The White House is using the conflict in Iran to justify fast-tracking policy decisions that would ordinarily require a deliberative process, setting up another test of the president’s emergency powers.
President
The US and Iran prepared for direct talks in Pakistan with the Strait of Hormuz still effectively shut and Israel and Hezbollah exchanging fire, complicating efforts to turn a fragile truce into lasting peace.
Aired on April 7, 2026, this episode of Hill Watch examines Trump’s FY27 budget request, the next steps on DHS funding and immigration enforcement changes, plans and goals for a second reconciliation bill, and prospects for appropriations bills in a midterm year.
President
The
US officials have determined that a high-energy laser system designed to shoot down drones does “not pose undue risk to passenger aircraft,” after its deployment at the border with Mexico caused flight disruptions earlier this year.
Texas lawmakers are weighing whether a surge in data center development will strain the state’s water supply—or help finance long-delayed efforts to expand it.
Treasury Secretary
Tom Homan made clear the Trump administration isn’t waiting for Congress to ramp up immigration enforcement—even as Republicans remain divided over how to fund it.
OpenAI’s handful of new in-house influence operatives indicates the company will take a political-campaign approach to its global lobbying agenda as it and other industry players ramp up in Washington, US states, and abroad.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has renewed its approval of a controversial spy law that permits US intelligence agencies and law enforcement to collect the communications of foreign citizens in certain circumstances, according to three people familiar with the process.
A railroad union is protesting a deal involving two Maine freight lines it argues would endanger the corporate descendant of Pan American World Airways.
Rahm Emanuel says Democrats ‘lost the American people’ on cultural issues -- but he knows how they can win them back in November.
Rahm Emanuel says Democrats ‘lost the American people’ on cultural issues -- but he knows how they can win them back in November.
State tax frameworks, data centers, and immigration were common themes among the first few states to wrap up their legislative sessions this year.
Ships are in, electric vehicles are out, and space technology is useful — if it puts astronauts on the moon — according to President Donald Trump’s new budget plan.
The Homeland Security Department would receive roughly $48 billion in baseline discretionary funding for fiscal 2026 under a Senate-amended version of
Texas lawmakers are weighing whether a surge in data center development will strain the state’s water supply—or help finance long-delayed efforts to expand it.
Tom Homan made clear the Trump administration isn’t waiting for Congress to ramp up immigration enforcement—even as Republicans remain divided over how to fund it.
Florida is dramatically — but quietly — changing the way immigration enforcement is practiced. The state’s Republican leaders have made it a testing ground for the aggressive immigration enforcement tactics championed by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
State Republican lawmakers are trying to separate miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies from abortion in medical records and elsewhere, spurring outcry from policy watchers who say the measures tarnish reproductive care.
Growing data center development is putting new pressure on Texas’ power grid, as lawmakers confront how to meet rising demand without pushing costs onto consumers or risking reliability.
