Congress: The Senate & The House

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🥊 Cortez Masto's counterpunch

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) is riding to the rescue of centrist Senate Democratic candidates across the map, making her latest move in Michigan, where she endorsed Rep. Haley Stevens in the party's divisive primary.

Why it matters: Senate primaries in Maine, Michigan and Minnesota are turning into proxy wars between the party's centrist and progressive wings, with divisions over strategy and ideology.

• 🔥 The conflict has spread to the Democratic caucus, with progressives openly defying Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer by propping up candidates he has passed over.
• But Cortez Masto is emerging as a leading moderate counterweight to senators challenging Schumer's judgment.

Driving the news: ModSquad, a group led by Cortez Masto that backs moderate Senate Democrats, endorsed Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) in the state's Senate primary today, as we reported.

• Cortez Masto's 2026 endorsements now include moderate Senate candidates in Michigan, Maine and Minnesota.
• That puts her firmly on the opposite side of progressives, who are backing insurgent candidates.

💪 The intrigue: Cortez Masto's allies shot back at their progressive peers today, arguing they risk nominating unelectable candidates who could lose in the general election.

• "Poll after poll shows Haley is the only Democrat who can be trusted to win a competitive general election," ModSquad executive director Jennifer Mueller said in a statement.
• The party "can't take a risk on unproven candidates," Mueller added.

Zoom in: ModSquad points to its record in tough races to bolster its case.

• 🏆 In 2024, the group backed Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), all of whom won in states President Trump carried.

Zoom out: Progressives aren't just endorsing their preferred candidates — they're also deploying fundraising muscle.

• 💰 Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) hosted a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., for Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who has also secured endorsements from Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Gallego.
• 📢 Warren, in a statement this week endorsing Platner, said he was "going to flip Maine and then actually deliver change for working people in the Senate."
• In Minnesota, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan has been endorsed by a "who's who" of the Senate's progressive wing, including seven sitting senators.

Stevens is battling state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and progressive Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan's Aug. 4 primary.

• McMorrow has notched support from Heinrich, Warren and Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
• El-Sayed has the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

— Stephen Neukam

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💥 Dems' immigration offensive

Senate Democrats are preparing to use a procedural maneuver to revive a Biden-era immigration policy — or at least get caught trying, we have learned.

Why it matters: Democrats are using the Congressional Review Act to go on offense on immigration, an issue that contributed to their defeat in 2024.

• They plan to force a vote on a CRA bill as soon as next month to reinstate automatic extensions of work permits for hundreds of thousands of immigrants.
• The goal is to get Republicans on the record on a policy Democrats argue has harmed the economy — and forced thousands of immigrants to lose their work authorizations.

🚘 Driving the news: Rosen is gathering support from the 30 senators needed to force a CRA vote.

• Last year, the Trump administration issued a rule ending the automatic renewal of work permits, effectively reversing the Biden-era policy.
• Rosen and her allies believe they have 29 session days left to collect signatures and force a floor vote before the CRA's 60-day window closes.
• The CRA resolution would be subject to a simple majority vote. If it passed, Trump would almost certainly veto it.

🔎 Zoom in: Democrats are tying the immigration rule to what they describe as Trump's broader inability to address the affordability crisis.

• "At a time when costs are going up and our economy is being weakened, this ill-conceived rule will make matters worse and hurt thousands of hard-working families," Rosen said.
• They also warn that workers and businesses will suffer as immigrants are forced out of jobs due to massive application backlogs.

— Stephen Neukam

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🏛️ New twist in Stephen Miller doxxing case

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) subpoenaed a progressive prosecutor in Northern Virginia over how she handled the alleged doxxing of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Axios' Marc Caputo and Cuneyt Dil report.

• Jordan's decision to involve Congress marks a new escalation in an incident that pitted MAGA Republicans in D.C. against Democrat-aligned justice officials in the liberal enclave of Arlington County.

⚖️ Jordan subpoenaed Arlington's top local prosecutor, Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, for a raft of documents and communications about her handling of the accusation.

