A pair of unforced errors from President Trump have left Senate Majority Leader John Thune struggling to lock down the votes for the $70 billion skinny spending bill he promised back in April.

• Doubts about Trump's political judgment — which erupted over his proposed $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" fund — flared anew today over his decision to make Bill Pulte the acting director of national intelligence.

🔎 Why it matters: Republican senators and aides privately indicated that Thune currently doesn't have 50 votes to pass a spending bill that Trump could sign.

• Republicans have stripped out a Department of Justice provision — a proposed $1.5 billion anti-fraud fund — to streamline the bill. The goal is to make it procedurally harder for Democrats to offer amendments related to the anti-weaponization fund.
• Thune is relying on today's House testimony from the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, who previewed his comments to the majority leader, to help steady the conference and unlock funding for ICE and Border Patrol.
• "We're not moving forward with the fund. Period," Blanche told lawmakers.

Between the lines: Some Republicans suggested that Pulte's ODNI appointment could complicate the ongoing FISA Section 702 reauthorization efforts, with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) calling it a "distraction."

• Democrats were more explicit in linking the two issues. "His appointment at ODNI is one more reason every single Democrat should vote against rubber stamping the Trump administration's FISA Section 702 spying powers," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said.

😤 The bottom line: "We don't need a weaponized DNI. We need professionals there," Thune said of Trump's plan to install Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as a temporary replacement for Tulsi Gabbard at ODNI.

• "I see no evidence of any qualifications for that job," Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said.
• "The best I can tell you is he's not qualified, but I don't know anything about him other than that," Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said.

— Hans Nichols

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries took what some of his members see as an extraordinary step today, stopping short of supporting Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) for reelection.

⚡️ Why it matters: Jeffries always supports his incumbents, but Wasserman Schultz — who is on his leadership team — has outraged some colleagues by deciding to run in a district long represented by Black Democrats.

• "People are pissed off," one senior House Democrat told us.
• Wasserman Schultz has faced condemnation from state and local Black elected officials for running in the state's 20th district after Republicans drew her out of her current 25th district seat.

🎤 Driving the news: "Haven't made a decision as it relates to that particular race," Jeffries said at a press conference when asked whether he is supporting Wasserman Schultz for reelection.

• "Everybody has a right to run where they see fit. They've got to go make their case to the people that they hope to represent moving forward, and that's what I communicated directly to Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz," he added.
• Jeffries said "we all recognize the sensitivities of the moment in terms of an unprecedented Jim Crow-like assault on black political representation," even as he touted Wasserman Schultz's "strong track record of accomplishment."
• "It's an environment that all of us need to be sensitive to as we move forward."

✍️ The other side: "I'm thankful for the strong and broad support I've received all over CD20," Wasserman Schultz said in a statement to us.

• "I'll continue to talk with Broward voters and make my case that I'll be the most effective representative for this whole community, and as always, I'm not taking any support for granted."

⌛️ Between the lines: Jeffries didn't fully close the door on endorsing Wasserman Schultz, and there is still plenty of time before the state's August 18 primary for him to endorse her.

• There are 10 days until the state's congressional filing deadline.

— Andrew Solender