Senate Republicans will embark on a planned failure today — and they’re making it extra slow and extra painful.
Starting this afternoon the GOP will formally start trying to pass the SAVE America Act, a national voter ID law (read our analysis here). It’s going nowhere, but Trump (who’s visiting the Hill today) insists it should be the centerpiece of Republicans’ midterm agenda, despite polls, analysts, and many fellow Republicans all saying voters are mainly worried about the cost of living.
Even many state-level Republicans are skeptical of the president’s push, which includes his calls to ban mail-in voting. Problem is, voting by mail is popular in some conservative areas.
- “If you make it harder for people in rural areas to vote, you make it more difficult for us to win,” Matt Wylie, a GOP strategist based in South Carolina, told Alexandra Samuels..
So Senate Majority Leader John Thune will put the bill on the floor and allow an extended debate — potentially eating up two weeks or more — to show he’s trying to achieve Trump’s goals, and also to make it fully evident he doesn’t have the votes (Lillianna Byington explains here).
“I’ve never chosen to get into a fight that I knew I was going to lose,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told Bloomberg News last week.
Some Republicans want to change the Senate filibuster rule to make passage possible, but (spoiler alert) they don’t have the votes for that either.
The time and energy devoted to this effort shows how Trump’s conspiracies can consume his party. Despite studies and investigations repeatedly showing voter fraud is not a major factor in elections, the president has convinced many supporters it’s a scourge. Now his MAGA backers insist something is done about it.
But try selling that to swing voters worried about rising gas prices.
With Friends Like These
It turns out that insulting other countries, slapping them with tariffs, threatening to invade, and launching a major war without consultation doesn’t engender goodwill.
Trump is finding this out as his calls for help clearing the Strait of Hormuz go largely unheeded.
The issue has also resulted in Trump seeking to delay by “a month or so” a summit with China. He said late yesterday that was because of his need to manage the war, after earlier telling the FT it could be a reprisal if China failed to help in the strait.
- “That’s his war, not our war,” said Wu Xinbo, a former adviser for China’s Foreign Ministry.
China isn’t the only country reluctant to help. The same seems to go for the UK and Japan.
While saying he wants a plan to open the strait to traffic, UK PM Keir Starmer said his country “will not be drawn into the wider war.”
Japan’s reluctance could complicate Thursday’s scheduled White House visit by Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi. Trump was scheduled to meet behind closed doors with the Japanese ambassador yesterday.
Overnight Strike: Israel said it killed Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, in an overnight strike. If Larijani’s death is confirmed, he would be one of the most high-profile Iranian officials to be killed since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the now 18-day long war. Read More
Further Coverage:
- Trump Delay of Xi Talks Buys China Time to Game Out Iran War
- Rubio Urges Korea to Back Hormuz Efforts as Trump Ups Pressure
- Hormuz Escape Route Suggests Ships Navigating on Iran’s Terms
Now Read This
Unconventional Judge: A little-known judge who leads the administration’s immigration courts plays a major role in Trump’s deportation project. Celine Castronuovo has a must-read profile on Judge Teresa Riley.
SEC-Ya-Later: Meg Ryan (not that one) quit her job as the SEC’s top watchdog after just over six months in the job. She was an unusual pick from the start, per Nicola M. White.
Noem More: Top Congressional Democrats referred Kristi Noem to the DOJ, accusing her of lying under oath in her recent testimony, according to Angélica Franganillo Diaz. A Homeland Security spokesperson said any such claim is “FALSE,” but the move suggests Democrats aren’t finished with Noem.
Ill(inois) Will: A wave of pent-up ambition will spill over in today’s Democratic primary in Illinois, reports Greg Giroux. Five House Democrats with more than 85 years of service between them are either retiring or running for Senate. Those up for Senate hope to replace Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat who is retiring after holding his seat for more than four decades.
SCOTUS Review: The Supreme Court will hold an expedited hearing in April on Trump’s attempt to revoke deportation protections for 350,000 Haitians and Syrians who have been granted permission to live and work in the US. The court could rule by July, per Greg Stohr.
Go Deeper With BGOV
While there is bipartisan support for housing bills aimed at boosting affordability, the House and Senate still need to resolve some issues, BGOV legislative analyst Galen Bacharier writes.
The Senate bill incorporates elements of the House’s proposal (
Eye on the Economy
As the Federal Reserve starts its two-day rate-setting meeting in Washington, the Iran war has some economists using the S word — stagflation.
The rare combination of an economic slowdown and rising prices appears likely only if the disruptions to oil supplies persist, according to Vince Golle and Matthew Boesler, but it also can’t be totally discounted. Some analysts think some elements are coming together.
Here’s what you need to know about what stagflation is, and what the current risks look like.
The Washington advocacy playbook is evolving toward a model where energy policy, industrial policy, and national security policy increasingly overlap, writes Bracewell’s Scott Segal. Lobbyists who understand those intersections—and can explain them clearly to policymakers—will have a distinct advantage.
This shift comes at a time when data centers now sit at the intersection of energy policy, transmission development, natural gas infrastructure, nuclear power, and federal permitting reform, Segal says. Read More
What’s Next 🍀
It’s St. Patrick’s Day, so we’ll have the traditional visit from the Irish Taoiseach to the White House
Trump goes to Capitol Hill for the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon. Today’s Congress Tracker details how the president may push the SAVE America Act during the event.
The Federal Reserve starts its two-day meeting to decide on rates
Data on pending US home sales will be released at 10am
House appropriators will hear from the US Capitol Police chief on the agency’s budget request
The House is set to vote on a bill under suspension of the rules to reauthorize small business programs, a first test of Trump’s order not to send him any bills but the SAVE Act.
Seen Elsewhere
Lawyers for the man accused of planting pipe bombs on Jan. 6, 2021 are arguing that he’s protected by Trump’s blanket pardon, Politico reports.
US tells Cuba that its president must step down, sources told the New York Times.
Many young Trump supporters are questioning why they voted for him, with some saying they are less enthusiastic about voting in the midterms, the Washington Post reports.
A fight is breaking out over plans to build a casinoin Tysons, Axios reports.
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