• At the center of the incident is Barbara Wien, a 66-year-old retiree who posted flyers of Miller's face, along with his home address, around his Arlington neighborhood.

Keep reading.

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✈️ Leak! Secret talks to end TSA crisis

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), nominated for Homeland Security secretary, has negotiated for weeks with centrist Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) on terms to end the Homeland Security shutdown, the N.Y. Times' Michael Gold scoops.

• Key provisions include requiring federal immigration agents to obtain judicial warrants "for forced home entry, unless in hot pursuit," and effectively barring civil immigration enforcement actions at sensitive locations, including hospitals, churches, schools and polling places.

👂 What I'm hearing: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is good with the Mullin-Gottheimer terms, though he'd prefer including a requirement that immigration agents "stop hiding behind masks with impunity." But Senate negotiations aren't as far along.

• Keep reading (gift link).

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🏛️ Dems plot to boot Schumer

Several Democratic senators — including a liberal "Fight Club" of Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tina Smith of Minnesota — are incensed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's midterm strategy and are plotting to get the New Yorker to step aside as leader, The Wall Street Journal reports:

"In more than four dozen interviews with Democratic senators, candidates, current and former congressional aides, activists and advisers, many said the concern about Schumer's leadership was widespread. Meetings between Democratic chiefs of staff on Senate business often veer into airing discontent with Schumer and how to pressure him to step aside as leader after November's elections."

Schumer told the Journal that criticism of congressional leaders "goes with the territory — it's true for anyone who's a leader." He said his "support in the caucus is deep and strong, because people feel I've done a very good job" of positioning Dems to flip the Senate in November.

• But liberal senators contend Schumer "favors centrist candidates in some key races and is disregarding the enthusiasm a new crop of outsiders is stoking," the Journal reports.

Keep reading (gift link).

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🤫 Hush-hush shutdown talks

House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington is in informal talks with Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham about a second reconciliation bill to fund the Pentagon — and potentially DHS.

Why it matters: With DHS talks stalled and a defense supplemental in limbo, reconciliation may be Republicans' only path forward.

• 🤝 "I need to have a strong partner in the Senate, and I've got that with Lindsey," Arrington (R-Texas) told us today. "He's been as enthusiastic as anybody … on a reconciliation 2.0."
• "Reconciliation is the only path to a defense supplemental," he said, adding that he is open to adding DHS funding to any reconciliation bill. "I'm not opposed to it. … It's going to become a public safety issue."

🚘 Driving the news: Senate Majority Leader John Thune called funding DHS via reconciliation an "option" today.

• Graham (R-S.C.) is gathering his GOP members for a meeting early this week to discuss a second reconciliation bill, Punchbowl News reported.
• "I'd like regular order, but I'm ready to go on reconciliation," Graham said over the weekend of supplemental funding for Iran. "We need to do another one, no matter what."

State of play: A group of Senate Republicans, including Graham, was spotted at White House this evening, where they were expected to discuss DHS funding.

• However, President Trump has been urging Republicans to hold out: "Don't settle. … We have something bigger."

🔎 Zoom in: Trump said yesterday he won't make a deal with Democrats to reopen DHS until they pass the SAVE America Act, the GOP's signature election bill.

• The Senate is entering week two of its "extended debate" on the SAVE Act, but it's all but certain to fail.
• The president also rejected Thune's request yesterday to strip out money for ICE and fund the agency through reconciliation.

💬 What they're saying: Arrington and GOP leaders are pitching a broader package — but one that must be paid for.

• "It won't just be defense. … It has to have offsets in savings," Arrington said. "We have a boatload of savings from fraud and improper payments."
• Arrington has also floated using tariff revenue and changes to Affordable Care Act cost-sharing reduction payments as potential offsets.
• Conservatives welcomed the idea of adding funding for Iran to reconciliation 2.0, but they also made clear it would need to be paid for.

The bottom line: The window for passing a reconciliation bill is closing.

• "We've probably got 60 to 90 days at best," Arrington said. "You've got to have this thing wrapped up before July 4."

