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Inside Politics Highlights

2026-07-02 14:24 EDT / CNN

The nine Senate races that could determine which party will control the chamber.

By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 2:24 PM EDT, Thu July 2, 2026

The nine Senate races that could determine which party will control the chamber.

Nine Senate races could determine which party will control the chamber come November. CNN’s ArletteSaenz ranks them in order of most — to least — likely to flip.

2:36 • Source: CNN

FBI orders field offices to send analysts to Atlanta for 2020 election investigation, sources say

July 2, 2026 / 1:25 PM EDT / CBS News

By Jennifer Jacobs, Jennifer Jacobs Senior White House reporter
Jennifer Jacobs is a senior White House reporter at CBS News.
Jennifer Jacobs, Sarah N. Lynch
Sarah N. Lynch Senior Justice Department Reporter
Sarah N. Lynch is the senior Justice Department reporter for CBS News, based in Washington, D.C.
Sarah N. Lynch

The FBI is ramping up its investigation into the 2020 election results in Fulton County, Georgia, by ordering field offices across the country to send investigative analysts to Atlanta to help evaluate thousands of records, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

According to a memo sent to all field offices and reviewed by CBS News, the Directorate of Intelligence requested “surge support” to Atlanta to assist in what it called FBI Director Kash Patel’s “priority” investigation. The memo did not explicitly discuss the nature of the investigation, but multiple sources confirmed to CBS News the subject of the memo is the 2020 election probe in Fulton County.

The memo calls on every FBI field office to assign analysts, seeking to reach a total of 260 analysts. Large field offices are being asked to contribute eight analysts each, while small and medium offices must dedicate between three and five analysts. They are being asked to review 708 records each, and complete the work by July 17, the memo shows.

These “tactical intel” staffers typically provide help with day-to-day casework, such as running license plates, doing open-source checks on subjects of investigations, phone analysis, preparing subpoenas and reviewing subpoena returns.

The surge of personnel was first reported by MS Now.

President Trump has repeatedly alleged without providing evidence that officials in heavily Democratic Fulton County manipulated ballot counts in 2020 and that large numbers of votes in the state were cast by deceased Georgians, nonresidents or other ineligible participants.

After Mr. Trump lost Georgia by 11,799 votes, he frequently claimed the election had been “rigged.” But Joe Biden’s win in Georgia was confirmed in both a machine recount and an audit that involved hand recounts by every county in the state.

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Earlier this year, the FBI executed a search warrant in Fulton County where it seized “all physical ballots” from 2020, as well as tapes from vote-tabulating machines, ballot images and voter rolls. Home to Atlanta, Fulton County was crucial to Biden’s narrow 2020 win in the state.

The case was referred to the FBI by Kurt Olsen, a lawyer who previously fought to help overturn the results of the 2020 election and now works for the Justice Department, where he is assigned in Miami to help investigate the so-called “grand conspiracy” into whether Obama and Biden-era officials conspired to keep President Trump out of office.

A judge in May denied a request by Fulton County to return the ballots that were seized.

The FBI declined to comment.

US service member arrested at Capitol after calling for Trump’s impeachment

2026-07-02T17:18:19.853Z / CNN

By Martin Goillandeau

2 hr ago
PUBLISHED Jul 2, 2026, 1:18 PM ET

Air Force Major Jason Watson is arrested by police on the steps of the US Capitol on Wednesday, after calling for the impeachment and removal of President Donald Trump.

Allison Bailey/NurPhoto/AP

A US Air Force major was arrested on the steps of the US Capitol on Wednesday after delivering a speech calling for the impeachment and removal of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

The arrest of Jason Watson occurred after he spoke at a news conference organized by Removal Coalition, the grassroots, activist group said. During the news conference, Watson identified himself as an active-duty service member and wore a military uniform. Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas also attended the event.

US Capitol Police, which confirmed the arrest, said members of the public may not demonstrate on the steps of the House unless they are accompanied by a member of Congress.

Watson was “escorted” to the steps by a member of Congress, who “left the area,” before police gave Watson “lawful orders to stop the illegal demonstration or he would be arrested,” the police said in a statement.

“The man refused our lawful orders and was then arrested for 22-1307 Crowding, Obstructing, and Incommoding,” US Capitol Police added, noting that there are other spots on the Capitol grounds where demonstrating is allowed.

