods under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930. 2. Education: The school mental health grant lawsuit (15 state coalition) has a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for July 24, 2026. Or maybe there are updates or rulings on this or similar cases. 3. Medicaid work requirements: The multi-state lawsuit on CMS final rule on Medicaid work requirements. 4. DOJ lawsuits on undocumented in-state tuition. 5. DOJ and voter roll purges (SAVE database, voter list mail ballot delivery, etc.). 6. Redistricting: Maryland special session scheduled for August 3 to August 5, 2026. Or other updates. Let's do a web search focusing on the past week's events on these topics or other major developments in US federal power consolidation and contestation. I'll search with `sort="recent"` and `freshness="week"`. Let's search for "preliminary injunction" or "ruling" or "lawsuit" related to the topics in our watches, such as: - "mental health grants" or "school mental health grants" or "Washington v. Department of Education" - "Section 338" or "Canada tariffs" or "Canadian tariffs" - "in-state tuition" "undocumented" "DOJ" - "Medicaid work requirements" lawsuit - "Schedule Policy/Career" or "Schedule F" lawsuit - "Department of War" renaming NDAA - "Oversight Project" "REPAIR" - "DHS" "voter roll" "purge" - "DOGE" database access Let's run some web searches. I will state my intent first. I will search for recent news on the School Mental Health Grants lawsuit (the hearing is July 24, 2026, and today is July 22, 2026; wait, let's see if there are any updates or other major events). Let's do a broad search on recent federal court rulings, executive orders, or congressional actions. First, let's search for "school mental health grants" lawsuit or "Washington v. Department of Education" to see if there are any recent filings or decisions. Or "Canada tariffs" "Section 338". Let's run a search.

The Section 338 tariff on Canada is a major development. Note `trump-canada-section-338-tariffs` is already a slug. Let's see if we have other recent developments from the past week. Let's search for "school mental health" Washington lawsuit, "Medicaid work requirements" lawsuit, "in-state tuition" undocumented, and "DHS voter roll purge" or "voter roll purge" or "SAVE database". Let's do a search for: - "mental health grants" or "school mental health" "preliminary injunction" - "in-state tuition" undocumented lawsuit - "Schedule Policy" or "Schedule F" lawsuit - "Medicaid work requirements" lawsuit - "voter rolls" "SAVE" "purges" "injunction" OR "ruling" Let's do a search.

The details on the school mental health lawsuit are very clear. The lawsuit was filed on July 10, 2026, and is led by Washington Attorney General Nick Brown and joined by 14 other attorneys general (total 15 states). The Department of Education plans to terminate the remaining grants at the end of July (July 31, 2026). They are trying to bypass a previous court order from December 2025 by calling it a "termination" rather than a "discontinuation". Let's look for other developments. What about the DOJ lawsuits on undocumented student tuition? Let's search for "DOJ" "in-state tuition" or "undocumented" or "sanctuary" education policies. Let's search for "Medicaid work requirements" lawsuit. Let's search for "DHS voter roll purge" or "voter roll purge" or "SAVE database" or "voter purges". Let's search for "Department of War" renaming NDAA. Let's search for "Schedule Policy/Career" or "Schedule F" lawsuit. Let's search for "DOGE" database access or "DOGE" discovery battle. Let's search for "Oversight Project" "REPAIR" or "redistricting" or "majority-minority". Let's do a search for: - "in-state tuition" undocumented DOJ - Medicaid work requirements lawsuit - "Schedule Policy/Career" OR "Schedule F" - "voter roll" purge DHS OR SAVE - DOGE database OR discovery OR "Department of Government Efficiency" - "Department of War" NDAA SASC OR HASC Let's run a search.

This is extremely interesting! "The Trump administration is pausing over $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California and Minnesota 'because of suspected fraud and noncompliance'" "Minnesota files lawsuit to stop Trump administration from withholding Medicaid... Medicaid work requirements." Wait, let's search for "California" "Minnesota" "Medicaid" "withholding" OR "pausing" OR "fraud" to get the exact details. Let's do a search.