— Hans Nichols and Kate Santaliz

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🔥 Post-McConnell fight gets nasty

Screenshot: Ad from Win It Back

The race to replace retiring former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has turned ugly over immigration. 🥊 Why it matters: The seat is safely Republican, but the primary is shaping up to be one of the cycle's most bruising intraparty battles. Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron and business executive Nate Morris are leading contenders. However, none has secured Trump's endorsement. Driving the news: A Club for Growth-aligned super PAC, Win It Back, launched a new TV ad titled "Amnesty Andy" targeting Barr over immigration. "In México, they call him Amnesty Andy and illegal aliens' best amigo," a narrator says in the ad. 💰In under a week, Win it Back PAC dropped nearly $750,000 on the spot, airing in the Kentucky markets of Lexington, Evansville, Louisville and Bowling Green, according to AdImpact. The group has also worked to paint Barr as closely aligned with McConnell, saying in another ad that he was "groomed" by the former majority leader. The other side: Barr pushed back, saying in a statement: "Let's be clear: I never have and never will support amnesty." 🥃 In one of Barr's recent ads titled "Cheers to ICE," he flexed his pro-immigration enforcement credentials, referencing how he supported expanding the number of ICE agents in the "one big, beautiful bill." — Kate Santaliz

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👀 War Powers rebels

Data: House roll call votes; Chart: Axios Visuals House Democrats are taking another shot at limiting Trump's military campaign in Iran this week, setting up a repeat vote after a failed effort early this month. Why it matters: It will be the second Iran War Powers vote attempt from House Democrats and one of several by this Congress over Trump's military interventions in the Middle East and South America. 💥 Four Democrats broke ranks last time and opposed the measure. However, one of those Democrats, Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), told Jewish Insider he plans to vote yes this time. The two lone Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), are not expected to flip. The big picture: GOP lawmakers have largely thrown their support behind Trump's military actions against Iran, arguing that an imminent threat to U.S. national security justified the preemptive attack. 🪖 However, some Republicans have drawn red lines over putting boots on the ground in Iran. — Kate Santaliz

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Senate confirms Markwayne Mullin to lead Homeland Security as TSA standoff deepens The Senate confirmed him as homeland security secretary late Monday, approving President Donald Trump’s nominee to take over the embattled department after the firing of Kristi Noem during a public backlash over the administration’s immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations. Read more.

Why this matters: Mullin, a Republican senator from Oklahoma known for his close friendship with Trump, has tried to present himself as a steady hand, saying his goal as secretary would be to get the department off the front page of the news. He takes over at a difficult time as Trump has ordered ICE agents to bolster airport security during a budget standoff in Congress.   Routine funding for the Department of Homeland Security has lapsed since Feb. 14, leading to long waits at U.S. airports as Transportation Security Administration agents call out rather than work without pay. Democrats are demanding the Trump administration make changes in immigration enforcement operations following the deaths of two U.S. citizens during protests this year in Minneapolis. Trump has refused the latest proposal, and talks have stalled.   Senators confirmed him on a largely party-line vote, 54-45. Republican Sen. Rand Paul voted against Mullin during the committee vote, and again Monday. Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico joined the other Republicans in voting to confirm the nominee.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ California Democrats condemn immigration arrest at San Francisco airport   Senators consider deal to fund Homeland Security but not ICE enforcement as airport lines snarl   ICE officers aren’t trained in airport security. Can they help ease long lines?   Some state officials say shifting mail ballot deadline will complicate plans for November elections   Pentagon will remove media offices after judge reinstates New York Times press credentials   Voice of America journalists allege Trump wants to make outlet a propaganda source   Trump administration to pay French company $1B to walk away from US offshore wind leases   Judge appoints new US attorney for New Jersey after Habba, other officials were disqualified   Bureau plans to use mail carriers in census test already facing criticism   Judge cites ‘stand your ground’ law in clearing 3 more Florida officers in shooting of a UPS driver   Nebraska seeks to end retroactive Medicaid coverage. Hospitals say it will have ‘disastrous’ impact   Trump makes a detour to Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis during Iran war

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⚡ Markwayne is moving in: Outgoing Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) was sworn in as the next Homeland Security secretary today after being confirmed last night in a mostly party-line vote. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) tapped energy executive Alan Armstrong to fill Mullin's Senate seat. What to know about Mullin.

