Good morning. Here’s your Early Warning Briefing for Wednesday, 24 June 2026.
TODAY’S BRIEFING:
- READ TIME: 9 Minutes, 39 Seconds
- Executive Summary
- Inside the Beltway
- (1) Trump Pushing Bill to Revitalize U.S. Maritime Power
- (2) Bessent: U.S. Economic Statecraft Targets Foreign Chokepoints
- (3) Bipartisan Housing Bill to Ban Institutional Investors?
- (4) Sens. Lee and Scott to Push SAVE at GOP Lunch
- (5) Lutnick Warns Admin Will Take Action on Chinese-Made Robotics
- (6) House Hearings
- (7) Senate Hearings
- Domestic SITREP
- (8) Prairieland Attackers Sentenced
- (9) DOE Announces $17.5B for 10 Nuclear Power Plants by 2030
- (10) D.C. Circuit Rules for Fast-Track Deportations Nationwide
- (11) Report: More Than 4 Million Kicked Off SNAP Since July 2025
- (12) DSA-Backed Candidates Win NY Democrat Primaries
- Global SITREP
- (13) Treasury Further Targets Overseas Scam Operations
- (14) Peruvian Leftists Call for Mobilization and Protests
- (15) Colombia to Join Shield of Americas Coalition
- (16) China Sends Carrier Through Taiwan Strait
- (17) Golden Dome Fires First Test Shot Using Directed Energy
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- ITBW
- President Trump is pushing a bill to lawmakers to revitalize U.S. maritime industry.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said U.S. economic statecraft is focused on global chokepoints.
- Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned U.S. executives that the Trump administration is preparing to take action on Chinese-made robotics.
- DOMESTIC
- Eight Prairieland ICE shooting defendants were sentenced yesterday.
- The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Trump administration can resume expanded expedited removals.
- A slate of DSA-backed candidates defeated House Democrats in New York primary elections.
- GLOBAL
- Treasury sanctioned more overseas entities tied to scam call centers, concentrated in S.E. Asia and financial hubs like London.
- The Pentagon announced the first successful milestone test of the Golden Dome missile defense system.
INSIDE THE BELTWAY
- (1) TRUMP PUSHING BILL TO REVITALIZE U.S. MARITIME POWER: The White House is circulating a proposed bill among lawmakers that would subsidize shipbuilding and maritime workforce development. The bill would establish a Maritime Security Trust Fund using tariffs and money from seized smuggling vessels as revenue sources. [source]
- Assessment: The Trump administration’s focus on revitalizing U.S. maritime industry is almost certainly connected to the administration’s grand strategic focus on global supply chain chokepoints. In order to ensure control of global chokepoints, the U.S. certainly needs to maintain the ability to secure and control global shipping lanes. – R.C.
- This is a direct response to China’s capture of almost 60% of worldwide ship manufacturing. The United States produces less than 1% of steel hulls worldwide. – M.H.
- (2) BESSENT: U.S. ECONOMIC STATECRAFT TARGETS FOREIGN CHOKEPOINTS: During a speech at the Economic Club of New York yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. should build enough economic capacity to “ensure the American people are never at the mercy of a foreign chokepoint abroad.” Bessent added that the U.S. has “emboldened other countries to exploit our [import] dependence as leverage,” and said U.S. partners should expect to deal with a U.S. that is more aware of its interests and more prepared to protect them.
- Assessment: This is the clearest confirmation from the Trump administration that the administration’s grand strategy is focused on global chokepoints. Ostensibly, the administration is concerned about potential disruptions to U.S. supply chains from global chokepoints. Almost certainly the second order effect of controlling global chokepoints to mitigate U.S. supply disruptions would allow the U.S. to potentially disrupt Chinese global supply chains in the event of a U.S.-China crisis or conflict. – R.C.
- (3) BIPARTISAN HOUSING BILL TO BAN INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS?: President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which will expand affordable housing programs, exempt certain types of home construction from environmental reviews, and increase federal loan limits for multi-family housing. The bill will also prohibit large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes. [source]
- Assessment: The text of the bill provides multiple exceptions to the bar on institutional investor purchases of single-family homes, effectively minimizing any institutional investor ban. – R.C.