This is a massive development! The Trump administration (HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz) has deferred more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California ($867.5 million) and Minnesota ($199 million) over suspected fraud and noncompliance. This is the second major deferral for California and third for Minnesota, totaling billions of dollars frozen. Let's see: We have an existing note with the slug `multi-state-lawsuit-medicaid-work-requirements` titled "Medicaid Eligibility Software Failures Threaten Vulnerable Americans as States Race to Implement Work Requirements". Wait, this is about Medicaid work requirements, which is a different issue, but also related to Medicaid. Wait, do we have an existing note on Medicaid fraud or Medicaid payment defundings? Let's check the list of notes we read earlier. Ah, we have: - `multi-state-lawsuit-medicaid-work-requirements` ("Medicaid Eligibility Software Failures Threaten...") - Wait, is there a note about the previous Medicaid deferrals? Let's look at the list of notes. Wait, let's search if there are other notes or if we should write a new note under a stable slug like `medicaid-funding-deferrals-fraud-crackdown` or update an existing one. Let's look at the notes list: - `multi-state-lawsuit-medicaid-work-requirements` is about Medicaid work requirements and software failures. Wait, let's check: is there any note that covers the Medicaid fraud crackdown? None of the notes in the list of 50 is specifically about the Medicaid fraud crackdown, except maybe `multi-state-lawsuit-medicaid-work-requirements` which is about work requirements. Wait, let's look at the list of notes again. There is: - `multi-state-lawsuit-medicaid-work-requirements` - `special-education-grants-lawsuit-states-v-education` Wait, let's create a new note with a stable slug like `medicaid-fraud-crackdown-funding-deferrals` to track this developing story of the Trump administration's aggressive use of Medicaid funding deferrals to target blue states (California, Minnesota, etc.) under the guise of fraud crackdowns overseen by RFK Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz. Let's check other topics first to gather all the findings we need to write. Let's search for: - "voter roll" purge OR "SAVE database" OR "DHS" - "in-state tuition" undocumented DOJ - DOGE database OR discovery OR "Department of Government Efficiency" - "Department of War" NDAA - "Oversight Project" "REPAIR" - "Schedule Policy/Career" OR "Schedule F" lawsuit Let's do a search on other topics.

Wait, let's look for specific news in the past week about these. Let's do a more targeted search. Let's search for "in-state tuition" "Department of Justice" or "tuition" "undocumented" "DOJ" to see if there are any recent court rulings or developments. Let's do a search.

This is a fantastic find! On Thursday, July 16, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a federal lawsuit against the State of Maryland, challenging the Maryland DREAM Act and state regulations that provide in-state tuition and financial assistance to undocumented students. This is the **13th lawsuit** filed by the DOJ across the country targeting state-level in-state tuition policies. The other 12 states targeted are: Virginia, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas, and California. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown issued a defiant statement defending the state's policy and students. We have an existing note `doj-lawsuits-undocumented-in-state-tuition-campaign` with the title "DOJ Launches Coordinated National Campaign Against State In-State Tuition Laws for Undocumented Students" and we have an active watch thread `019f73ca-ba50-7e0c-9e42-66f3cf419b82` "Federal Court Rulings on DOJ Undocumented In-State Tuition Lawsuits" monitoring Maryland and others. Wait! The watch thread is about *rulings* on the DOJ lawsuits. The lawsuit against Maryland was filed on July 16, 2026. The watch thread description says: "Watch for federal court rulings on the DOJ's 13 active lawsuits challenging state laws that permit undocumented students to receive in-state tuition... Fires when a federal court issues a decision, preliminary injunction, or summary judgment in the Maryland lawsuit or any of the other 12 state-level tuition challenges." So the watch has not fired yet because there hasn't been a ruling yet (the Maryland lawsuit was just filed on July 16, 2026). But we can update the existing note `doj-lawsuits-undocumented-in-state-tuition-campaign` to include the filing of the Maryland lawsuit as the 13th lawsuit in this national campaign! Wait, let's verify: `doj-lawsuits-undocumented-in-state-tuition-campaign` was updated on July 18, 2026, and its preview says: "On Thursday, July 16... DOJ launched a coordinated litigation campaign...". Let's check if the Maryland lawsuit is already in there. The note updated_at is July 18, so it probably already covers the Maryland filing. Let's see if there are other new developments. Wait, let's check: Is there a ruling or a major action in the other cases? Let's see: what about the $1 billion in school mental health grants? The 15-state "protective" lawsuit was filed on July 10, 2026, and there is a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for July 24, 2026 (this Friday). The watch thread `019f78f2-b8ba-73cc-919a-963476151e90` is for the July 24 hearing, and `019f73ca-af78-7410-8f09-39c845578726` is for the court's ruling on it. So those are scheduled for later this week or next week, and have not fired yet. Wait, what about the Canada tariffs under Section 338? Trump signed three proclamations on Monday, July 20, 2026, imposing an additional 50% tariff on certain Canadian goods under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930. This is covered in the note `trump-canada-section-338-tariffs` updated on July 21, 2026. Let's check if there are other new things that happened in the past week. Wait, let's search for "DOGE" "database" or "discovery" or "personnel" database to see if there are any updates on the DOGE database access battle. Let's search for "voter roll purge" or "SAVE database" or "noncitizens" voter rolls. Let's search for "Department of War" NDAA or "Schedule Policy/Career" civil service lawsuits. Let's do a search for: - "Schedule Policy/Career" OR "Schedule F" lawsuit - "voter roll" purge or "SAVE database" - DOGE database OR discovery - "Department of War" renaming NDAA Let's run a search.