🚨 DHS deal up in smoke

Momentum toward reopening DHS evaporated today as Democrats drew a hard line on reforms to ICE, swiftly rejecting a proposal that GOP senators had only just persuaded President Trump to entertain.

Why it matters: The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down for more than five weeks — and the resistance from Democrats, paired with skepticism among some Republicans, including Trump, casts serious doubt on whether Congress can strike a deal this week.

• GOP senators had just persuaded Trump to back off his demands that the SAVE America Act be included in a DHS funding package, arguing that a narrower deal could pass the Senate.

But Democrats immediately shot down the latest proposal — and some Republicans framed it as a capitulation to Democrats.

• "Until we get the reforms that we want in ICE, we don't want to vote for ICE funding, knowing they already pre-funded it," Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told reporters, referencing the $75 billion ICE received in last year's "big, beautiful bill."
• "I don't want to vote to defund ICE, and I don't want to vote to cut ICE's funding.… I would hope that we would not, as Republicans, be defunding ICE," Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said.

Driving the news: Republicans sent Democrats a proposal today that would fund all of DHS except parts of ICE's enforcement operations.

• GOP leaders would then work to include additional funding for ICE in reconciliation 2.0.
• Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made clear that Democrats aren't budging without reforms to ICE — and that they plan on sending a counterproposal.

The other side: "A lot of the reforms are contingent on funding for ICE," Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Tuesday afternoon.

• "If you're not going to have funding, I don't know how all of a sudden now you can demand reforms."

Zoom out: Conservative Republicans also are uneasy with carving out ICE funding, and unconvinced that promises of future action through reconciliation will materialize.

• "I can't imagine why we're doing something where everybody in federal government is not getting paid while senators get paid," Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) tells us.
• And President Trump offered only lukewarm support: "We're going to take a good, hard look at it.… But I think any deal they make, I'm pretty much not happy with it."

At the same time, promises to include the SAVE America Act in that same reconciliation bill have been met with deep skepticism and outrage from conservatives, who say it wouldn't survive the Senate's Byrd bath.

• "This is gaslighting," the House Freedom Caucus posted today on X.

The intrigue: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said a deal to fund all of DHS but ICE would likely get "strong Democratic support" in his chamber.

• That's not going to make resisting a deal in the Senate any easier for Schumer. 

— Kate Santaliz

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🤝 Dems unify on Iran

House Democrats have clamped down on internal divisions ahead of an expected vote to constrain Trump's ability to wage war with Iran, we've learned from lawmakers familiar with the matter.

Why it matters: That apparent Democratic unity gives the measure a more realistic chance of passing the House, with a pair of isolationist Republicans having voted for it last time.

• House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) can afford only one GOP defection on an otherwise party-line vote.

🪖 Four House Democrats — Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Jared Golden (Maine), Greg Landsman (Ohio) and Juan Vargas (Calif.) — broke ranks this month and voted against a resolution to immediately end the conflict.

• A senior House Democrat and another Democrat familiar with the matter told us that most, if not all, of the four defectors are expected to flip and vote for the measure this time.

💥 The four Democratic defectors were subject to intense criticism from the party's grassroots, and as the conflict has dragged on, Democratic opposition to it has only calcified.

• Landsman said Friday that he would flip to "yes" and urged his colleagues to do the same.
• A Cuellar spokesperson declined to say how he would vote but pointed us to an alternative war powers resolution he supported that would give the administration until March 30 — just six days from now — to wind down the war.
• A spokesperson for Golden declined to comment, and a spokesperson for Vargas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Go deeper

— Andrew Solender

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Live updates: DHS officials address Congress as travel delays worsen

As travel disruptions deepen and senators race to clinch a proposal to end the Homeland Security shutdown, House lawmakers are holding a hearing to discuss the impacts of the funding lapse. Acting TSA administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill said multiple airports are experiencing greater than 40% callout rates. "At this point, we have to look at all options on the table. We don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing how we maintain our operations," McNeill said. "And that does require us to, at some point, make very difficult choices as to which airports we might try to keep open and which ones we might have to shut down as our callout rates increase." Read more.

