This week in politics: No White House cocaine culprit; DeSantis rejects 'veep-stakes'

Cue the theme music from "Unsolved Mysteries."

All eyes were on the White House this week after someone left behind a baggie of cocaine in what's supposed to be one of the most secure buildings in the country.

But after testing it for DNA and fingerprints, the Secret Service found nothing.They have no suspects to single out from the hundreds of individuals who passed through either, which isn't bound to get a side-eye from many.

"At this time, the Secret Service's investigation is closed due to a lack of physical evidence," the agency said in a statement.

The Biden administration surely would like to talk about something else, and one of those things is the ongoing student debt relief fight. After receiving a gut punch from the Supreme Court, the president's team found a way to cancel $39 billion in loans.

Picking a fight with the popular Republican governor of Iowa isn't a strategy most of the 2024 GOP presidential hopefuls would do, but it's on brand for Donald Trump. He attacked Gov. Kim Reynolds in a social media post that could backfire among conservatives who are pleased with her leadership − especially after state legislators passed a 6-week abortion ban.

Sticking with the 2024 campaign trail, Trumps chief rival, Ron DeSantis, was asked if he'd be willing to serve as the top dog's running mate. You can guess how the Florida governor responded.

Back in Washington, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, of Alabama, once again stepped into the mud on race when he resisted a question on whether white nationalists are racist.

Who is the White House cocaine culprit?

Whoever brought cocaine into the White House will apparently get away with it—for now.

A review of surveillance footage and visitor logs turned up nothing, the Secret Service said. Federal investigators have no other leads on the incident, which prompted a brief evacuation of the building for precautionary purposes.

That’s going to be hard for a lot of Americans to accept, and House Republicans know it.

"You can't tell me in the White House with 24/7 surveillance and a cubbyhole by a situation room you don't know who left it there," Speaker Kevin McCarthy said. "The American people think that's a farce."

The California Republican noted this week how at least three different locations of discovery had been reported while urging the Secret Service not to end its investigation.

"If they can't tell us who brought it, what else is happening in the White House," he said.

Biden claps back on student debt relief, cancels $39 billion in loans

When the Supreme Court yanked away Biden’s plan to wipe out student loan debt program, which would have helped tens of millions, the White House pledged the fight had just begun.

On Friday the administration announced after tweaking how the education department calculates payments, roughly 804,000 Americans will have the balance of their loans erased over the next few months.

That eliminates about $39 billion, or the equivalent of 20 to 25 years' worth of payments.

"At the start of this administration, millions of borrowers had earned loan forgiveness but never received it. That’s unacceptable," Education Department Undersecretary James Kvaal said. "Today we are holding up the bargain we offered borrowers who have completed decades of repayment."

Liberal activists praised the move as the right step as loan repayments are set to resume in October after a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Persis Yu, leader of the Student Borrower Protection Center, said "this is only the tip of the iceberg."

DeSantis rejects Trump veep-stakes

Being Trump’s vice president? Forget about it.

That’s how DeSantis responded to a question about whether he’d be interested in serving as the 2024 Republican front-runner’s campaign co-pilot, which may underscore how poorly the Florida governor’s campaign has turned.

"I'm not a No. 2 guy,” DeSantis said. “I think I'm a leader."

It’s an unlikely idea anyway given how nasty their primary feud has become, but also the legal hurdles given the Electoral College rules prevent running mates from living in the same state.

Plus the DeSantis stock is still plummeting as his presidential campaign felt compelled to send out a "confidential" memo aimed at assuring donors things aren't as bad as they seem.

Trump's risky beef with Iowa governor

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds made it a point to stay out of picking a favorite in the Republican battle for president as have many other top GOP state officials.

But that didn't stop Trump from airing his grievances and publicly attacking The Hawkeye State governor, which could backfire on the former president in the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

"I opened up the Governor position for Kim Reynolds, & when she fell behind, I ENDORSED her, did big Rallies, & she won," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Now, she wants to remain 'NEUTRAL.' I don't invite her to events!"

Trump is known to demand loyalty from supporters, especially from those he once endorsed during difficult races such as he did for Reynolds in 2018. But the blowback to attacking her is a risky gambit.

A state legislator has already expressed disgust at Trump's online attack, and he switched to supporting DeSantis. And after that the Republican Accountability PAC is airing a new 30-second spot slamming the former president touting how, "Republicans love Gov. Kim Reynolds."

Tuberville moonwalks on white nationalism

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville had a change of heart this week.

On Monday, the Alabama lawmaker refused to denounce white nationalism when asked during a CNN interview if people with such views should serve in the U.S. military. Even after it was explained by the host that it’s a belief of their race being superior to others, Tuberville stubbornly insisted "that’s some people’s opinion."

But by the next day, after a deluge of backlash and quizzical responses by GOP leadership, the former college football coach retracted, and avowed that "white nationalists are racists."

This isn’t Tuberville’s first racial rodeo either. In 2022, he was criticized for pushing a racist narrative about Black people, reparations and crime at a rally hosted by Trump.

One person who might he happy with the senator's bad week for providing a distraction is Republican Rep. Eli Crane, of Arizona, who was blasted by Democratic colleagues for using the term "colored people" to describe Black Americans in a House floor debate this week.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: This week in politics: No suspects in White House cocaine case