- (4) SENS. LEE AND SCOTT TO USE GOP LUNCH TO PUSH SAVE ACT: Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL) and Mike Lee (R-UT) are publicly pushing Senate GOP leaders to use aggressive procedural actions to pass the SAVE America Act, and plan to push the bill at the Senate GOP luncheon today. Scott invited President Donald Trump to the luncheon, and sent a letter to Senate Republicans on Monday urging Republicans to focus on passing the SAVE America Act.
- Outlook: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) maintains that Senate Republicans cannot get the votes to pass the SAVE America Act. This will almost certainly become a flashpoint in the fight for control of the GOP between the establishment GOP and the Trump-aligned MAGA faction. If more Trump-aligned candidates continue to win primary elections over the next two election cycles, that could change the balance in the Senate improving the chances the SAVE America Act could pass in a future Congress. – R.C.
- (5) LUTNICK WARNS ADMIN WILL TAKE ACTION ON CHINESE-MADE ROBOTICS: During a closed-door meeting on Monday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned executives from SpaceX, Boston Dynamics, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Siemens and Rockwell Automation that the Trump administration is preparing to take action on Chinese-made robotics imports. “We don’t want state subsidized robotics attacking us in America, this is the arms [race] that is coming,” Lutnick said according to notes from the meeting.
- Assessment: Chinese-subsidized robotics imports are already subject to import tariffs. This is a likely signal from Lutnick that the administration is considering some type of other action, which could include import restrictions. This is also a signal that the Trump administration is aware of the Chinese over production cycle, which seeks to drive competitors out of business to corner key markets that China then exploits in economic statecraft. – R.C.
- (6) HOUSE HEARINGS:
- The House is in Session – Nothing Significant to Report (NSTR)
- (7) SENATE HEARINGS:
- THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL SECURITY: The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing titled “The Future of Social Security” at 3PM EDT. [source]
DOMESTIC SITREP
- (8) PRAIRIELAND ATTACKERS SENTENCED: Eight defendants convicted in the Alvarado, TX Prairieland ICE facility attack were sentenced for their federal convictions yesterday. The ninth defendant and seven others who pleaded guilty to material support to terrorism before the trial are scheduled to be sentenced on 01 July. [source source]
- Benjamin Hanil Song was sentenced to 100 years
- Maricela Rueda was sentenced to 70 years
- Cameron Arnold was sentenced to 50 years
- Savanna Batten was sentenced to 50 years
- Zachary Evetts was sentenced to 50 years
- Bradford Morris was sentenced to 50 years
- Elizabeth Soto was sentenced to 50 years
- Daniel Rolando Sanchez-Estrada was sentenced to 30 years
- Outlook: The Trump administration is very likely using the Prairieland ICE facility shooting convictions as a test case for future prosecutions of Far Left affinity groups for political violence actions or public promotion of political violence. – R.C.
- (9) DOE ANNOUNCES $17.5B FOR 10 NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS BY 2030: The Department of Energy (DOE) said it will provide $17.5 billion in financing to begin construction on 10 new nuclear power generators in the U.S. by 2030. The program will help finance 10 Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors that will generate 1.1 gigawatts of power each. The loan program will require utilities to commit $500 million per generator to access the DOE loans, and the nuclear power generators will be jointly owned by Westinghouse and utility companies. [source, source]
- Assessment: This is a continuation of the Trump administration’s broader goal of increasing domestic energy production by any means necessary, including natural gas, coal, small modular reactors, and the more conventional large modular reactors. – M.H.
- (10) D.C. CIRCUIT RULES FOR FAST-TRACK DEPORTATIONS NATIONWIDE: The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that the Trump administration can resume the expanded use of expedited removals. The Trump administration began using expedited removals in January 2026 to deport illegal aliens arrested in the U.S. interior without immigration court hearings. [source]
- Assessment: The Trump administration previously expanded expedited removals during Trump’s first term, but the policy was blocked by the federal courts. Under previous administrations, expedited removals were used for illegal aliens caught at the border or in the U.S. interior who had entered the U.S. in the previous 14 days. The Trump administration expanded the expedited removal policy to allow quick deportations of illegal aliens who entered the U.S. within the previous two years. The ruling broke along partisan lines. The majority of the D.C. Circuit panel were appointed by Trump, while the dissenting judge is an Obama appointee. The initial trial judge who blocked the expanded expedited removal policy is a Biden appointee. This is a likely indicator among many that a partisan fight is happening within and over the courts, especially on immigration enforcement. – R.C.