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Senate staring contest

Senate Republicans and Democrats are in a high-stakes staring contest over funding the Department of Homeland Security, with Democrats refining their demands to include "guardrails" on money authorized in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Why it matters: More insults were traded today than actual counteroffers.

• 📫 The one offer that was delivered — from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — was quickly dismissed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
• "It's not even close to being real," Thune barked. "They know better."

But Schumer is holding firm. "Democrats sent Republicans our counteroffer on legislation to reopen DHS, pay TSA workers, while at the same time rein in ICE with commonsense guardrails," Schumer said.

• "Our offer is a reasonable, good-faith proposal."

🚘 Driving the news: Thune plans to go to the floor tomorrow with a Republican proposal to fund TSA, FEMA and the Coast Guard, while punting ICE funding to a reconciliation package later this year.

• That vote is likely to fall short of the 60 votes required to move forward.

The other side: Democrats insisted they were not making new demands and said they were simply clarifying their position: no additional money for ICE enforcement.

• "They funded ICE with the big, beautiful bill," Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) said. "But their contention is that they can use that money however they deem necessary, without any constraints."
• "It's ridiculous," Luján added.
• "One of the issues is that, right now, much of HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) is effectively operating within ICE, doing" enforcement and removal operations, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said.
• 🪄 "It's an illusory solution if they can staff ICE with personnel from CBP and HSI."

The bottom line: Frustration ran high among Republicans, with lawmakers warning that Americans are in danger if DHS stays unfunded.

• "People are going to get hurt," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said.
• "I went down there a couple days ago to tell the president there was a deal with the Senate. And now, all of a sudden, they've fundamentally changed the deal they agreed to."

— Hans Nichols

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💥 Dems' ethics dilemma

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and some of his rank-and-file members are articulating increasingly discordant ideas of what "due process" looks like for Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.).

Why it matters: Those divisions could spill out into public view very soon, with Cherfilus-McCormick — who has denied all wrongdoing — set to face a public House Ethics Committee hearing tomorrow.

• Some Democrats are prepared to call for Cherfilus-McCormick to resign or be expelled as soon as the Ethics Committee makes its determination, Axios reported today.
• But Jeffries and his leadership team have signaled they will continue to defend Cherfilus-McCormick until the resolution of her federal criminal trial, which starts on April 20 and could go on much longer.
• 🔥 This divergence has stoked internal tensions: "People have an issue on all sides, and no one's comfortable," one senior House Democrat told Axios.

🚪 In a closed-door House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee meeting yesterday, Jeffries noted the Ethics Committee often pauses its investigations while a federal prosecution into the same matter is ongoing, according to multiple lawmakers who were present.

• But one House Democrat predicted that "people are going to come out" after the Ethics Committee process concludes rather than wait until a judicial verdict.

— Andrew Solender

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• 🏛️ Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) tells Axios that she will "most likely" vote for House Democrats' resolution to constrain Trump from waging war with Iran the next time it comes up for a vote. Go deeper.

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🎾 Thune's next move

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Republican senators tonight that they need to "work together to ensure that DHS, including ICE and Border Patrol, is funded in a sustainable manner for the rest of the year."

Why it matters: Thune appears to be holding out hope that he can fund the rest of DHS through the traditional appropriations process "so that we can then focus our reconciliation efforts on ICE and the Border Patrol," according to an email Thune sent to Senate offices.

• ✈️ The guidance follows Trump's unilateral bid to try to end the government shutdown for TSA workers by directing his new Homeland Security secretary to "immediately pay our TSA Agents."
• "I've asked Susan [Collins, Appropriations Committee chair] to draft the text to fund as many portions of DHS as we can. We will hotline that resolution soon, and I hope we can clear that bill by UC," meaning unanimous consent, Thune wrote.
• "This is not the outcome that we wanted, but unfortunately, Democrats have shown themselves unwilling to support law enforcement."