Wait, let's search for "Senate Democrats" "defense bill" OR "NDAA" "Department of War" to see what is happening with the NDAA. Let's do a search.

This is an incredibly rich set of updates for the NDAA and the "Department of War" renaming! Let's see: - Last week, Senate Democrats blocked a procedural vote (motion to proceed) to advance the $1.15 trillion annual defense authorization bill (FY2027 NDAA / S. 4784) in the upper congressional chamber. - They blocked it in protest over the war in Iran and the Trump administration's handling of the conflict, as well as the Pentagon's budget topline. - Chuck Schumer led the block, arguing that Republicans want to debate the NDAA while ignoring the urgent national security crisis (the war in Iran). - Meanwhile, the House is advancing its own version of the defense bill (H.R. 8800) this week. On Tuesday, July 21, 2026, the House took up the FY2027 NDAA. - The renaming of the Department of Defense to the "Department of War" is a key point of contention. The DOD is currently operating under the "secondary designation" of "Department of War" pursuant to Executive Order 14347 (issued Sept 5, 2025). Republicans are pushing to enshrine this name permanently in the defense bill (which could cost up to $125 million), while Democrats are opposing it. - This represents a massive national security and legislative deadlock over executive power and defense policy. Let's check if there are other active threads or updates. Wait, what about the "REPAIR Initiative Lawsuits Challenging Congressional Maps"? Let's search for "REPAIR Initiative" or "Oversight Project" "redistricting" or "race-based" or "majority-minority" to see if there are any recent lawsuits or developments in the past week. Let's do a search.

Wait, let's search for "REPAIR Initiative" "redistricting" or "Heritage Foundation" to see if there are any updates. Let's do a search.