On Tuesday, a DC superior court official told CNN Watson is being released and a possible case against him will not be filed. The DC attorney general, which would have decided to not charge Watson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CNN reached out to the US Air Force to confirm whether Watson is an active-duty service member, but did not immediately receive a response.

During his speech, Watson criticized the Trump administration’s recent military actions in Venezuela and Iran and Trump’s immigration enforcement crackdown, arguing it violated multiple constitutional provisions, according to a video posted online by the group Removal Coalition.

“For this, the president and vice president must be impeached, convicted, and removed,” Watson said. It’s unknown if Watson has legal representation at this time.

Public dissent within active-duty military ranks is rare as service members are required to follow orders in accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which criminalizes contemptuous words against the president, vice president, Congress and other top officials under Article 88. Service members are also prohibited from wearing uniform while participating in political rallies.

Jessica Denson, the founder of Removal Coalition, which organized the press conference, said Watson had reached out to them via email and understood the potential consequences of his actions.

“We started having conversations and took this desire that he had to come out very seriously and thought about the best way to make his sacrifice worth it,” she said.

Green later posted a video on social media praising Watson’s action.

“I just left the Capitol grounds, and I was there to witness a major in the United States military bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice,” Green said. He added that Watson had “stood for impeachment of the president” before he was arrested and taken away.

CNN has reached out to Green’s office for comment.

CNN’s Lauren Chadwick and Katelyn Polantz contributed to this report.

Republican says Trump’s top election priority ‘dead’ in Senate as GOP fractures ahead of midterms

July 2, 2026 3:10pm EDT / Fox News

Sen. Thom Tillis says the bill lacks implementation funding and could disrupt early voting across all 50 states

By Alex Miller, Fox News

Trump to meet GOP senators on Capitol Hill to push SAVE America Act

President Donald Trump meets with GOP senators on Capitol Hill to lobby for the SAVE America Act, emphasizing the need for voter ID and other election integrity reforms. Fox News’ Chad Pergram provides the latest on the push.

A Senate Republican revealed that even if President Donald Trump’s flagship election integrity legislation had the votes to pass, there’s not enough time to actually have it take effect for the upcoming midterm elections.

The Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act has increasingly become a problem for congressional Republicans desperate to move onto other must-pass legislation. But Trump has consistently demanded they find a way to pass it, particularly in the Senate, by any means necessary.

But Republicans aren’t unified behind the bill, and Democrats unanimously despise it. Even if it got 60 votes, which is an unlikely scenario, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., contended it wouldn’t have an impact in time for November.

GOP INFIGHTING OVER TRUMP’S VOTER ID BILL ERUPTS AS TOP SENATOR CALLS STRATEGY ‘FANTASY’

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the SAVE America Act lacks time and funding to implement voter ID provisions before midterm elections.(Andrew Harnik/Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“Unless they do the work to get to the 60 votes, they know it’s dead, and so all this is theater,” Tillis told the Raleigh, North Carolina-based News & Observer.

Tillis, who was one of four Senate Republicans to vote against attaching the legislation to an immigration enforcement funding bill last month and was called out by Trump, is familiar with pushing for voter ID laws, which is only a portion of what the proposed SAVE America Act would do. During his time as House speaker in the North Carolina legislature, he was a major proponent of enacting the state’s voter ID.

But doing so takes time and money, he argued.

‘IT’S A MESS’: GOP TURNS ON HOUSE CONSERVATIVES AS VOTER ID BLOCKADE STALLS TRUMP’S AGENDA

“And honestly, here in North Carolina, or in virtually any state, the ability, if we go back to when we implemented voter ID in North Carolina, it took a year to get everything in place with adequate funding,” Tillis said.

The current version of the SAVE America Act doesn’t directly allocate funding to states to implement voter ID or its several other provisions. That is, in part, why the legislation wouldn’t work in the budget reconciliation process, as Trump has called for and House Republicans are mulling, which requires provisions to have a direct budgetary impact and not be policy only.

Tillis pitched the scenario that if everything worked out, it would eat into early voting periods or outright snuff them.

“Let’s assume you only allow early voting in the month of October,” Tillis said. “Then do you honestly believe that we can have this thing up in 50 states? There’s no funding. There’s no specific implementation instructions.”