Democrats were unwilling to budge on their demands for ICE reforms — and new restrictions on Big Beautiful Bill Act spending — in exchange for funding the Department of Homeland Security, which has been shut down for 40 days.

👀 State of play: It's unclear if either party can resurrect the negotiations to fund the rest of the Department of Homeland Security.

• "We've got three other agencies to deal with," Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said.
• Republicans also seemed to indicate that FEMA, the Coast Guard and other DHS agencies and departments could get funded via traditional appropriations.
• But the TSA — and the long lines at airports — were always the linchpin to any deal.

— Hans Nichols

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😤 Mad Mike emerges

Speaker Mike Johnson lost his cool on the House floor, telling Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) she would bear responsibility for "thousands of American deaths" if she votes against reauthorizing FISA, according to sources familiar with the exchange.

• "I was getting a spanking on the floor," Luna told us of the previously unreported dustup yesterday.

Why it matters: Johnson brands himself as a "happy warrior" who never loses his temper, but the battle over extending the government's powers to conduct surveillance on foreign interests in the U.S. under the FISA law is showing the limits of that persona.

• President Trump and GOP leaders are pushing hard for a clean 18-month FISA extension, but a bipartisan coalition of members is deeply opposed, with conservatives threatening to tank the party-line rule vote.
• ⚡️ Pressure from the White House and fears that the key surveillance tool might lapse are pushing the speaker to the edge.

Driving the news: Johnson got heated with Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Luna about their FISA opposition during informal floor conversations amid yesterday's votes, with lawmakers describing Johnson as visibly frustrated and upset.

• Luna told us today that her position on FISA, which she won't support unless it's attached to the SAVE America Act, hasn't changed.
• "They already told me that if it doesn't pass, I'm going to be responsible for thousands of Americans dying, which I would actually say, if Senate Democrats and Leader Thune doesn't pass FISA with voter ID, then they're responsible, not me," Luna told us yesterday.
• She declined to say whether it was Johnson who told her that, but two sources who saw the exchange said it was Johnson.

😡 What they're saying: Johnson "was upset. Just frustrated," Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) told us, describing the exchange.

• Burchett said Johnson was speaking at a "high pitch," adding, "He's upset. I mean, they got him going every which direction."
• Johnson's office declined to comment for this story.

The other side: Johnson has stressed that FISA is a vital national security tool, telling reporters yesterday that "roughly 65% of the president's daily security briefing comes from collection out of Section 702 of FISA."

• He added: "It's not something to play around with."
• Johnson joined House Freedom Caucus members and other FISA-skeptical lawmakers at the White House this morning for a briefing on reauthorizing the surveillance authority, we previously reported.

— Kate Santaliz

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Trump signs order to pay TSA employees after Congress fails to agree on DHS funding

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed a promised executive action to pay Transportation Security Administration employees after a bid to end the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security abruptly fell apart in Congress.

https://apnews.com/article/senate-tsa-homeland-security-airports-trump-672467393ae043e47938874e7aaddcd6?

ps:Because of him they couldn't reach an agreement, so he wants to show that he will do it!!!!!!

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✈️ Johnson's not laughing

Sharp differences between House and Senate GOP leaders burst into the open this afternoon, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune's two-step plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security and then ICE the first casualty.

Why it matters: The collapse was public — and painful. Blame flew freely, with Speaker Mike Johnson and President Trump weighing in.

• ‼️ "This gambit that was done last night is a joke," Johnson said.
• Johnson claimed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was the "engineer" of the plan, but his anger at the Senate — where not a single GOP lawmaker objected — was unmistakable.
• "I'm quite convinced that it can't be that every Senate Republican read the language of this bill."

State of play: Johnson insisted that Trump backs his plan to pass an eight-week DHS funding bill and send it to an empty Senate, where most senators are already airborne.

