Swalwell under investigation by LA county sheriff
Eric Swalwell is under investigation by the Los Angeles County sheriff’s department’s special victims bureau. The investigation involves the case of an adult female who reported being sexually assaulted by Swalwell in West Hollywood in July 2018.
“The investigation remains in its preliminary stages and is ongoing. Investigators are in the process of gathering information, reviewing available evidence, and conducting follow up inquiries as part of a comprehensive investigative process,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement. “Once the investigation is completed the investigators will present the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for filing consideration.”
Eric Trump will accompany his father on the president’s trip to China next month. The president’s son oversees the Trump business empire, including Donald Trump’s real estate, golf and blockchain investments.
“Eric is deeply proud of his father and the accomplishments of this term, and is attending in a personal capacity as a supportive son. He does not have business ventures in China nor plans on doing business in China. He will not be participating in private meetings, but will instead stand alongside the president to mark this historic occasion,” Trump Organization spokeswoman Kimberly Benza told the Reuters.
The announcement is still likely to trigger concerns about Trump family conflicts of interest.
California governor Gavin Newsom announces special election for Swalwell's vacated House seat
A special election to fill Eric Swalwell’s vacant seat in Congress will be held 18 August, California governor Gavin Newsom announced today.
The special election for the 14th congressional district will fall roughly two months after California’s gubernatorial primary, a race Swalwell had appeared poised to win before he suspended his campaign, amid allegations of sexual assault and misconduct.
Updated
Legislators in Maine have passed a bill that would make it the first state to prohibit new data centers. The bill must still cross the governor’s desk.
Maine’s lawmakers voted to freeze approvals for data centers that require more than 20 megawatts of power until October 2027. The moratorium is designed to give a state-appointed council time to analyze the impact of the electricity-hungry facilities on the local grid and other utilities. The state’s Democratic governor, Janet Mills, must still sign the bill into law.
To date, 11 states are evaluating laws that would similarly pause or limit data centers from opening their doors.
The US military has struck another vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing four people.
US Southern Command announced the strike on social media. Yesterday, SouthCom similarly announced three strikes that killed seven people total.
Today’s “lethal kinetic strike” will bring the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the US military to at least 174 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.
JD Vance addressed US-Iran negotiations while speaking at a Turning Point USA event in Georgia, saying that despite mistrust, Iranian negotiators want to make a deal.
“There is a lot of, of course, mistrust between Iran and the United States of America. You are not going to solve that problem overnight,” the vice-president said. He added that Iranian negotiators wanted to make a deal. “I feel very good about where we are.”
Vance also addressed the absence of Erika Kirk, the widow of Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk. He said Kirk withdrew from the event due to threats on her life.
“I know that she did get some threats,” Vance said. “I was a little worried that we were going to have to cancel the event because Erika was not going to come, and she was very worried about it.”
The United States has eased sanctions against Venezuela, amid calls from Venezuelan leaders to lift the sanctions entirely.
The treasury department has issued a license allowing US companies to do business with Venezuela’s central bank, Banco Universal, Banco Digital de los Trabajadores and Banco del Tesoro.
Earlier today, Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez called for the United States to lift all sanctions on Venezuela, saying licenses do not provide long-term legal security. She also met with US assistant energy secretary Kyle Haustveit
Prosescutors ask court to throw out Proud Boys, Oath Keepers convictions
The justice department has asked a federal appeals court to throw out the seditious conspiracy convictions of several leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, who were involved in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
In a court filing today, the department asked the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to vacate the convictions – a step further than moves Donald Trump made to commute the leaders’ prison sentences last January when he granted clemency to all defendants charged in the attack.
The dismissal request names Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and members Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson and Jessica Watkins; and Proud Boys members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola.
The latest iteration of the Save America Act could disenfranchise millions of voters. Guardian democracy reporters George Chidi and Sam Levine will be taking readers’ questions at 12pm ET (4pm GMT) on Wednesday about its implications. You can post yours now.
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion.
George Chidi is the Guardian’s politics and democracy correspondent. His recent reporting has included looking at the states bringing in strict proof-0f-citizenship requirements to register to vote and covering efforts by the FBI to investigate Fulton county in Georgia over the 2020 election, the results of which are still challenged by Donald Trump’s supporters.
Guardian reporter Sam Levine has spent years focusing on voting rights in the US, including for our ongoing series The fight for democracy. His recent stories include covering fears about Donald Trump’s hopes to “take over the voting” in November’s midterms, as well as efforts to stop Trump limiting mail-in voting by civil liberties groups.
George and Sam will be online at 12pm ET (5PM BST) on Wednesday. Comments will be open until then and throughout the live Q&A.
