new - GOP *disarray* is building ahead of the election - Republicans increasingly breaking with the Iran War from James to Hinson to Mike Rogers to MMM - "It's not popular," says Sen. Ernst of her Iowa colleagues' distance from it. “The administration hasn’t been clear on how to end this and I think that’s why people are moving" - Sen. Budd: “You have to be in sync with people in your state to get elected — in an authentic way. I think people genuinely want the war to be over" - Thune is trying to kill the Democrats' Iran resolution this week, but Tillis says he's voting for it: "There are so many headwinds now for these candidates that I hope that the administration gets the point that you can be 90% with the president and speak about the 10% you’re not" - Wicker criticized Trump's Xi visit on the floor just now, calling Xi a "brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator" - Oh yes, and Curtis wants Judiciary to subpoena Trump Jr., prompting no comments from Grassley

In pointed floor speech, Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker says that as Xi visits that Trump "should keep in mind that his guest is a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose massive military arsenal is aimed directly" at the USA Wicker says had Trump asked him he "would have suggested the president not invite [Xi] to Washington for such a lavish welcome here in the United States of America" Says Trump should ask Xi about China military build-up, the thousands of Uighur people who "have been sent to concentration camps," political prisoners and China's "interference in the internal affairs of nations around the world"

Big change to college sports bill: Schools that want to change conferences only need to be independent for three years, down from five years, according to Sen. Britt. And the sitting out period sunsets totally after six years Britt says she’s “thrilled” the change has been included

Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy says at Semafor event regarding Protect College Sports Act: "If my amendments are adopted, I anticipate voting yes" He also got some jeers from the crowd after he said: "Just for full disclosure, I think LSU has been the only school in the nation who's been above board on the whole thing. It's the other colleges that we're trying to protect to keep them from doing things wrong. If they could all follow LSU's example, we'd be better off"

Senate Banking Committee Dems panning the ethics provision. They say under this new language - Trump's AG "is the sole federal official who decides whether to bring an enforcement action" - State AGs "cannot bring an enforcement action against the president or other public officials for ethics violations"

Striking criticism for the postmaster general from Sen. Hawley ahead of STL visit “Instead of posing for a photo op, the Postmaster General can return his bonus to taxpayers, pledge his full cooperation with congressional investigations, and support my bill to restrict bonuses for postal executives until Missourians receive their mail on time.”

Trump administration officials and allies suspect US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro might be trying to get back on President Donald Trump’s good side by convening a rare special grand jury in the district per @ShelbyTalcott Some officials see the special grand jury move as an obvious ploy to “save her job at all costs,” as one administration official put it

Reps. Craig and Stevens losing in their primaries definitely rhymes -- Two 2018ers who flipped House seats falling to more progressive candidates But the swing in the actual makeup of Senate Democratic Caucus would be far more pronounced in Michigan if Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan would go from centrist Peters to progressive AES (Peters endorsed Stevens over AES) Minnesota would go from progressive Smith to progressive Flanagan (Smith endorsed Flanagan over Craig)

News - Conservative groups launching ad deluge in Maine. Senate Leadership Fund up with first ad hitting Jackson as part of $42 million ad campaign -- they'll be up through election day Sister group One Nation is now up to $30 million in the state, up from $25 million -- new ad praising Collins

news - Iran War votes starting to show up in campaign ads. VoteVets PAC going after Sen. Sullivan with new ad buy tying rising prices to his votes against reining in Trump's war powers

News: College sports is Trump's latest legislative obsession. He's dialing up senators and he's asking Nick Saban to whip undecided senators on the Cruz/Cantwell Protect College Sports Act “This is a priority for him, and not everything that we do up there is of paramount importance,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Semafor of Trump. “He’s a sports guy … some politicians feign interest in ‘sportsball,’ that’s not him." Would be one of Trump's biggest bipartisan achievements as POTUS -- and normal people are actually paying attention to it @ShelbyTalcott

Trump preemptively went after Murkowski in interview with @JakeSherman yesterday "I’m against Murkowski,” Trump said. “I do more for Alaska than any president in history. No president’s done for Alaska what I’ve done. She’s not good.”

Thune says college sports bill "has been steering in a really good direction." Bipartisan negotiators hoping to release a final deal on this -- potentially with B10/SEC support -- sometime early this week. Notably, Thune said last week he wasn't sure if they'd be able to do it

"Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of political reality will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to and the goal of defeating Susan Collins"