• "I spoke to the President a few moments ago," Johnson said today. "He understands exactly what we're doing and why, and he supports it."
• 🚨 Thune was spotted — and shamed — by a GOP House member as he strode through the airport.
• The speaker's claim was bolstered by Trump's actions, as the president followed through on his plan to pay TSA employees by shifting funds with an executive order.
• 📺 Trump later piled on, telling Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich, "You can't have a bill that's not going to fund — in my opinion, you can't have a bill that's not going to fund ICE."

Driving the news: Johnson would have faced major problems trying to pass the Senate deal. By contrast, he's unlikely to have trouble moving a short-term extension through the House.

• House Conference Chair Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) told us in a phone interview that the GOP conference will be united in its support for the CR.
• "The speaker had a call with all the members and addressed a lot of their issues, and everybody wants border security," McClain said.
• McClain also said she had not heard from Senate GOP leadership and found that surprising, though she had spoken to Trump on the phone twice today.

Zoom out: In the first year of Trump's second term, there have been only minor differences between Republicans in the House and Senate.

• Recall the one-bill vs. two-bill debate on reconciliation 1.0 (which Thune ultimately won).
• But over the past 13 months, Republicans have largely set aside ideological and institutional differences, overcoming razor-thin margins to advance Trump's agenda.
• Johnson insisted today that he and Thune are still on the same page.

🔎 Zoom in: There's always another path in Congress. Deals often die a thousand deaths before coming back to life.

• Even so, this DHS deal was supposed to be the easy part. The Senate expected the House to pass its plan and Trump to sign it.
• Both chambers were bracing for a tougher fight ahead over a second reconciliation bill — where they'll have to agree on funding, and offsets, for ICE and CBP.

— Hans Nichols and Kate Santaliz

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😡 Cherfilus-McCormick in hot seat

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will have to decide how to handle calls from a growing number of his members for Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) to resign.

Why it matters: Some of those lawmakers said they are at least open to voting to expel the Florida Democrat, creating substantial new pressure for her to be ousted from Congress after the House Ethics Committee found her guilty of dozens of charges.

• Cherfilus-McCormick, who is also under federal indictment, said in a statement today: "I look forward to proving my innocence. Until then, my focus remains where it belongs: showing up for the great people of Florida's 20th District who sent me to Washington to fight for them."

⚖️ Jeffries declined to weigh in until after the Ethics Committee meets in mid-April to vote on its recommendation, which could include fines, censure or expulsion.

• "I'm not going to get out ahead of the Ethics Committee process that will be completed upon our return, and then I have more to say," he told reporters today.

💬 By the numbers: More than half a dozen House Democrats said they think Cherfilus-McCormick should resign after the Ethics panel said this morning they found 25 of the 27 charges against her were "proven by clear and convincing evidence."

• Few had said so publicly before yesterday's hearing.
• But the nature of the allegations — she is accused of laundering $5 million in government disaster relief funds and funneling them into her campaign — has some Democrats increasingly uncomfortable with her continued presence in the House.

Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) told us her resignation would "be easier for everyone."

• Asked if he would vote to expel her, Peters said, "If someone's misbehaved in the way she's said to have misbehaved, I think every member of Congress, regardless of party, has to respond to that, and I think we will."

— Andrew Solender

ps:Well I agree she needs to resign!!!!!!!!

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How the Homeland Security deal unraveled and split Republican leaders in Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — For several hours Friday, in the stillness before dawn, the Senate appeared to have finally figured out how to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security before it faced the longest partial shutdown in U.S. history.

https://apnews.com/article/congress-shutdown-johnson-thune-dhs-deal-unraveled-4ad4076c09705ca4bbebbdbcac7a0e75?