Updated
Amid news that Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales will resign from Congress, two additional members of the House of Representatives are facing calls for expulsion: Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Republican Cory Mills.
Only six members have ever been expelled from the House in the 237 year history of the chamber. Most recently, former New York congressman George Santos was expelled from the House in 2023.
Cherfilus-McCormick is facing calls to resign or face expulsion after a House Ethics Committee found her guilty of stealing millions in Covid-19 relief funds, and funneling some of that money back into her campaign.
Mills is under investigation for alleged campaign finance violations as well as allegations of sexual misconduct. The allegations come just a year after a judge issued a protective order against Mills after a former girlfriend accused him of threatening to release sexually explicit images of her.
Answering questions from reporters today, House speaker Mike Johnson said Cherfilus-McCormick should be expelled from Congress, and said he was “looking into” the status of a probe into allegations against Mills.
Updated
Swalwell 'rightfully has no one working for him anymore', says chief of staff
Eric Swalwell “rightfully has no one working for him anymore”, his former chief of staff told The Hill in response to an inquiry about the sexual misconduct allegations against the former congressman.
“We will not be commenting on his behalf, relaying your request to him, or contacting/coordinating with him in any way,” wrote Benjamin Burnett, who noted the time Swalwell resigned, 2pm ET today. “He rightfully has no one working for him anymore. We work for the people of California’s 14th congressional district.”
Updated
More than two-thirds of American farmers said they cannot afford to purchase enough fertilizer to get through the year, according to a new survey from the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Of the more than 5,700 farmers who took the survey, representing every US state and Puerto Rico, 70% said fertilizer has become so expensive they will not be able to buy enough for the year. Farmers in the South have been hit hardest, followed by the north-east, West and then midwest.
“Spring planting decisions depend heavily on access to fertilizer and diesel fuel, both of which have been impacted by geopolitical risks that have disrupted global markets,” the Market Intel states. “Since the escalation of tensions in the Middle East, nitrogen fertilizer prices have risen more than 30%, while combined fuel and fertilizer costs have increased roughly 20% to 40%.”
94% of farmers said their financial situation has worsened or remained the same since last year.
Fed chair nominee to face Senate confirmation hearing next week
The Senate will hold its confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, the president’s pick to fill the vacant seat of Federal Reserve chair, next week, on 21 April.
Donald Trump nominated Warsh, an outspoken critic of the US central bank, amid attempts to influence policymaking at the Fed.
Both Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee are expected to probe Warsh about his wealth and ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as well as his views on the Fed’s independence.
Republican senator Thom Tillis has promised to block all nominees to chair the Fed until a Justice Department inquiry into the body’s independence can be completed.
In a statement today, Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren said: “There should be no hearing or vote in the Senate on Kevin Warsh’s nomination while the President continues his attempt to take over the Fed.”
Updated
Still reporting from the Semafor World Economy Conference, my colleague Joseph Gedeon adds:
Answering questions about Iran, senator Tim Sheehy said: “They want to kill everyone in this room.”
“That’s their statement, and you can believe it... they have done so with machetes, with machine guns, with bombs or rockets with missiles,” he said in response to a question from Semafor congressional bureau chief Burgess Everett.
Donald Trump’s personal cryptocurrency ventures are killing the industry’s chances of getting legislation passed, Anthony Scaramucci warned Tuesday afternoon.
“I would like the president to get out of the crypto business, because I think it’s hurting the ability to get these laws passed,” the former White House communications director for 10 days and crypto investor told the Semafor World Economy Conference.
Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, said the Trump administration was still preferable to Biden’s, which he accused of waging an outright “war on crypto”, but that the president’s meme coin launches had become a self-inflicted wound.
“These meme coins are going to hurt us – if you’re in opposition to the president and he’s launching meme coins which are down 96, 97% right now, that’s going to hurt our ability to get the legislation done that’s important for the industry.”
He also started with a Trump-inspired joke: “I came here to talk about Jesus”.
Here's a recap of the day so far
At a Los Angeles press conference, Lonna Drewes on Tuesday accused Eric Swalwell of drugging and raping her in 2018, telling reporters she “did not consent to any sexual activity.” Later, Swalwell officially resigned from Congress amid the threat of an expulsion vote and other misconduct allegations he has denied.
The fallout from the scandal continues on Capitol Hill. Ruben Gallego, the Democratic senator from Arizona, maintained that he had no knowledge of the rape and sexual assault allegations against Swalwell – his longtime friend and colleague. Gallego and Swalwell both served in the House together. A reporter pressed the senator pressed about how voters could trust him if he chooses to run for higher office when he didn’t know that his “best friend was engaging in inappropriate behavior”. Gallego replied plainly: “I messed up, I’m human. I trusted this man. I trusted him to watch my children. I would watch his children.”