SUPREME COURT RULES ON MAIL-IN BALLOTS RECEIVED AFTER ELECTION DAY

Signage regarding voter identification posted outside a polling location at the old Guilford County Courthouse during the last day of early voting in Greensboro, N.C., on Nov. 2, 2024.(Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“It’s become a joke, in my mind, for somebody that’s actually implemented voter ID law, how anybody can look the American voters in the eye and suggest that it could be implemented in time without just causing a huge impact on the elections, and ironically undermine the confidence of it,” he continued.

Still, it hasn’t stopped a cohort of congressional Republicans, notably Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., from demanding that the Senate take action on the bill.

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And Trump is determined to strong-arm Republicans into passing it, demanding they nuke the filibuster, attach the SAVE America Act to must-pass legislation, or fire the Senate rules referee.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to allow mail-in ballots to be counted after Election Day, he renewed his call.

“In light of the tremendous loss in the Supreme Court today concerning Voter’s Rights, and the fact that ‘people’s’ votes are allowed to be counted LONG AFTER an Election is over, it is more important than ever to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Alex Miller is a writer for Fox News Digital covering the U.S. Senate.

https://www..com/video/6399261789112
https://www..com/video/6398493888112

Olympian David Hearn charged with destruction of property at Reflecting Pool

2026-07-02T15:05:00-0400 / CBS News

By Jacob Rosen Justice Department Reporter

Olympian David Hearn has been indicted by a D.C. grand jury on a felony charge related to alleged vandalism at the Washington, D.C., Reflecting Pool, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced Thursday.

Hearn, 67, is accused of ripping out a piece of sealant on the bottom of the Reflecting Pool on June 19, Pirro said. Pirro said National Park Service employees observed him removing the bottom liner of the pool.

“One of the most offensive images that I hold in my mind are the images of national monuments that are being debased, roped, torn down, graffitied, and damaged by individuals,” Pirro said at a news conference on Thursday. “This unchecked vandalism and civil disorder turns into criminal behavior, and that’s why we are here today.”

Hearn, who lives in Bethesda, Maryland, said he stopped by the pool last month while on a 64-mile bike ride, and authorities arrested him after he reached down into the pool. He said he was held for five hours.

Hearn’s case is being handled in D.C. Superior Court.

This is a breaking story. It will be updated.

Trump’s Reflecting Pool woes continue

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/trump-blames-vandals-for-reflecting-pool-problems-without-providing-proof/

Trump blames vandals for Reflecting Pool problems without providing proof

(03:18)

FBI assigns 260 staff members to Georgia 2020 election probe

2026-07-02T19:09:52.446Z / CNN

By Kristen Holmes, Jason Morris, Katelyn Polantz

50 min ago
PUBLISHED Jul 2, 2026, 3:09 PM ET

Georgia general election 2020 ballots are loaded by the FBI onto trucks at the Fulton County Election HUB, Jan. 28, 2026, in Union City, Ga., near Atlanta.

Mike Stewart/AP

The FBI has ramped up its investigation into the 2020 election in Georgia by dedicating more personnel to what an internal memo refers to as a “priority,” a person familiar with the matter told CNN, ramping up an inquiry into the election that President Donald Trump falsely said was rigged.

The memo, which was seen by CNN, calls for the FBI to quickly bring in an additional 260 FBI intelligence officials, on top of those agents already working in the Atlanta area.

Some of the intelligence personnel — which includes people who are skilled at analyzing data — will work on the investigation remotely, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told CNN.

The FBI declined to comment for this story.

The plans for the investigative surge come amid weeks of efforts by the Justice Department and Trump administration to ramp up election-related investigations.

Kurt Olsen, a 2020 election denier who had been tapped by the White House to investigate that election, made the referral in January that reinvigorated a recent criminal probe.

Later that month, the FBI served a warrant at an elections office in Fulton County, Georgia, seizing 700 boxes of election materials.

The probe in Georgia is the centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s so-called “election integrity” efforts and baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. It is unclear the extent the FBI will be looking at that election, versus others in the state.

Federal prosecutors have also dug into votes from subsequent national elections, and charged a small number of people they say were improperly registered to vote.

The Justice Department, using a grand jury recently, also has demanded details about thousands of election workers who assisted Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, in the 2020 vote-counting.