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🏛️ Health cuts may help fund war

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Republicans are considering reductions in federal health spending to help pay for a budget bill containing as much as $200 billion to fund the Iran war and immigration enforcement, Axios' Peter Sullivan reports. Why it matters: New efforts to rein in health programs open the GOP up to election-year attacks that they're cutting health care to pay for an unpopular war. Top House Republicans are looking at health care offsets addressing fraud in federal programs, as they did during last year's debate over the budget law that made deep cuts to federal Medicaid spending and imposed first-time work requirements. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) tells Axios: "There's other items we're looking at right now, especially in the areas of fraud and waste and abuse that we're working through with our members." Scalise noted the need to be able to find the votes, saying "Obviously we need to put the vote coalition together." House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) is reviving an idea, considered last year, to fund Affordable Care Act payments known as cost-sharing reductions. The Congressional Budget Office previously found the move would lower overall benchmark ACA premiums by 11%, but result in 300,000 more uninsured people. 🔮 What we're watching: Arrington said he wants something passed into law in "60 to 90 days," which is a speedy timeline. Keep reading. ps:This is what he has wanted all along, so he knew even before being voted into office he needed money to fund his war/s that he claimed all along he didn't want because he is a president of peace!!!!!!!!!!

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🔎 Democratic hit list

Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios

If Dems win the House in midterms (likely), expect them to target moguls and major corporations for subpoenas, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei writes in his new newsletter for CEOs. The target list includes monopolies, AI and social media. 👀 C-suite only: Request beta peek at Jim's newsletter. The reality: Dems know the White House will blow off subpoenas, same as during President Trump's first term. The strategy: Businesses and billionaires have to answer subpoenas. So paint them as villains to undermine Trump. Look for the subpoena list to include: Law firms that signed deals with President Trump. Media giants that settled. Donors to the White House ballroom. Top execs who negotiated to give the government a stake in their companies. Profit-enablers of Trump relatives or families of Cabinet members. ps:That's all these people do now: Is tit for tat and nothing else!!!!!

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🔥 It's backlash time

Senate Republicans are starting to publicly say what they've whispered since Friday: they thought President Trump was for a DHS funding deal before he was against it.

Why it matters: No DHS deal moves without Trump's explicit backing — whether through budget reconciliation or a bipartisan agreement.

• "I had every reason to believe President Trump and House Republicans were on board," Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said on X.
• "Based on that understanding, I declined to call in an objection," Lee said.
• MAGA loyalists are up in arms over the Senate GOP's failure to register a late-night objection to the deal, which then failed in the House.

Zoom in: It's been something of a mystery why House and Senate Republicans reacted so differently to the same deal, which would have funded all of Homeland Security except parts of ICE and Customs and Border Patrol.

• Privately, Senate Republicans — including GOP leaders — thought Trump would sign the bill into law if it passed the House.
• As of Thursday night, signals from the White House suggested Trump would sign it, according to a person familiar with the matter.
• By Friday afternoon, however, Speaker Mike Johnson was calling it a "joke" — and said Trump agreed with him.
• Hours later, Trump confirmed to Fox News that he would not support "a bill that's not going to fund ICE."

What's next: Senators see two paths forward.

• Option 1: Restart bipartisan talks. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Appropriations Committee, is exploring this path and said it's "dangerous" not to fund CBP and parts of ICE.
• Option 2: Pass a bill with a simple majority, either by abolishing the filibuster or using budget reconciliation. The votes aren't there to repeal the filibuster outright, but there's a growing understanding that the most viable path to funding DHS will run through reconciliation.

— Hans Nichols

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✂️ Health cuts 2.0

Speaking of reconciliation: Republicans are talking about squeezing cost savings out of health care again.

Why it matters: The Trump administration needs about $200 billion to pay for the Iran war and immigration enforcement.

• ✂️ With Democrats united against funding for either, that leaves budget reconciliation, and the need for cuts.
• "I think Mike Johnson will be smart," Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told Axios about the idea of spending offsets.

Zoom in: House Budget Committee chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) is reviving the idea of cost-sharing reductions for the Affordable Care Act. Those were considered in last year's reconciliation package.

• The Congressional Budget Office previously found the move would lower overall benchmark ACA premiums by 11% but result in 300,000 more uninsured people.
• "There's other items we're looking at right now, especially in the areas of fraud and waste and abuse that we're working through with our members," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told Axios.

The bottom line: Arrington said he wanted something passed into law in "60 to 90 days."

— Peter Sullivan