The House still needs to pass a bill to fund several Department of Homeland Security (DHS) subagencies, like the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Coast Guard, amid a record-breaking partial government shutdown. The Senate advanced measure that remedies this funding lapse, but doesn’t include money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol, has stalled in the lower chamber. Now, House speaker Mike Johnson has to bring his fractured GOP conference together. Both he and John Thune, the Senate majority leader, are also on the clock to pass a budget bill that would fund ICE and CBP via reconciliation.
Meanwhile, House Democrats on Tuesday proposed creating a commission that would work with JD Vance to remove Donald Trump from office under the 25th amendment, should they determine he is no longer fit to serve. The measure, introduced by Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House judiciary committee, follows a series of statements from Trump, including his recent warning that Iran’s “whole civilization will die” if it did not capitulate to his demands, and a social media post that depicted him as Jesus Christ.
Donald Trump has said that talks with Iran could resume in Pakistan over next two days, according to an interview with the New York Post. “You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there,” Trump was quoted as saying.
The US state department said Tuesday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed-upon time and place. The state department “expressed hope” that the meeting between Israel and Lebanon would “lead to peace agreement”. This comes after Israel and Lebanon concluded their first direct diplomatic talks in decades, hosted by secretary of state Marco Rubio in Washington.
The US state department said Tuesday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed-upon time and place, following today’s meeting in Washington.
The US state department “expressed hope” that the talks between Israel and Lebanon would “lead to peace agreement”.
Israel and Lebanon concluded their first direct diplomatic talks in Washington today, hosted by US secretary of state Marco Rubio.
“This is about bringing a permanent end to 20 or 30 years of Hezbollah’s influence in this part of the world and the – not just the damage that it’s inflicted on Israel, the damage that it’s inflicted on the Lebanese people,” Rubio said today.
According to a statement from the US state department, Israel affirmed its commitment to working with Lebanon to “disarm” non-state “terror” groups and their infrastructure, Reuters reports.
Lebanon also reportedly called for a ceasefire and measures to address the humanitarian crisis. Israel also “expressed commitment” to direct negotiations to “resolve outstanding issues.”
Updated
Swalwell officially resigns following new accusations of drugging and raping a California woman
Eric Swalwell has officially left Congress, announcing in a statement that his resignation took effect at 2pm ET on Tuesday. The beleaguered lawmaker said that he would work with his staff to ensure that his constituents’ needs are met in the coming days.
This comes after another accuser, Lonna Drewes, alleged that Swalwell drugged and raped her in 2018. The California representative was facing an expulsion vote had he not stepped down today. Swalwell has denied allegations against him.
Updated
Trump weighs in on FISA debate heading to Capitol Hill
On Truth Social, Donald Trump weighed in on a key provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), that is set to expire next week.
The president called for a clean extension of section 702, which authorizes intelligence agencies to collect communications of foreign nationals outside the US, without the need for warrants or court orders. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence maintains that the information collected under 702, allows the government to protect the US and allies from “hostile foreign adversaries, including terrorists, proliferators, and spies, and to inform cybersecurity efforts”.
“I am asking Republicans to UNIFY, and vote together on the test vote to bring a clean Bill to the floor,” Trump said in his post. This comes as a number of hardline GOP lawmakers have pushed back against the provision, claiming that a clean extension would be a threat to Americans’ privacy. Trump initially suggested attaching his restrictive voter ID bill to FISA extension to satisfy conservative holdouts, who appeared unwilling to pass the bill without reforms.
However, Trump is now urging the Republican conference to keep things simple and “stick together” to pass a clean bill.
“I was a victim of the worst and most illegal abuse of FISA in our Nation’s History, by Radical Left Lunatics, who lied to the FISA Court to spy on my 2016 Presidential Campaign in their attempt to RIG the Election in favor of Crooked Hillary Clinton,” the president claimed baselessly on social media.
He added that the provision is “extremely important” to the US military, as the war on Iran continues. “I have spoken to many Generals about this, and they consider it VITAL. Not one said, even tacitly, that they can do without it,” Trump wrote.
House Democrats on Tuesday proposed creating a commission that would work with JD Vance to remove Donald Trump from office under the 25th amendment, should they determine he is no longer fit to serve.
The measure, introduced by Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House judiciary committee, follows a series of statements from Trump, including his recent warning that Iran’s “whole civilization will die” if it did not capitulate to his demands, and a social media post that depicted him as Jesus Christ.
Democratic lawmakers and other opponents, including the former CIA director John Brennan, have seized on those comments to argue that the 79-year-old president is no longer competent to lead the country, and that the US vice-president should work with Trump’s cabinet to remove him.