Kennedy Center selling $25,000 ticket package to watch D.C. July 4th fireworks

July 2, 2026 / 3:33 PM EDT / CBS News

The Kennedy Center is selling ticket packages for as high as $25,000 for up to three dozen guests to watch the Washington, D.C., national fireworks show on July 4th, according to its website.

The highest-cost ticket package, listed as the “presidential” package, costs $25,000 for up to 36 guests, which includes three reserved tables on the roof terrace, free parking and “climate-controlled indoor lounge access throughout the evening,” according to the Kennedy Center website.

“Join us for Fireworks on the Fourth as we celebrate our nation’s birthday in spectacular fashion, surrounded by family, friends, and the most iconic views in Washington D.C.,” the Kennedy Center website says.

According to the Kennedy Center, nearly $19,000 of the $25,000 package is tax deductible.

The D.C. fireworks show, which is sponsored by the Trump-backed organization Freedom 250, is not slated to begin until at least 10:30 p.m., and Mayor Muriel Bowser said last week it would begin at 11 p.m. Mr. Trump is scheduled to speak before the fireworks.

The Kennedy Center is also offering a vice-presidential package with tickets costing up to $15,000 for up to 24 guests, which includes up to two tables and access to the air-conditioned lounge. Nearly $11,000 of the ticket cost will be tax deductible, the center said. The statesman package costs $7,500 for one table and nearly $5,500 will be tax deductible. Free parking is also included in those two tiers.

All three ticket package tiers include “prominent on-site signage recognition” and a listing as a sponsor on the commemorative Fireworks on the Fourth event map.

A single ticket starts at $425, while children’s tickets cost $125 each. Those tickets are limited to six per customer, and the Kennedy Center says that $250 of that cost will be tax-deductible.

It was not immediately clear where the proceeds from ticket sales would go.

The Kennedy Center told CBS News that people will also have the option to watch the fireworks for free on the center’s REACH plaza, where there will also be concessions.

The arts institution faces a potential financial crisis amid a dispute over construction, a lack of planned programming after July 5 and the court-ordered removal of President Trump’s name from the building’s facade. Lawyers for the Trump administration have said donations made while the center included Mr. Trump’s name would have to be returned, which they allege could total “hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Mr. Trump made dramatic changes at the Kennedy Center shortly after returning to office last year, replacing members of the board with allies and top administration officials who then voted to make him chairman. The president and his allies also sought to make changes to the types of performances at the institution.

In December, the board voted to change the name to the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Mr. Trump’s name was later added to the facade. In May, a U.S. District Court judge ordered the restoration of the original name and the removal of Mr. Trump’s name from the facade, which took place a month later.

The Board of Trustees, which is still filled with Mr. Trump’s allies, voted in June to form an endowment fund in Mr. Trump’s name. In court filings since being forced to restore the original name, the Trump administration claimed it would be forced to refund donations made while the venue was still called the Trump Kennedy Center.

Tarps have remained at the Kennedy Center since Mr. Trump’s name was removed, obstructing the view of former President John F. Kennedy’s name. Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty — the original plaintiff who had sued to restore the name — said in court filings last month that “it appears the tarp will be there for the longer term.”

The performing arts center had been slated to close on July 5 for construction, which has been halted by a federal judge. The Trump administration said in court documents earlier this month that the center “continues to prepare for additional capital repair and construction activities,” and the plaintiff said in court documents earlier this month that the venue will be “effectively closed” since there are no programming plans and many of the staff have been dismissed.

“As things stand now, absent action on Defendants’ part, the Kennedy Center will have no meaningful operations after July 5, 2026,” attorneys for Beatty wrote in the June 19 court filing.

Trump’s name removed from Kennedy Center

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/trumps-name-removed-from-kennedy-center-after-court-order/

Colorado governor fires board members who criticized release of election denier

July 2, 2026 at 12:54 p.m. EDT / The Washington Post

Gov. Jared Polis (D) said clemency deliberations should be confidential.

Tina Peters, a former elections clerk in Colorado, received a sentence commutation. (David Zalubowski/AP)

By Patrick Marley

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis dismissed two members of his clemency board this week after they publicly opposed his decision to let free election denier Tina Peters.

