“Speaker Mike Johnson has released bills to send tens of billions of dollars in aid to Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific, setting up a vote Saturday on the long-awaited priority,” Punchbowl News reports.
“Here are the bills: Israel, Ukraine and Indo-Pacific. Here’s a fact sheet from the House Appropriations Committee.”
“The legislation clocks in at $95 billion in defense, economic and humanitarian funding, similar to what the Senate approved two months ago.”
“This is a major victory for President Joe Biden, who has been lobbying for months for aid to Kyiv. But it nearly guarantees that hardline Republicans will seek to oust Speaker Mike Johnson.”
The impasse over Ukraine aid in the House has triggered a debate about whether lawmakers are facing a “Churchill or Chamberlain moment,” the Washington Post reports.
“President Joe Biden urged the House and Senate to quickly approve Speaker Mike Johnson’s multi-part plan to get aid to Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific,” Politico reports.
Said Biden: “The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow. I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed.”
Politico: Democrats signal they’re open to helping Johnson on foreign aid as conservatives revolt.
The last thing in the world Mike Johnson wanted was Biden’s endorsement.
“Top House Republican leaders and aides are privately discussing using the debate over the $95 billion foreign aid package to make it harder to oust Speaker Mike Johnson. This comes as Johnson faces another uprising from his right,” Punchbowl News reports.
“Right now, any member can file a motion to vacate the chair, which triggers a potential snap referendum on the speaker. This was how hardliners ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October. And Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has filed such a motion against Johnson, although she hasn’t sought a vote yet.”
“With Johnson getting hefty opposition from the House Freedom Caucus and other conservatives over the foreign aid package, the GOP leadership is discussing embedding language in the rule for debating the legislation that would raise the threshold needed to file motions to vacate.”
During a contentious meeting Tuesday night in Speaker Johnson’s office, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) warned Republicans that he would personally campaign against any lawmaker who voted for Ukraine aid, Punchbowl News reports.
“There is no other way to describe it, it is surrender, it is disappointing. I won’t support it.”— Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), quoted by CNN, on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) bringing up a Ukraine aid package.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) may get a much-needed boost for his foreign aid plans as departing Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) has flexibility to remain in town into Saturday to support the package, Politico reports.
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) hinted that death threats may be behind his early resignation decision, WLUK reports.
Said Gallagher: “This is more just me wanting to prioritize being with my family. I signed up for the death threats and the late-night swatting, but they did not. And for a young family, I would say this job is really hard.”
“Twelve New Yorkers have been selected to decide Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan, the first for a former American president and a crucial challenge to his bid to regain the Oval Office,” the New York Times reports.
“Seven new jurors were added in short order Thursday afternoon, hours after two others who had already been picked were abruptly excused. As many as six alternates were still being selected.”
“The judge overseeing the case, Juan M. Merchan, asked the selected jurors to return to court on Monday, saying he was hopeful opening statements would begin then.”
Politico: Two of Trump’s jurors are lawyers. Would they acquit on a technicality?
“Donald Trump’s legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president’s criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away,” the AP reports.
“Trump’s lawyers are asking Judge Juan M. Merchan to force Daniels to comply with the subpoena. In their filing, they inluded a photo they said DellaPorte took of Daniels as she strode away.”
“Donald Trump complained Wednesday that his lawyers were not given ‘unlimited’ chances to reject prospective jurors at his New York criminal hush money trial,” CNBC reports.
“But state law caps the number of would-be jurors his lawyers can strike without cause.”
Rick Wilson: “This week has been a howling vortex of suck for the MAGA movement and Donald Trump. Imagine a black hole in the profound interstellar vacuum in the cold emptiness of space, drawing all matter and energy into its brutal singularity, an ineluctable and final journey into nothingness.”
“That’s the GOP this week. It’s been bad and will get worse.”
“With former President Trump tied up in court for much of the next six weeks or more, supporters are staging events and creating an online chorus that the trial-bound Trump later touts on social media,” Axios reports.
“The Trump loyalists, operating separately from his campaign, are amplifying Trump’s grievance-fueled messaging well beyond his online rants and indignant statements before and after court sessions in Manhattan.”
The Senate voted along party lines to bypass an impeachment trial for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, effectively dismissing House Republicans’ charges, Punchbowl News reports.
All Democrats voted to uphold Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s points of order that both impeachment articles should be deemed unconstitutional.
This ended the proceedings.
Donald Trump presumably thought he was taking a moderate position on abortion by saying he would just leave it up to the states.
But now that Arizona Republicans are refusing to repeal their state’s draconian 1864 abortion ban, Trump now owns that law that’s scheduled to take effect before summer begins.
And he owns the abortion bans in 21 other states too.
That’s what “leaving it to the states” means.
Many of these laws ban abortion entirely without exception for rape, incest or the life of the mother. Many of these laws ban abortion before a woman even knows that she is pregnant.
Far from being a moderate stance, Trump’s position is that he approves of these laws.
“Donald Trump’s campaign has found a new way to press for badly needed cash,” Politico reports.
“In a letter received by Republican digital vendors this week, the Trump campaign is asking for down-ballot candidates who use his name, image and likeness in fundraising appeals to give at least 5 percent of the proceeds to the campaign.”
