Ohio Rep. Max Miller is trying to survive a domestic abuse scandal the way a lot of Republicans now do, by retreating into the right-wing media bubble, according to a new analysis in Public Notice that argued the strategy could end up costing his party a seat it was favored to win.

Miller, a Trump-endorsed Republican, has been accused by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, of abusing her and their young daughter, allegations laid out in court filings tied to their divorce and custody fight. He has denied any wrongdoing, has sued her for defamation, and said no court or agency has substantiated the claims and that "no criminal charge has ever been filed against me." Rather than take questions from reporters, he made that case in a roughly 20-minute livestream on X, then refused to drop out ahead of Wednesday's Ohio deadline to replace a candidate on the ballot.

That, writer Noah Berlatsky argued Monday, is the whole problem.

By leaning on the base's distrust of mainstream media, Miller has kept his own party from organizing against him, said Berlatsky. It's a bubble, he said, that both shields its own and smothers them. Most Ohio Republicans stayed quiet for days, and Trump himself downplayed the allegations, telling reporters he would look at the matter but that so far it amounted to accusations.

The silence broke Sunday when Miller's former father-in-law, Sen. Bernie Moreno, called him unfit and said he should not serve in the House. With the ballot deadline hours away, Ohio's 7th District, which Trump carried by 11 points, is a seat Republicans should hold easily.

"It’s not so great, though, for a Republican Party that does, every so often, have to face a general electorate in a blue wave year. When you become the party of Fox News, you become a party whose candidates have no idea how to exist outside of Fox News. That’s why Max Miller may be on the verge of losing a seat the GOP was expected to win. And that’s why Republicans’ fascist propaganda may, for once, be not a life raft but an anchor when the blue wave hits," Berlatsky concluded.

Florida Republicans are expressing dismay at the low-key re-election campaign of Senator Ashley Moody, who was appointed to her seat by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

According to a report from Politico, there are no concerns about Moody winning, but there are about turnout without President Donald Trump on the ticket.

Moody's cautious approach stands in stark contrast to other prominent Florida Republicans. Unlike Gov. Ron DeSantis or state Attorney General James Uthmeier, Moody has built her career without the combative, high-profile persona characteristic of the state party.

DeSantis appointed Moody in early 2025 to fill Marco Rubio's seat when he departed to lead the State Department. Now she faces her first election campaign to retain the position, "doing so with limited unscripted moments, a smattering of controlled campaign events and muted engagement on the state’s most contentious issues," Politico's Kimberly Leonard and Gary Fineout are reporting.

More than 30 Republican operatives, consultants, and donors expressed concerns about Moody's strategy. They worry her "cautious approach" could suppress turnout among core GOP voters and harm down-ballot Republicans.

Dan Eberhart, a GOP donor, complained, "I think she has been a great senator for Florida. I wish her campaign was more visible."

"She's not out there, and a lot of Republicans are concerned about it because she is at the top of the ticket. You can be risk averse, but you can't be too cautious," a GOP operative told Politico.

Moody has limited her public engagement significantly. She appears primarily on Newsmax and Fox News. She avoids taking questions from reporters in congressional hallways — a standard venue for senators to communicate positions on important votes.

County-level GOP volunteers reported that campaign signs receive a positive reception from voters, yet her campaign struggles to schedule local events. One GOP chair said Moody appeared "lulled into a false sense of security."

Another GOP leader summarized the frustration: "She has got all the cards in her favor. She's a sitting senator backed by the two most popular people in Florida: Trump and DeSantis. Yet despite all that, she seems incapable of capitalizing on it."

An officer in U.S. Central Command's intelligence branch sent an email last week to a broad group of military analysts with an unusual request.

The military is casting an unusually wide net seeking new ideas for winding down the Iran war launched by President Donald Trump, reported CNN, and that includes an email sent Wednesday by a senior officer that's effectively crowdsourcing "new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran," the email said.

"[This] is notable in a couple of different ways," said CNN's Zachary Cohen. "One, I'm told by multiple sources, that a request for new ideas like this isn't necessarily a bad idea. It's seeking input from a variety of topics of subject matter experts seeking input from a wide array of analysts who study this stuff pretty regularly is not necessarily a bad call by senior military officers."

"But at the same time," he added, "those same sources say that it does underscore this feeling that the president, President Donald Trump, feels stuck by the limited military options he currently has."

A source familiar with the message said CENTCOM is "looking at everything" and acknowledged the need to re-evaluate its approach. CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Timothy Hawkins characterized the outreach as consistent with the command's culture of innovation, saying Admiral [Brad] Cooper "reaches out to members of our great team, regardless of rank."

The email preceded Trump's threat to launch fresh strikes on Iran — a threat he abandoned days later after Saudi Arabia's crown prince personally called to urge de-escalation. Weeks of U.S. airstrikes aimed at curbing Iran's ability to threaten the Strait of Hormuz have failed to produce a negotiated deal.

The military's options, sources say, are narrowing. Plans to strike Iran's remaining nuclear sites, including Pickaxe Mountain, face a basic problem because the facilities are buried too deep for bombs alone to destroy them. Ground troops would likely be needed — a risk Trump has resisted, particularly with 18 U.S. service members already killed and questions swirling about casualty transparency.

One option under discussion is a symbolic "fireworks"-style strike that could let Trump claim victory without actually eliminating Iran's nuclear program.

Intelligence assessments aren't encouraging either. Both the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency have concluded the current bombing campaign is unlikely to shift Iran's position, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine has told lawmakers plainly that "air power has its limits."

As one source familiar with the planning put it: "You need creative minds at times — especially if you're running out of conventional options."

That leaves Trump boxed in between choices he has spent years publicly rejecting: sending ground troops into what could become exactly the "stupid foreign war" he vowed to avoid, or settling into an indefinite cycle of strikes and counterstrikes resembling the forever wars he has long condemned. For now, he insists on a cleaner outcome, saying Friday that "we just want to win."

"It's always good to ask for new ideas," said CNN's John Berman, summing up the report, "although it does betray the fact that they think they need some new ideas because it's not working out well."