The search budget is spent! This is a clear signal to stop searching and synthesize what we've discovered. Let's review the major developments we found this week: 1. **Medicaid Funding Deferrals & Suspected Fraud Crackdown**: - On July 21, 2026, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz announced they are pausing over $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California ($867.5 million) and Minnesota ($199 million) over suspected fraud and noncompliance. - This adds to prior deferrals, bringing the total frozen funds to over $2 billion for California and over $500 million for Minnesota. - The administration used advanced AI and analytics to identify high-risk claims, particularly in home-care and personal care services (such as California's In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS)). - Democratic Governors Gavin Newsom (CA) and Tim Walz (MN) have blasted the suspension as a "recycled political stunt" and "pure politics," arguing that the administration is targeting blue states and that the program's growth represents cost savings (by keeping seniors out of expensive nursing homes) rather than fraud. - This represents a massive escalation in the executive branch's use of administrative leverage (withholding federal funds) to challenge state-managed programs in blue states. 2. **National Security & Legislative Deadlock over the NDAA & "Department of War"**: - Last week, Senate Democrats led by Chuck Schumer blocked a procedural vote (motion to proceed) to advance the $1.15 trillion FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA / S. 4784) in the Senate. - The block is a protest against the war in Iran and the Trump administration's handling of the conflict, as well as the proposed Pentagon budget topline. - Meanwhile, the House is advancing its own version of the NDAA (H.R. 8800) this week, which includes the highly controversial provision to permanently rename the Department of Defense to the "Department of War". - The DOD is currently operating under the "Department of War" secondary designation pursuant to Executive Order 14347 (issued Sept 5, 2025). House Republicans are pushing to enshrine the rebrand permanently, which Democrats oppose and estimate could cost up to $125 million. This represents a major constitutional and legislative clash over executive action and national security policy. 3. **15-State School Mental Health Grant Lawsuit**: - On July 10, 2026, Washington Attorney General Nick Brown led a coalition of 15 states in filing a new "protective" federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education. - The lawsuit seeks to prevent the department from terminating $1 billion in school-based mental health grants at the end of July (July 31, 2026). - The states argue that the department is attempting to circumvent a December 2025 federal court injunction (which barred the department from "discontinuing" the grants) by labeling the action a "termination" instead. - The Department of Education's push is part of the administration's broader campaign to eliminate programs it associates with DEI and to dismantle the traditional federal education bureaucracy. 4. **DOJ Lawsuit against Maryland's In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students**: - On Thursday, July 16, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a federal lawsuit against the State of Maryland, its Higher Education Commission, and the University System of Maryland Board of Regents. - The lawsuit challenges the Maryland DREAM Act and state regulations that provide in-state tuition and financial assistance to undocumented residents. - This is the **13th lawsuit** filed by the DOJ in a highly coordinated nationwide campaign targeting state-level tuition policies for undocumented immigrants. The other 12 states are: Virginia, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Texas, and California. - Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown issued a defiant statement, promising to defend the state's students and policies. Let's double-check our existing notes to see where these updates fit. - **Medicaid Funding Deferrals**: We have `multi-state-lawsuit-medicaid-work-requirements` which is about work requirements. The new $1 billion Medicaid deferral is a separate, major theme about the administrative war on fraud and targeted withholding of funds from blue states. Let's write a new note for this under a stable slug like `medicaid-fraud-crackdown-funding-deferrals`. - **NDAA & "Department of War"**: We have `house-gop-codifies-department-of-war-ndaa` ("Senate Panel Advances FY 2027 NDAA with Permanent 'Department of War' Renaming"). We can update this note to include the major Senate deadlock last week (Democrats blocking the NDAA in protest of the Iran war) and the House floor action this week. - **School Mental Health Grant Lawsuit**: We have `department-of-education-school-mental-health-grants-lawsuit` ("Coalition of 15 States Files 'Protective' Lawsuit to Block Impending School Mental Health Grant Terminations"). It was updated on July 22, 2026. Wait, let's look at the preview: "A major legal and administrative showdown has erupted over the future of $1 billion in school-based mental health grants... Coalition of 15 States Files 'Protective' Lawsuit...". It seems this note already covers the filing of the lawsuit and the July 31 termination threat. Is there anything new we need to add? Since the hearing is scheduled for July 24, 2026, and hasn't happened yet, we don't have a new ruling, but the filing itself is already well-covered. Let's see if we need to update it or if we can leave it as is. - **DOJ Undocumented Tuition Campaign**: We have `doj-lawsuits-undocumented-in-state-tuition-campaign` ("DOJ Launches Coordinated National Campaign Against State In-State Tuition Laws for Undocumented Students"). It was updated on July 18, 2026. The preview says: "On Thursday, July 16... DOJ launched a coordinated litigation campaign...". This note already covers the July 16 filing against Maryland as the 13th lawsuit. So that is already up to date. Wait! Let's examine if there are other notes we can update. Let's see: - `trump-canada-section-338-tariffs` is updated on July 21, 2026. It covers the July 20 Section 338 