©  Yves Herman, Pool Photo via AP

After months of opposition from Turkey over Sweden joining NATO, Turkey’s president has agreed to back the country’s bid, the head of the military alliance announced Monday.

“This is a historic step which makes all NATO allies stronger and safer,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted.

Stoltenberg said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will send Sweden’s NATO accession protocol to the Turkish parliament following talks.

The about-face comes after Erdoğan seemed to condition support for Sweden’s bid with officials reviving talks for Turkey’s membership in the EU.

The announcement comes on the eve of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Background:

• Turkey was the last country resisting Sweden’s accession to NATO, which requires ratification by all 31 members. Finland formally joined the alliance earlier this year in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
  
  
• Ankara has argued the Swedish government is too lenient with the Kurdish Workers Party, which Turkey, the U.S. and the EU consider to be a terrorist group.

Erdoğan said earlier Monday that Turkey would approve Sweden joining the alliance if Turkey was allowed into the EU. 

“The details surrounding the agreement between Erdoğan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson were not immediately available,” The Hill’s Laura Kelly reported after Stoltenberg’s announcement.

President Biden arrived in Lithuania on Monday ahead of the NATO summit, which takes place Tuesday and Wednesday.

“The 31-member alliance is seeking to project unity and solidarity as one of Ukraine’s most important supporters as it pushes back Russia 16 months into the war,” Kelly wrote.

Read the full report on Sweden’s accession and the summit here

Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Amee LaTour, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here.

• A U.S. Capitol Police officer has been charged with five counts of possession of child pornography. 
  
  
• Several northeastern states are experiencing flooding Monday. The National Weather Service is one resource for information on weather conditions and warnings.
  
  

• GOP lawmakers, including Sens. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.) and Ted Cruz (Texas), are criticizing the new “Barbie” movie over a scene featuring a map depicting China’s claimed territory in the South China Sea.
  
  

• A federal judge denied the Justice Department‘s request to stay an order restricting the Biden administration’s communication with social media companies while the department appeals the ruling.

©  The Hill/Greg Nash

The Marine Corps is without a confirmed leader for the first time since 1859 with Commandant Gen. David Berger‘s retirement Monday and a holdup on nominations in the Senate. Assistant Commandant Gen. Eric Smith will serve as acting commandant until confirmed — the timing of which is TBD.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has held up about 250 promotions of general and flag officers over disagreement with the Defense Department’s policy of providing paid leave and travel cost reimbursement for servicemembers crossing state lines for an abortion. 

From The Hill’s Brad Dress: “Tuberville’s hold on the Pentagon nominees, which he began in March … shows no signs of weakening, even as the block has sparked bipartisan frustration.”

Tuberville has argued the holds aren’t affecting national security. 

Read the full report here

Former Vice President Mike Pence criticized former President Trump‘s comments about the war in Ukraine on Fox News on Monday, as the former White House running mates compete against each other for the 2024 GOP nomination.

“I think it ends by giving the Ukrainians what they need to win,” Pence said. “I mean, there’s some talk, my former running mate likes to talk about solving it in a day. The only way you’d solve this war in a day is if you gave Vladimir Putin what he wanted.”

From The Hill’s Brett Samuels: “Pence, who met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine late last month, has emerged as perhaps the most outspoken GOP presidential candidate in favor of providing support to the Ukrainians.” Read more here

©  Madeline Monroe, The Hill / Adobe Stock

Twenty-nine percent of American households comprise a single person, up from 8 percent in 1940.

From The Hill’s Daniel de Visé: “The solo-living movement intersects with several other societal trends. Americans are marrying later, if at all. The nation is aging. The national birthrate is falling. People are living longer — or they were, until the pandemic arrived.”

Roughly 13 percent of U.S. adults live alone.

Read the full report here

Researchers in Oregon believe they’ve found evidence of the oldest North American human-occupied site, dating back more than 18,000 years.

President Biden‘s folksy public demeanor doesn’t always hold up behind closed doors, according to an Axios report saying the president is more prone to anger and profanity in private exchanges.

“Why going all in on ‘Bidenomics’ is flawed” — Douglas E. Schoen, a political consultant who served as an advisor to President Clinton and to Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign. (Read here)

“Ron DeSantis’s culture war is not helping his chances of being president” — Juan Williams, an author and a political analyst for Fox News Channel. (Read here)

44 days until the first GOP presidential debate.

484 days until the presidential election.

The NATO summit begins in Vilnius, Lithuania.

10 a.m.: The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations holds a hearing examining the PGA-LIV deal.

The House Oversight and Accountability Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic holds a hearing called “Investigating the Proximal Origin of a Cover Up.”

3 p.m.: Classified briefing of senators on artificial intelligence.

There a story you think should be getting more attention? Something people should be talking about? Drop me a line: ALaTour@digital-stage.thehill.com

You’re all caught up! Stay with TheHill.com for the latest and recommend this newsletter to others: TheHill.com/Evening. See you tomorrow.