- (11) REPORT: MORE THAN 4 MILLION KICKED OFF SNAP SINCE JULY 2025: According to a report from research group the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, more than four million Americans have lost access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) since July 2025. This represents roughly a 10% reduction in Americans receiving SNAP benefits. The report said SNAP enrollment dropped in every state, but the steepest declines were in Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. [source]
- (12) DSA-BACKED CANDIDATES WIN NY DEMOCRAT PRIMARIES: Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) supported candidates defeated three Democrat House incumbents in New York primary elections yesterday. Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander defeated Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), activist Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), and New York State Assemblymember Claire Valdez defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso for retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s (D-NY) district.
- Assessment: This is a likely indicator that the Democratic Socialist and Progressive wins of the Democrat Party are gaining momentum over the moderate wing of the party.
- Outlook: Younger self-identified Democrat voters who favor Progressive and even Democratic Socialist economic policies likely remain a linchpin in the struggle for control of the Democrat Party. As younger Democrat voters age into the reliable Democrat voter base, younger moderate Democrat officials in deep blue states and cities will likely be pulled leftward on economic policies as they follow their new reliable voter base. DSA-backed candidates are not winning everywhere, some moderate-backed candidates won key primaries in recent primary elections. A potential course of action for the Democrat Party is a regional split between the Democratic Socialist and progressive wings and the moderate wing, as DSA- and progressive-backed candidates win office in deep blue states and cities, while more moderate candidates fare better in swing and red states. – R.C.
Global SITREP
- (13) TREASURY FURTHER TARGETS OVERSEAS SCAM OPERATIONS: The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) issued an additional tranche of sanctions against overseas entities tied to its campaign against transnational scam call center networks. The action targets a mix of front companies and financial facilitators spanning Southeast Asia and multiple financial centers. [source, source]
- Assessment: The designations cluster into three recognizable categories: adversary or adjacent jurisdictions, offshore financial centers, and tax havens used to launder and layer proceeds. The concentration of 11 London based entities is the significant feature here. The high volume is a likely indicator that Washington views London’s financial services as a facilitation node for targeting Americans and will likely draw additional U.S. scrutiny into the United Kingdom.
- Outlook: The campaign will almost certainly continue to expand. Repeated targeting of U.K-domiciled facilitators is a likely precursor to diplomatic friction over London’s role as a financial conduit for fraud. – M.H.
- (14) PERUVIAN LEFTIST CALLS FOR MOBILIZATION AFTER APPARENT LOSS: Peruvian leftist presidential candidate Roberto Sanchez called for Peruvians to protest and “carry out the democratic struggle” if the election was adjudicated in his opponent’s favor. Sanchez said he would not recognize the results. [source, source]
- Assessment: Sanchez’s refusal to concede paired with an explicit mobilization call is a pre-emptive delegitimation play and a strong indicator of post election unrest in a country with chronic political instability and a recent history of mass protest cycles.
- Outlook: For our viewers, Peru is a useful live case study in the mechanics of contested election unrest. A losing candidate declares fraud pre-emptively, refuses to recognize the count, and converts electoral defeat into a call for mobilization. The same sequence, regardless of ideology, can erode institutional legitimacy and open the door to sustained street action or in more fragile systems, extra constitutional interventions. The pattern is worth tracking as a template that could inform how contested results are litigated and protested in the United States. – M.H.
- (15) COLOMBIA TO JOIN SHIELD OF THE AMERICAS: Colombian President elect de la Espriella announced that Colombia will join the Shield of the Americas (SoA), the initiative to coordinate regional militaries and police forces against transnational criminal organizations.
- Assessment: Colombia joining the SoA is a significant addition given its standing as the hemisphere’s largest cocaine producer and its decades of U.S. security cooperation. This also signals a sharp realignment away from the outgoing Petro administration. Combined with our coverage of seizures in El Salvador, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, this consolidates the SoA’s reach over both source zone and trafficking corridors.