Polis, a term-limited Democrat who is winding down his time in office, on Wednesday removed attorneys Azra Taslimi and Hannah Seigel Proff from his clemency board.

The pair revealed last month in interviews with the New York Times that the board had twice unanimously voted to reject a request to be let out early from Peters, a former Mesa County clerk convicted of four felonies as part of a scheme to bolster President Donald Trump’s false claims about a rigged 2020 election. Polis in May commuted Peters’s sentence and let her out of prison years early, adhering to a request from the president.

Polis fired the two members of the board because clemency deliberations are supposed to be confidential, Polis spokesman Eric Maruyama said Thursday.

Taslimi and Proff did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Times first reported on the dismissals.

The grant of clemency infuriated election officials from both parties and led Colorado Democrats to censure Polis. They accused Polis of giving into Trump and boosting mistrust in election systems.

Peters has celebrated her release in conservative media appearances. This week, she posted a photo of herself holding a Birkin bag and admiring a portrait of the president at the White House. Trump posted a photo of Peters at his side in the Oval Office along with a message saying Democrats “didn’t want her out there speaking to the Media.”

The office of Peter Ticktin, an attorney for Peters, released additional photos Thursday of Peters chatting in the Oval Office on Tuesday with Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

In an interview, Ticktin praised the firings by Polis.

“Good for him that he’s got the courage to do what’s necessary,” Ticktin said.

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WATCH: Nationwide transgender sports law is next step after Supreme Court win, GOP senator says

July 2, 2026 10:20am EDT / Fox News

Sen Justice enacted West Virginia’s Save Women’s Sports Act in 2021 as governor, launching a yearslong legal battle.

By Elaine Mallon, Fox News

Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., who signed West Virginia’s ban on biological males competing in women’s sports into law as governor, celebrated the Supreme Court’s ruling Tuesday.

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Fresh off a U.S. Supreme Court victory for states restricting transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., is calling on Congress to take the next step by making those protections the law nationwide.

Justice, who signed West Virginia’s “Save Women’s Sports Act” as governor, said the ruling vindicates the state’s approach after years of legal challenges and proves West Virginia “had it right all along.”

“To be perfectly honest, it makes me super proud of West Virginia,” Justice said in an interview Tuesday. “I’m prejudiced, you know, toward West Virginia, that’s for sure. But it makes me proud that the people of West Virginia had it right.”

SUPREME COURT MAKES RULING ON TRANS ATHLETES IN WOMEN’S SPORTS

Sen. Jim Justice with his women’s basketball team.(Sen. Jim Justice)

The Supreme Court’s twin rulings in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox uphold laws in West Virginia and Idaho restricting participation in girls’ and women’s sports based on biological sex, reinforcing similar laws already on the books in 27 other states.

West Virginia became one of the first states to enact legislation restricting transgender participation in girls’ and women’s athletics when Justice signed House Bill 3293 in April 2021.

The law requires athletic teams designated for females at public schools and colleges to be based on biological sex. The measure was immediately challenged in court, leading to years of litigation before reaching the Supreme Court.

Justice said he and his administration were willing to take political and legal risks to advance the legislation.

“I’m a coach and I’ve been a coach forever and I coach women and girls and have done that forever,” Justice said. “I see how hard they compete, how hard they try, how valuable Title IX is. I see their dreams being extinguished. And from my standpoint, from my heart, I’ve been all in from day one.”

Although the Supreme Court upheld the laws in West Virginia and Idaho, it did not create a nationwide standard, leaving states to determine their own policies and setting the stage for Justice’s push for federal legislation.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION THREATENS KANSAS SCHOOL DISTRICT FUNDING OVER TRANSGENDER STUDENT POLICY

Gov. Jim Justice give the State of the State address in Charleston, W.Va., on Jan. 10, 2024.(AP Photo/Chris Jackson, File)

“There’s still more that needs to come,” Justice told Fox News Digital. “This needs to be national.”

Justice’s call for a nationwide law comes as the Trump administration has battled Democratic-led states such as California and Maine over policies allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ and women’s sports. President Donald Trump has clashed with Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills over the state’s transgender athlete policy and has sued California over similar rules, arguing both states are violating Title IX protections for women and girls.

While Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he does not believe it’s fair for transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports, California Attorney General Rob Bonta is defending the state’s policy in court against the Trump administration’s lawsuit.

