Going on the Record About Military Action in Iran: Starting Line

War Powers

This afternoon’s Senate vote on Iran will be part constitutional flex, part raw material for campaign ads.

The Senate is preparing to act on a resolution (S. J. Res. 104) that would restrain President Donald Trump’s ability to use force against Iran without approval from Congress.

Despite the White House’s shifting explanations for starting the military strikes, getting the resolution adopted looks like an impossible climb. You’ll recall that an effort to halt Trump’s actions after last summer’s strike on Iran failed. Plus, even if a sufficient number of Republicans decided to strictly abide by the Constitution, which says only the legislative branch can declare war, that would just set the measure up for a certain veto with nowhere near the numbers needed for an override.

That said, the vote will put senators on record, and there may be some election-year value to showing constituents exactly where they stand.

See Also:

• US Sending Charter Flights to Evacuate Americans in Middle East
• Trump Pledges Safe Mideast Oil Transit as Iran War Rages On
• Pentagon to Seek More Funding After Iran Strikes, Cole Says

Combative Hearing

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D). Photographer: Allison Robbert/Bloomberg

Allison Robbert/Bloomberg

With the Trump administration squeezing the pipeline of Medicaid funding for Minnesota because of allegations of fraud, the state’s governor and attorney general will sit today for a high-stakes oversight hearing.

CMS announced last week it was deferring nearly $260 million in Medicaid funding for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 after identifying “unusually high spending and rapid growth” in personal care services, home and community-based services, and other practitioner services. That’s after a January announcement of $2 billion being withheld.

Erin Durkin reports that Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) are fighting the moves in court. In written testimony to the committee, Walz laid out actions his administration has taken to address fraud, and said his state is being singled out for “political retribution at an unparalleled scale.” Read More

See Also: Trump ‘Weaponized’ Medicaid Funds, Minnesota Says in Lawsuit

More Noem Testimony

Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem fielded bipartisan criticism, including for the deaths of citizens in Minnesota, during yesterday’s Senate oversight hearing. She will be testifying again today, this time before the House Judiciary Committee.

Angélica Franganillo Diaz reports that Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) focused on a $220 million government-funded TV campaign featuring Noem. The senator said his research showed the contracts weren’t bid out; that one media firm got the work just days after it came into existence, and another firm doing the ad campaign is headed by the spouse of Noem’s former spokesperson.

• “I’m not quibbling with people having qualified friends,” Kennedy said. “But a fifth to a quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayer money troubles me.”
• “How do you square that concern for waste, which I share, with the fact that you have spent $220 million running television advertisements that feature you prominently?” Kennedy asked.

Also on Capitol Hill today, the CEO of the feds’ tax collection arm will face lawmakers’ questions for the first time since taking the reins. Frank Bisignano, who is both IRS CEO and Social Security commissioner, will appear before the House Ways and Means Committee, where members are sure to have questions about creating stability after the Trump administration shrank the 100,000-employee workforce by a quarter. Erin Slowey previews the hearing.

See Also: Tillis to Stall Nominees in Senate Over Frustrations With DHS

Crockett, Crenshaw Lose; Cornyn in Runoff

Three House members lost primaries in Texas and others may need to win runoffs to seek re-election in November. Here’s a rundown from Greg Giroux :

Sen. John Cornyn is headed toward a May 26 Republican runoff against Attorney General Ken Paxton. Cornyn was leading 42%-41% in a contest that eliminated Rep. Wesley Hunt. Watch to see if Trump, who stayed out of the primary, now makes an endorsement.

The GOP winner will face state Rep. James Talarico, who defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic Senate primary.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R) also lost his primary to state Rep. Steve Toth, who was backed by Sen. Ted Cruz, while scandal-plagued Rep. Tony Gonzales is in a runoff; Reps. Christian Menefee (D) and Al Green (D) could be headed to a member-vs-member runoff; and first-term Rep. Julie Johnson (D) may face a runoff against her House predecessor, Colin Allred.

See Also:

• Texas GOP Fight Intensifies as Democrats Eye Senate Takeover
• ‘Mass Confusion’ in Dallas Voting Prompts Two-Hour Extension

Eye on the Job Market

After a gloomy start-of-the-year report, today’s update will be closely watched when the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas releases job-cut data covering the month of February.

The firm’s report for January logged the largest number of job-cut announcements for that month since the depths of the Great Recession in 2009. It also showed a decline in companies’ intentions to hire.

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