- Outlook: This signals the initiative is maturing from interdiction operations into a standing regional security architecture. Be on the lookout for whether Mexico continues to resist the SoA initiative. – M.H.
- (16) CHINA SENDS CARRIER THROUGH THE TAIWAN STRAIT: China sailed its newest carrier the PLAN’s Fujian (CV-18) south through the Taiwan Strait yesterday, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND). The MND did not report any naval escorts or aircraft on deck. [source, source]
- Assessment: Two details make this a transit or repositioning rather than an exercise. The MND reported no abnormal volume of PLAN vessels in the region, and an unescorted carrier with a clear deck is unusually vulnerable, inconsistent with a combat representative deployment. First, China may be moving the Fujian to replace the recently moved Liaoning (CV-16), practicing maintaining a continuous carrier strike group (CSG) presence beyond the First Island Chain. Alternatively, Beijing may intend to link Fujian with the Shandong (CV-17) for a dual carrier operation in the Philippine Sea.
- Outlook: The Fujian’s destination is the key indicator. A move into the Philippine Sea would signal an intent to sustain first island chain CSG coverage, while a link up with the Shandong would mark a return to dual carrier operations and likely practicing defending against a U.S. Navy CSG. – J.V.
- (17) FIRST MILESTONE OF GOLDEN DOME: Secretary of Defense Hegseth announced the completion of “the first milestone test of the Golden Dome.” The test was for a directed energy weapon system using an undisclosed type of energy. [source]
- Assessment: The announcement is as much a political and programmatic signal as it is a technical achievement. The test is demonstrating momentum to justify continued funding. The undisclosed energy type is almost certainly either a high energy laser or a high power microwave system. The reliance on directed energy is logical given the cost per shot problem that makes kinetic missile defense economically unsustainable against mass drone and missile attacks. – M.H.
Upcoming Protest Events (Next 24 Hours)
We are currently tracking 91 protests for today. Please see the Protest & Riot Tracker for an interactive map with details.
Castro Valley, CA
Activity: Peace Corner Castro Valley Wednesday Demonstration
Location: Redwood Road & Castro Valley Boulevard
Time: 16:30 Wednesday June 24, 2026
Northglenn, CO
Activity: Gabe Evans Protest (I-25 Pedestrian Bridge)
Location: 281 W 104th Ave
Time: 16:00 Wednesday June 24, 2026
Kennesaw, GA
Activity: IND Cobb We The People Wednesdays Rally
Location: 900 Kennesaw Mountain Dr
Time: 12:00 Wednesday June 24, 2026
Honolulu, HI
Activity: CRUSH ICE! NO SECRET POLICE! WEEKLY WEDNESDAYS!! (Waikiki)
Location: 2330 Kalākaua Ave
Time: 17:00 Wednesday June 24, 2026
Kailua, HI
Activity: Weekly Rally for Due Process and the Rule of Law (Kailua, O’ahu)
Location: Oneawa Street & Kuulei Road
Time: 16:30 Wednesday June 24, 2026
Kansas City, MO
Activity: TESLA TAKEDOWN M-W-F 3-4:30 PM
Location: 10111 State Line Rd
Time: 15:00 Wednesday June 24, 2026
Charlotte, NC
Activity: Visibility CLT Pop-up Protest – Myers Park (Queens)
Location: Queens Road & Providence Road
Time: 08:00 Wednesday June 24, 2026
Charlotte, NC
Activity: Visibility CLT Pop-up Protest – Arboretum
Location: Providence Road & Pineville-Matthews Road
Time: 16:30 Wednesday June 24, 2026
Matthews, NC
Activity: Visibility CLT Pop-up Protest – Matthews
Location: North Carolina 51 & Monroe Road
Time: 08:15 Wednesday June 24, 2026
Kirkland, WA
Activity: Eastside Rising Kirkland. Overpass Event
Location: NE 128th St and I-405
Time: 15:30 Wednesday June 24, 2026
— END REPORT
M.S. indicates analyst commentary from Mike Shelby
J.V. indicates analyst commentary from Jared Vaughn
R.C. indicates analyst commentary from Robert Cook
M.H. indicates analyst commentary from Matthew Heath