“The Supreme Court’s decision does not affect California’s laws. The state remains committed to ensuring every Californian, including the LGBTQ community, is met with dignity and respect,” a spokesperson for Newsom’s office told Fox News Digital.

The Trump administration’s lawsuits with both states are still ongoing.

Since taking office in January, Justice has pushed to make West Virginia’s policy the national standard by cosponsoring Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, or S.9. But the bill failed to advance in March 2025 after falling short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate.

Justice indicated Tuesday he will continue supporting legislation to protect women’s sports for all girls and women across the country.

“As soon as I was sworn in as Senator I got to work on protecting women’s sports,” Justice said in a statement. “Our girls deserve somebody willing to stand up and fight for them. That’s why I proudly cosponsored Senator Tuberville’s S.9 and pushed the NCAA for answers about protecting women’s locker rooms. At the end of the day, this isn’t complicated. It’s just common sense. Let’s protect our female athletes, keep women’s sports for women, and do what’s right.”

Defenders of female sports categories gather in front of the U.S. Supreme Court as they wait for rulings on June 30, 2026, in Washington, D.C.(Alex Wong/Getty Images)

In the meantime, Justice extended the invitation for families to move to his state, where “commonsense” is practiced.

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“Come to West Virginia and Idaho,” Justice said. “For God’s sakes, what in the world do you want to be in California for? Because the reason is just right out the window in California, It makes no sense at all. Logic doesn’t matter. But in West Virginia, you’ll find a lot of good stuff.”

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Justice said the debate ultimately comes down to protecting opportunities for female athletes.

“For five years, we’ve been on this journey and there’s been a lot of beautiful, athletic girls and women that have been trying as hard as they can and people have, in many situations, turned their backs on them,” Justice told Fox News Digital. “We waited five years too long, and for those that fell through the cracks in those five years, we should all apologize, but we should celebrate today.”

Elaine Mallon is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business covering national politics.

“Once-in-a-generation” expedition launched to survey 2 legendary shipwrecks

July 2, 2026 / 9:22 AM EDT / CBS News

Canadian researchers will begin a “once-in-a-generation” expedition to survey two legendary shipwrecks, which belonged to an iconic pair of polar explorers, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society said.

The organization is due to send human-occupied and remotely operated vehicles to the depths of the North Atlantic this month, in hopes of observing the wrecks in detail for the first time and creating “digital twins” of each with high-definition video cameras and subsea imaging technology.

The first of the sunken ships is called the Quest, which is known as the vessel upon which the storied explorer Ernest Shackleton died in 1922. A pioneer of Antarctic travel who completed four trips to the frozen continent over his lifetime, Shackleton and his crew famously had to abandon their ship, Endurance, when it became trapped by sea ice during a 1915 voyage.

The Quest, the ship on which Ernest Shackleton set sail before his 1922 death, in 1935. Photo by Print Collector/Getty Images

The second wreck to be investigated is the remnants of a ship called the Terra Nova, on which Robert Falcon Scott, another polar explorer, sailed to Antarctica during a 1912 trip that infamously ended in tragedy, according to the Antarctic Heritage Trust. Although Shackleton and Scott were originally colleagues, the two eventually became rivals who competed with each other to reach the South Pole during the “Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration” in the the early 1900s.

The Terra Nova was later used as a sealing and cargo vessel, and it eventually sunk off the coast of Greenland in September 1943,according to the Deep Ocean Education Project. The wreck was discovered in 2012 by the research organization Schmidt Ocean Institute.

The Quest was used for Arctic rescues and as a Royal Canadian Navy ship, among other things, after Shackleton’s death. While being used as a sealing vessel, the Quest was damaged by ice off the coast of Newfoundland and sank more than 1,200 feet to the seabed, although the crew survived. It was discovered by the RCGS in the Labrador Sea in 2024.

“The bravery and leadership demonstrated by these two polar heroes have inspired generations of explorers over the years, and our hope is that by documenting their last ships with the latest technology we too can inspire the next generation of explorers worldwide,” David Mearns, the co-chief scientist on the expedition and one of the world’s leading shipwreck experts, said in a statement.

The expedition involves researchers, scientists and historians from a number of countries, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway and Denmark, the RCGS said.

Kerry Breen contributed to this report.