DNC Now Means 'Do Not Contribute'; John Thune Blasted Over SAVE Act | 8/10/26 FIRST LOOK

0:00Most people don't realize how much of their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making millions pulling details about you from public records and the internet, then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers. It's why you get endless robocalls and why ads seem to follow you everywhere. That's where Aura comes in. Aura actively removes your data from broker sites and keeps it off. They also instantly alert you if your information shows up in a breach or on the dark web.

0:36But Aura goes beyond data protection. With one app, you get a VPN, antivirus, password manager, spam call protection, dark web monitoring, and even up to$5 million in identity theft insurance, all backed by 24-7 U.S.-based fraud support. Other companies might just sell credit monitoring or just a VPN. Aura gives you all of it, together, at the same price competitors charge for just one service. Start your free trial today at aura.com slash hidden. Protect yourself now at aura.com slash hidden.

1:13Hey everybody, I'm Dave AI and this is First Look. It's Monday, August 10th, 2026. We've got a packed show for you today. Senate Majority Leader John Thune fails to get the SAVE Act passed or even voted on before the Senate bolts for August recess, drawing fierce backlash from conservatives and Trump supporters. Democrats' biggest donors have effectively gone on strike against the DNC, leaving the party's fundraising apparatus lagging behind Republicans months before the midterms. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she hasn't ruled out a 2028 presidential or Senate run and posts video of herself freezing her eggs.

1:59Let's dive in. Thune and the Senate leave town without delivering the SAVE Act. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is facing serious heat from the right after the Senate voted in the early hours of Saturday to confirm Todd Blanche as U.S. Attorney General and then promptly went into August recess. That recess kicks any real action on the Save America Act to September 14th at the earliest. President Trump has been pushing Thune and Senate Republicans hard to pass the bill. They didn't. The Save Act is straightforward voter integrity legislation. It would require proof of citizenship to vote and place new restrictions on mail-in balloting.

2:41In other words, it would make it harder for non-citizens and other ineligible people to cast ballots. Every single Senate Democrat voted against even a stripped-down version of the bill during the late-night legislative push. Republicans left town anyway. Some Republican senators are already talking about trying to attach pieces of the SAVE Act to a larger budget package when they return in September. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said after speaking with the president, obviously with the president at his direction, this is what he wants to do. Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Rick Scott of Florida had called for canceling the August break entirely.

3:24Lee posted on X, I proudly voted against leaving town and I will continue pushing for the Save America Act when the Senate is back in session. He pointed out there are only 21 weeks left in the year and lawmakers will be in recess for 14 of them. Senator Ashley Moody of Florida wrote that she stood with Lee to force a vote to keep the Senate in session, voted no on adjourning, and declared Washington is broken. Senator Todd Young of Indiana said he was disappointed the Senate went to recess without passing the SAVE Act and more. The criticism didn't stop at the Senate. Representative Byron Donalds of Florida went on Fox News and backed Lee completely.

4:08Senator Mike Lee is 100 % correct. This is why he has supported major changes to the Senate filibuster, essentially requiring US senators to hold the floor if they want to filibuster legislation. Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina was even blunter. The American people are paying them to do a job. They're not doing it. Some Republicans, like Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio, tried to pin the failure solely on Democrats. that. Many Trump supporters aren't buying the excuses. They're blaming Thune. The president has publicly pressed him to get the SAVE Act done, while Thune has warned the votes simply aren't there.

4:49In an interview with Punchbowl News last week, Trump declined to say whether he would support Thune for another term as Senate leader. John's trying. He's trying hard. I really believe that. But if he doesn't get there, it would be unfortunate, Trump said. And in a classic Trump move, the president shared a video posted by former Vice President Kamala Harris attacking the SAVE Act over its voter registration requirements. Harris framed the bill as forcing voters to prove who they are, which is, of course, exactly the point. Trump's Truth Social post turned her clip into free advertising for voter ID, and the video went viral.

5:30Bottom line, the Senate confirmed an attorney general and then left town. The voter ID bill the president wants, and that conservatives have demanded, sits on the shelf until mid-September at best. Democratic mega-donors are sitting on their wallets. George Soros and his son Alex donated more than$400 ,000 to the Democratic National Committee during the 2018 midterms, and more than$1 million during the 2022 cycle. This year, not a single dollar. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman used to write steady checks to the DNC. This midterm cycle he hasn't given either, according to the Wall Street Journal.

6:09One Democratic strategist who advises major donors says the running joke among some of them is that DNC now stands for do not contribute. Months before pivotal midterm elections, the Democratic fundraising machine has a serious big donor problem. While some elites remain bullish about flipping the house and will still write big checks to their favorite individual candidates, institutional fatigue, and in some cases open drama, has set in with the party's central committees and super PACs. Those groups are lagging Republicans across the board in cash that can actually pay for door knocking and TV ads.

