🍻 In This Week's Hill Spill: No Records, No Problem? Plus Barrett Backlash, Two Dan Sullivans and a Very Patriotic Glee Club

🍹 Welcome back to the Hill Spill, your favorite happy-hour themed political newsletter! The House may have recessed early after a tanked rule on the NDAA, because why leave for a holiday weekend on a high note, but we over here at Sources Say like to look for silver linings — extended long weekend, even if it did delay some scoops we were working on!

This week we've got a House sexual misconduct resolution that passed and nobody can find the records, Amy Coney Barrett catching heat from her own side, the FBI paying very close attention to a Senate race in Alaska and a congressional spouse glee club that gave the Hill a proper patriotic send-off. Pour something cold and let's get into it! 🍸

The House overwhelmingly passed a resolution demanding transparency on congressional sexual misconduct settlements this week, but hit an immediate snag when the Ethics Committee said it doesn't have anything to give. Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) are not sure they believe that.

Massie brought the measure to the floor as privileged, forcing a vote, and giving both the House Ethics Committee and the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights 60 days to produce a consolidated list of members who have paid out settlements and the amounts involved. Massie said his concern going in was that gaps in existing policy could be leaving some settlements unreported and out of public view.

The Ethics Committee said it stands behind transparency on the issue but does not currently have records to produce.

“OCRW is required by law to report to the ethics committee any settlements related to sexual misconduct or harassment. The committee has not received any information of claims having been paid since the reporting requirement was put into law in 2018,” Chairman Michael Guest (R-Miss.) told us.

Luna is calling on the committee to go directly to the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights and request whatever it has.

"It is technically housed over there but they can still request the information. So why won't they? They're just trying to make it more complicated. Just pick up the frickin' phone and call," she said.

Massie told us the OCWR has the authority to put the information out on its own.

"I'll wait to see what they report to us," he said when we asked about next steps.

Luna said the lack of information produced following the resolution’s passage signals a larger problem.

"This shows how desperately ethics, not just in the House, but the Senate needs reform, period. I cannot police my own chamber in addition to everything else, but what I can do is put public pressure on both parties to do the right thing. This is unacceptable and needs to change, period,” she told us.

It is the latest development in a broader reckoning on Capitol Hill over how sexual misconduct cases are handled, with a Bipartisan Task Force on Workplace Sexual Misconduct launched in May.

There are two Dan Sullivans running for Senate in Alaska and the FBI is now looking into whether that may not have been a coincidence, NBC News first reported Thursday.

Dan J. Sullivan, a former teacher and U.S. Forest Service employee from Petersburg in southeast Alaska, registered as a Republican in May and insists he is running a legitimate campaign against incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-Alaska).

A lot of Republicans aren’t buying it, alleging he is working in coordination with Democratic challenger Mary Peltola to muddy the waters. Peltola's campaign has denied any involvement.

"Our campaign has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign," a spokesperson told NBC News.

The FBI, the U.S. attorney's office in Alaska and the Alaska attorney general are all looking into the matter, examining potential wire fraud charges and whether anyone conspired to undermine the integrity of the Alaska vote. The Alaska Supreme Court ruled this week that the challenger can stay on the August 18 primary ballot after the state elections division initially disqualified him, with the elections director alleging he filed with the intention of confusing or misleading voters.

It’s possible all three candidates end up on the November ballot given that Alaska advances the top four vote getters from the primary regardless of party, with the general election decided by ranked-choice voting. That means this could get very confusing very fast, which, depending on who you ask, may have been the point all along. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This week on the pod, we have one of our favorite people and best-selling authors, Jonathan Allen joining us for an unfiltered convo on an array of rogue topics! Jon and I swap some of the most unhinged things we have ever witnessed covering this town, including the time Jon was minding his own business smoking a cigar at Shelly's Backroom when Dennis Rodman sat down next to him, laid out a plan to fly to Moscow to free Brittney Griner, and then walked into the middle of DC traffic to stop cars for selfies.

We also get into the time John Boehner trash-talked Jon's weight in the Speaker's Lobby and then grabbed his own crotch on the record. Twice! Plus the reality of screen door dead drops for classified documents and a sneak peek at Jon's upcoming book on AOC. Grab a bev, a cigar and tune in!