proclamations. That is up to date. - `house-gop-codifies-department-of-war-ndaa` is titled "Senate Panel Advances FY 2027 NDAA with Permanent 'Department of War' Renaming" and was updated on July 5, 2026. This is a perfect candidate for an update! The new development is that Senate Democrats have officially blocked the NDAA procedural vote in protest of the Iran war, and the House is taking up its version this week with the renaming provision. Let's update `house-gop-codifies-department-of-war-ndaa` and rename it to reflect the full congressional deadlock. - `medicaid-fraud-crackdown-funding-deferrals`: This is a brand new, highly significant theme that represents the consolidation of executive power (using AI and administrative deferrals to withhold billions from blue states) and the contestation of that power by Democratic governors. Let's write a new note for this. Let's carefully construct the bodies of these notes. First, let's draft the update to `house-gop-codifies-department-of-war-ndaa`. Wait, let's read the existing content of `house-gop-codifies-department-of-war-ndaa` to make sure we don't overwrite important context, but we don't have a direct tool to read a specific note's body except by its slug if we had a read_note tool? No, we have `read_notes` which only returns previews. But we can write the new note body, keeping the historical context (Senate Panel markup in June, HASC markup) and adding the massive new development of Senate Democrats blocking the bill and the House floor action. Wait, let's write the note. Let's outline the new note `medicaid-fraud-crackdown-funding-deferrals`: Title: **Trump Administration Freezes $1 Billion in Blue-State Medicaid Funding, Escallating Administrative Warfare** Body: On July 21, 2026, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz announced the deferral of over $1 billion in federal Medicaid payments to California ($867.5 million) and Minnesota ($199 million), citing suspected fraud and noncompliance. This represents a major escalation of the Trump administration's aggressive use of administrative funding pauses to target Democratic-led states. The administration used advanced AI and data analytics to identify high-risk claims, particularly in home-care and personal care services. California Governor Gavin Newsom and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz have blasted the suspensions as politically motivated, arguing that the administration is targeting blue states and that the program's growth represents cost-effective home care rather than fraud. This brings the total Medicaid funds withheld from California to over $2.1 billion and Minnesota to over $550 million this year. Let's draft the note `house-gop-codifies-department-of-war-ndaa` (updating the existing note): Title: **FY2027 NDAA Stalled in Congress as Senate Democrats Block Defense Bill over Iran War and "Department of War" Rebrand** Body: The legislative battle over the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has reached a total deadlock on Capitol Hill. On July 14, 2026, Senate Democrats led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blocked a procedural vote to advance the $1.15 trillion defense policy bill (S. 4784) in protest of the Trump administration's handling of the war in Iran and the proposed Pentagon budget topline. This marks a dramatic departure from the historically bipartisan passage of the annual defense bill. At the same time, the House is advancing its own version of the NDAA (H.R. 8800), which includes a highly controversial provision to permanently rename the Department of Defense to the "Department of War." The DOD is currently operating under the "Department of War" secondary designation pursuant to Executive Order 14347 (issued Sept 5, 2025). House Republicans are pushing to enshrine the rebrand permanently, which Democrats oppose and estimate could cost up to $125 million. Let's double check if we have any other notes to update. What about `trump-canada-section-338-tariffs`? It was updated on July 21, 2026, which is yesterday, so it is already fully up to date and does not need another revision. Let's check if there are any watches we can resolve or record. Let's see: The watch `019ea5cc-ba94-7898-9436-c02b50f7f41f` is: "The House Armed Services Committee voted along party lines to add an amendment to the NDAA to codify Trump's Department of War renaming. Watch for the full House and Senate votes on the NDAA and whether this provision remains in the final bill." This is an ongoing watch. We can record an event on it because the Senate voted to block the NDAA, and the House is taking up the floor vote this week. Let's record an event on this watch. Wait, let's check other watches: Is there a watch for Medicaid withholding? We have `019f3b26-c416-7ae9-9f82-c4047aa85538` "Federal Court Rulings on Multi-State Medicaid Work Requirements Lawsuit". This is about work requirements, not the fraud withholding. Wait, is there a watch for the Canada tariffs? `019f833d-9854-721f-b7f1-02719d457dc4` "Implementation of Section 338 50% Tariffs on Canada and Canadian Retaliation" (fire date August 19, 2026). This is scheduled for the future, so it hasn't fired yet. Wait, is there any other watch that has been triggered? Let's check: - `019f78f2-b8ba-73cc-919a-963476151e90` "Preliminary Injunction Hearing on Protective 15-State School Mental Health Grant Lawsuit" (fire date July 24, 2026). This is in two days, so it hasn't fired yet. - `019f73ca-af78-7410-8f09-39c845578726` "Federal Court Ruling on 15-State School Mental Health Grant Lawsuit" (fire date July 31, 2026). This is in the future. - `019f73ca-ba50-7e0c-9e42-66f3cf419b82` "Federal Court Rulings on DOJ Undocumented In-State Tuition Lawsuits". The Maryland lawsuit was filed on July 16, but there hasn't been a ruling yet. Let's write our notes first. I will state my intent before calling `write_note`. First, I will write the new note `medicaid-fraud-crackdown-funding-deferrals` to document the Trump administration's massive new $1 billion Medicaid funding freeze targeting California and Minnesota. This represents a significant consolidation of administrative power and a major point of contestation between the federal government and blue-state governors.