They add: “Any split that is higher than 5% will be seen favorably by the RNC and President Trump’s campaign and is routinely reported to the highest levels of leadership within both organizations.”
“Donald Trump’s main 2024 White House campaign fundraising operation sharply increased spending at the former president’s properties in recent months, funneling money into his businesses at a time when he is facing serious legal jeopardy and desperately needs cash,” USA Today reports.
“Trump’s joint fundraising committee wrote three checks in February and one in March to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, totaling $411,287 and another in March to Trump National Doral Miami for $62,337.”
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) said Wednesday that criminal referrals stemming from his investigation into President Biden could come “within weeks” even as he cautioned “impeachment is still on the table,” The Hill reports.
Israel considered conducting a retaliatory strike against Iran on Monday night but eventually decided to postpone it, Axios reports.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition to the Republican Party, Semafor reports.
Said Hoyer: “To some degree they have the same problem the Republicans have. They have a very hard right who will not compromise, they won’t compromise with their own leadership… They have a destabilizing impact on the country.”
“A special State Department panel recommended months ago that Secretary of State Antony Blinken disqualify multiple Israeli military and police units from receiving U.S. aid after reviewing allegations that they committed serious human rights abuses,” ProPublica reports.
“But Blinken has failed to act on the proposal in the face of growing international criticism of the Israeli military’s conduct in Gaza.”
“With the slightest of jabs Wednesday, President Joe Biden publicly acknowledged former President Donald Trump’s ongoing criminal trial in New York for the first time since it got underway,” USA Today reports.
Said Biden: “Under my predecessor − who’s busy right now…”
“There was little doubt what Biden was referencing. And the line, delivered during a speech at the United Steelworkers union’s headquarters, drew laughter in response.”
Playbook: “Top Democrats believe that the spectacle of Trump’s trial will, by itself, hurt the former president, especially with independents and suburban women. And they argue there will be more than enough coverage of the criminal cases without them nudging.”
Said James Carville: “The case has a life of its own. There’s a constant supply of logs that are put on that fire, you don’t need to add any more.”
“To wit: The Biden camp didn’t even take the bait when the former president appeared to doze off on the opening day of proceedings.”
Historian Randall Stephens took Donald Trump’s remarks on Gettysburg over the weekend and made a one-minute documentary film of it.
He notes: “These are all his real words.”
“Four of South Dakota’s federally recognized Native American tribes have barred the state’s governor, Kristi Noem — a Republican whose name has been floated as a potential running mate for former President Donald Trump — from their reservations. The latest blocked Ms. Noem on Thursday,” the New York Times reports.
“Three of the tribes barred Ms. Noem this month, joining another tribe that had sanctioned the governor after she told state lawmakers in February that Mexican drug cartels had a foothold on their reservations and were committing murders there.”
“Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. (D) and his wife, superintendent of the city’s public schools, were accused Monday of physically and emotionally abusing their teenage daughter,” the Washington Post reports.
“Marty Small, 50, and La’Quetta Small, 47, were each charged with a second-degree count of endangering the welfare of a child… The couple abused their 16-year-old daughter multiple times in December and January, including an instance when she was knocked unconscious with a broom.”
“President Biden called for raising tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from China, beginning what is expected to be a broadside of protectionist steps against Beijing during a presidential election in which trade is a flashpoint,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Trump Media is telling its shareholders how to prevent their stock from being loaned to short sellers — who bet the price of the shares will drop,” CNBC reports.
“The short-selling-prevention tips posted Wednesday on Trump Media’s website come as its DJT stock has sharply fallen in price since it began being public trading on March 26 — and as short sellers have taken a keen interest in the owner of the Truth Social app despite relatively high fees to finance such trades.”
“Donald Trump is under pressure from economists in his circle to embrace a flat tax rate, softer trade stance and to hold the line on the state and local tax deduction,” Bloomberg reports.
“Donald Trump has indicated to advisers he is keen on a new middle-class tax cut should he return to the White House, two people familiar with the discussions said, an initiative that could appeal to voters but could also worsen America’s yawning budget deficit,” Reuters reports.
“Among the ideas that advisers have presented to the former president is a cut to the federal payroll tax, a move that could lower the flow of money into the Social Security and Medicare trust funds and open Trump to criticism from Democrats that he is torpedoing the safety net for elderly Americans.”
The Chinese Embassy has held meetings with congressional staff to lobby against the legislation that would force a sale of TikTok, Politico reports.
Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ) “remains unconscious after suffering a heart attack on April 6, indicating that the congressman’s medical condition is substantially more severe than had been initially revealed,” the New Jersey Globe reports. “His prognosis is uncertain, and his potential return to Washington is unclear.”
Out this summer: The Art of Power: My Story as America’s First Woman Speaker of the House by Nancy Pelosi.
“The most powerful woman in American political history tells the story of her transformation from housewife to House Speaker—how she became a master legislator, a key partner to presidents, and the most visible leader of the Trump resistance.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) unveiled 13 criminal charges against former House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R), “saying he had flagrantly misused nonprofit dollars to pay off his personal credit card and fund purchases at wineries and luxury retail stores,” the Detroit News reports.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) said Tuesday that he looked into allegations of wrongdoing surrounding the 2020 election but decided against seeking charges, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
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