The Supreme Court's 2025-2026 term ended June 30th with a flurry of major decisions, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett is now catching heat from her own side for how she voted.

Barrett sided with the majority that rejected President Trump's executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship and joined Chief Justice John Roberts again in upholding Mississippi's five-day grace period for mail-in ballots postmarked by election day. The backlash from the right was swift, with Vice President JD Vance calling her vote a "mistake" and the Notre Dame College Republicans, her own law school alma mater, calling her out on social media.

Barrett has been part of the majority in several landmark decisions since joining the court in 2020. One term of rulings that broke with the administration's wishes has overshadowed all of it for some on the right.

On the birthright citizenship case, Chief Justice Roberts wrote the 6-3 majority opinion striking down Trump's executive order, joined by Barrett and the court's three liberal justices. Three conservative justices dissented. The court also ruled that West Virginia and Idaho had the right to ban transgender female athletes from girls' sports teams, expanded presidential power by allowing Trump to fire independent government regulators for the first time since 1935 and upheld Mississippi's five day grace period for mail-in ballots postmarked by election day.The opinions are in, the fallout is ongoing.

(Written by Elisabeth Carroll)

Congress may be on recess but the Hill still got a patriotic send-off today!

Marcia Latta, wife of Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), told us a group from the House Spouse Glee Club — a chorus made up of congressional spouses — popped up in the Cannon Rotunda over lunch to lead patriotic caroling for staff members and visiting families in honor of America's 250th.

“We have a great time! Always a slightly different mix of people and voices depending on who is in town, but we rise to the occasions. 😀🇺🇸🎶🎆,” Latta told us.

It was the club's third performance in recent weeks, following appearances at the Congressional Record concert and the American History Museum's America 250 celebration.

If you're in the DC area this weekend and still figuring out your plans, we've got you covered with a schedule of potential activities! Fair warning — the heat index on Saturday is forecast to hit at least 105 degrees and Montgomery County has already declared a heat emergency, so plan accordingly.

Tonight, Flo Rida is performing at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, the Mall is hosting what organizers are calling the largest fireworks display in history, with 850,000 shells launching from ten different sites starting around 10:30 p.m. Flyovers kick off at 1:15 p.m. and the National Archives has reenactors doing a live reading of the Declaration of Independence if that sort of thing is your jam.

Out of the city, Mount Vernon has daytime fireworks, drill reenactments and a concert from the National Concert Band. Both Leesburg and Fairfax are doing free all-day parties with parades, music and fireworks. Up in Maryland, Annapolis has a downtown parade at 6:30 p.m., the Naval Academy's Electric Brigade takes the State House grounds at 7:45 p.m. and fireworks go up over Spa Creek at 9:15 p.m. Takoma Park's parade and street party have been canceled due to the heat.

It's going to be a scorcher out there this weekend so stay hydrated!

It’s disgustingly hot out, Congress is on recess, and we collectively decided we need a bev that will keep us cool while we work on our tan this holiday weekend. We’re planning to celebrate with a Bomb Pop Cocktail by the beach, because nothing says America quite like something that’s red, white and blue, hits harder than expected and leaves you heavily questioning your life choices by 10:00 PM.

1 1/2 oz. Blue Curaçao 9 cups ice, divided 6 oz. tequila, divided 3 oz. fresh lime juice, divided 1 oz. triple sec 1/2 oz. simple syrup 1 1/2 oz. grenadine 4 Bomb Pops, for serving/.

Load up your blender with 3 cups of ice, 2 oz. tequila, 1 oz. lime juice, and the grenadine to layer your red base first. Rinse your blender, then buzz another 3 cups of ice, 2 oz. tequila, 1 oz. lime juice, triple sec and simple syrup for the white middle. Finish with the blue layer by blending the final 3 cups of ice, 2 oz. tequila, 1 oz. lime juice, and the Blue Curaçao. Layer them carefully in a tall glass, garnish with a Bomb Pop.

Drink responsibly, enjoy the fireworks and send us all your unhinged gossip! Until next week y’all and Happy 4th! 🇺🇸