I will now write the first note documenting the Trump administration's new $1 billion Medicaid funding freeze targeting California and Minnesota, which represents a major escalation in the use of federal administrative leverage against blue states.

I will now update the existing note `house-gop-codifies-department-of-war-ndaa` to document the major new legislative deadlock over the FY2027 NDAA, including Senate Democrats blocking the bill in protest of the Iran war, and the ongoing push by House Republicans to permanently rename the Department of Defense to the "Department of War." This will link back to our observations on the consolidation and contestation of power.

I will now record an event on the active watch thread `019ea5cc-ba94-7898-9436-c02b50f7f41f` ("Passage of Department of War Permanent Renaming in NDAA") to log that Senate Democrats have blocked the NDAA, and the House is taking up the floor vote this week. Since this is an ongoing watch tracking the overall fate of the renaming in the final bill, I will set `resolves: false`.

I will now record a new ongoing watch thread to track future federal court decisions, state actions, and administrative developments regarding the $1 billion Medicaid funding pauses in California and Minnesota. This will ensure future cycles monitor this specific battle over federal funding deferrals.

I will now call `finish_cycle` to complete this research cycle, having written the necessary notes and registered the relevant watch events.

I have completed the research cycle on the consolidation and contestation of power in US federal politics, focusing on the major developments of the past week. ### Summary of Findings: 1. **Medicaid Funding Deferrals & Suspected Fraud Crackdown**: On July 21, 2026, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz escalated their administrative war on fraud by pausing over $1 billion in Medicaid payments to California ($867.5 million) and Minnesota ($199 million). This brings the total frozen funds to over $2.1 billion for California and over $550 million for Minnesota this year. Democratic Governors Gavin Newsom and Tim Walz have blasted the suspensions as pure politics and a "recycled political stunt," arguing that the administration is targeting blue states and that the program's growth represents cost-effective home care rather than fraud. This has been documented under the new slug `[[medicaid-fraud-crackdown-funding-deferrals]]`. 2. **National Security & Legislative Deadlock over the NDAA**: Last week, Senate Democrats led by Chuck Schumer blocked a procedural vote to advance the $1.15 trillion FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA / S. 4784) in protest of the Trump administration's handling of the war in Iran and the proposed budget topline. Meanwhile, the House is advancing its own version of the NDAA (H.R. 8800) this week, which includes the highly controversial provision to permanently rename the Department of Defense to the "Department of War" (currently operating under a secondary designation pursuant to Executive Order 14347). This has been documented by updating the existing slug `[[house-gop-codifies-department-of-war-ndaa]]`. 3. **DOJ Lawsuit against Maryland's In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students**: On Thursday, July 16, 2026, the DOJ filed a federal lawsuit against Maryland, challenging the Maryland DREAM Act. This is the **13th lawsuit** in a highly coordinated nationwide campaign targeting state-level tuition policies for undocumented immigrants (previously documented under `[[doj-lawsuits-undocumented-in-state-tuition-campaign]]`). 4. **15-State School Mental Health Grant Lawsuit**: Led by Washington AG Nick Brown, a 15-state coalition filed a protective federal lawsuit on July 10, 2026, to block the Department of Education's planned July 31 termination of $1 billion in school mental health grants (previously documented under `[[department-of-education-school-mental-health-grants-lawsuit]]`). A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for July 24, 2026. I have also recorded a watch event on the NDAA rebrand and registered a new ongoing watch to monitor the legal and administrative challenges to the blue-state Medicaid funding deferrals.