6:47Part of the frustration traces back to 2024, when Kamala Harris raised more than a billion dollars in a rushed campaign and still lost. Other donors are angry about the party's divisions over the war in Gaza, rising anti-Semitism, and the growing influence of democratic socialists. Former Harris and Obama fundraiser Rufus Gifford went public last week with a Substack post calling for DNC Chairman Ken Martin to step down. At this point, I think there is no saving Martin's chairmanship. He is a good man with good intentions, but simply not meeting this critical moment. Martin's defenders claim the DNC's fundraising is comparable to past cycles when Democrats were out of power and point to the fact that the committee raised more by the end of June, 2026, than it did in the same period of the 2017 to 18 cycle.

7:39They say Martin was chosen for his ties to state parties and his focus on sending money to all 50 states rather than simply courting the richest donors. One coordinator of seven-figure donor spending, Gary Ciapluski, argued that exhaustion after the last election isn't Martin's fault. But a realignment appears to be underway. Big money is still flowing, just not to the DNC. Over the weekend in Nantucket, Gifford hosted a sold-out fundraiser for James Tallarico, the progressive former teacher running against Republican Ken Paxton in Texas. Tallarico has already raised$55 million this year. Paxton has raised close to$4 million.

8:21Hoffman, who hasn't given to the DNC, has written checks to a pro-Talarico super PAC. In Georgia, Senator John Ossoff has raised$34 million for re-election, more than 10 times the$3.2 million his Republican opponent, Representative Mike Collins, has brought in. Much of that money is coming from small-dollar online donors who like the candidates, not the party apparatus. Meanwhile, 2028 hopefuls have been blitzing the Hamptons. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Maryland Governor Wes Moore have made the rounds. The DNC itself plans a Martha's Vineyard event featuring Maryland Senator Angela Alsobrooks, but critics say the committee's events lack star power.

9:06Only Hillary Clinton, among former presidents and their spouses, has agreed to headline a DNC event this year. Last year, Barack Obama did one. The DNC is carrying$18 million in debt with$16 million cash on hand and has been consistently outraised by Republicans. Martin's incomplete autopsy of the 2024 election in May triggered calls for his resignation. In July, reports of internal discord, including Martin allegedly throwing a phone at an aide's desk, led to a human resources complaint. While criticism swirled online, Martin was hopping between Atlanta and Nashville, meeting mayors and civil rights leaders, and published a 3 ,000-word essay defending his approach.

9:53Longtime DNC member Donna Brazile summed up the frustration. Ten needs to ask for help and get more Democrats to help him, to raise the money in order for the party to pay its bills. Democrats are still raising money for the candidates who excite them. The party's central committees? Not so much. That's a problem when you're the party out of power and the midterms are approaching fast. AOC keeps the door open for 2028 and freezes her eggs on Instagram. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Sunday she has not ruled out a run for president or for the Senate in 2028. Appearing on ABC's This Week, she first insisted she's focused on winning the midterms and running for Congress right now.

10:39Pressed by host Jonathan Karl, she added, I haven't ruled out the possibility, and I'm very humbled to the tremendous amount of support out there. Asked specifically about challenging Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in New York in 2028, the 36-year-old Congresswoman replied, I think that anything is possible at this juncture. AOC has spent years building national power by endorsing progressive insurgents who knock off more moderate Democrats with bigger war chests. Just last week, her endorsement helped Abdul El-Sayed, who pledged to reject funding for Israel and push Medicare for All, defeat Representative Haley Stevens in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, despite tens of millions spent against him.

11:22Ocasio-Cortez called the moment a time of renewal for the Democratic Party, and celebrated an ascendance of a young, inspiring, exciting electorate, an energizing wave of candidates. She and Bernie Sanders have been barnstorming the country together since Trump's 2024 victory, pushing Medicare for All and other far-left priorities. Sanders has all but ruled out another presidential run himself, leaving open the question of who inherits the progressive mantle he started in 2016. For many on the left, AOC looks like the natural successor. She also used the interview to discuss a personal decision she revealed on Instagram last week, freezing her eggs.

12:04On Saturday, she posted videos of herself administering the first injections in the process, saying she wanted to share it because there isn't a lot out there, and sometimes it can feel very daunting. When asked about it, she took a direct swipe at President Trump. In this political environment where this administration is denying reproductive care to women across the country, from abortion rights to the ability to carry out a healthy pregnancy, I think it's important for us as leaders to have these conversations and share these processes, especially for working women across the country, and normalize them.

12:39So the face of the Democratic Party's progressive wing is keeping every option open for 2028, celebrating the rise of candidates further to her left, and broadcasting her fertility treatments while blaming Trump for the state of reproductive policy. That's the current state of the Democratic left heading into the midterms. And that's your first look this Monday. Quick recap, John Foon and the Senate left town without passing the SAVE Act, drawing sharp conservative criticism and a warning shot from President Trump. Democratic megadonors are largely sitting out the DNC while still writing checks to star progressive candidates, and AOC is freezing her eggs on Instagram and refusing to close the door on a 2028 presidential or Senate run.

13:27We'll keep following all of it. I'm Dave AI. Thanks for starting your day with First Look. See you tomorrow.