“Public trust in Donald Trump’s ability to meet the duties of his office has dropped to unprecedented lows as he threatens to destroy entire civilizations, unleashes chaos in the Middle East while violating congressional war powers, aggressively insults the Pope of the Catholic Church and sends out artistic renderings online likening himself to Jesus Christ,” Raskin said in a statement.
“We are at a dangerous precipice, and it is now a matter of national security for Congress to fulfill its responsibilities under the 25th Amendment to protect the American people from an increasingly volatile and unstable situation.”
Fifty other Democratic House lawmakers have co-sponsored the bill. It faces long odds in the Republican-controlled chamber, where some members have shown a willingness to oppose the president’s policies but none has expressed serious concerns about his fitness for office.
'I messed up, I'm human': Gallego maintains he was unaware of sexual‑assault claims against Swalwell
Ruben Gallego, the Democratic senator from Arizona, maintained that he had no knowledge of the rape and sexual misconduct allegations against his friend and colleague Eric Swalwell, the outgoing California congressman.
Gallego and Swalwell both served in the House together, before the former became a US senator in 2025.
After Lonna Drewes accused Swalwell of rape earlier today, Gallego told reporters on Capitol Hill he was “a loyal friend to someone that just was not loyal to me”.
Gallego was pressed about how voters could trust him if he chooses to run for higher office when he didn’t know that his “best friend was engaging in inappropriate behavior”.
“I messed up, I’m human,” he replied. “I trusted this man. I trusted him to watch my children. I would watch his children.”
Over the weekend, Gallego withdrew his support for Swalwell’s gubernatorial bid, which the representative eventually abandoned before he announced his resignation on Monday.
A national majority vote for president is one step closer to reality after Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger signed the National Popular Vote bill into law, joining an interstate compact with 17 other states and the District of Columbia.
Under the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, states would assign their presidential electors to the winner of the popular vote, regardless of the results within the state. The compact takes effect when states representing a majority of electoral votes – 270 of 538 – pass the legislation and thus would determine the winner of the presidential contest. With Virginia, the compact now has 222 electors.
Every state that has so far enacted the compact have Democratic electoral majorities, including California, New York and Illinois. But legislation has been introduced in enough states to reach the 270 elector threshold, including swing states like Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The legislation relies on two provisions of the US constitution, which would face intense legal scrutiny if and when the compact comes into force.
My colleagues are covering the historic negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in Washington. This is the first time the two countries have had direct diplomatic contact since the 1990s.
Both countries’ ambassadors to the US are meeting in the presence of US secretary of state Marco Rubio, for what is being described as a “preparatory” meeting for further talks.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the talks, Rubio said the meeting was a “historic opportunity”. He added that while every complexity would not be resolved in coming hours, he hoped the parties would begin to move forward.
Follow along here:
Bloom noted that she is “sick and tired of women being victimized by men in power”. She welcomed the news of that Swalwell and Tony Gonzales, the Texas Republican accused of sexual misconduct, both plan to resign.
However, Bloom expressed that Swalwell’s decision to step down was not “an act of accountability at all”.
“I see it as an effort to avoid the expulsion hearing that was coming, because once he steps down, the ethics committee no longer has jurisdiction to impose consequences on him,” Bloom added. “However, there are other consequences, such as law enforcement, and that’s what we’re doing now.”
She and her colleagues will be working with the Los Angeles county sheriff’s office as the investigation continues.
Lisa Bloom, the attorney representing Lonna Drewes in her sexual assault complaint against Eric Swalwell, addressed Swalwell himself, urging him to “own your behavior”.
She also asked that any other victims or witnesses contact her law firm.
According to Bloom, three additional women have reached out to her since yesterday.
Updated
Attorney Lisa Bloom, who is representing Lonna Drewes, said that they will present all their evidence today to police, when formally accusing Eric Swalwell of sexual assault.
As part of the evidence, Bloom said they will present texts, a photograph and journal entries.
Updated
One of Lonna Drewes’ attorneys said that the allegations against Eric Swalwell are not political.
“This is about much more than politics,” Arick Fudali said. “Belittling such serious allegations is offensive to Lonna and to victims everywhere. This is not about Democrat versus Republican, this is about accountability versus silence.”
Updated
Lonna Drewes said that Eric Swalwell offered business connections when they first met.
Drewes says she was scared to report the alleged sexual assault.
Drewes added that she will be making a report to law enforcement on Tuesday.
Updated
Lonna Drewes accuses Eric Swalwell of rape
At a press conference in Los Angeles, Drewes accused Eric Swalwell on Tuesday of drugging her and raping her in 2018.
“On the third occasion, I believe he drugged my drink,” Drewes said. “I only had one glass of wine.”
She went on to detail that he allegedly raped her and choked her, and she lost consciousness.
“I did not consent to any sexual activity,” she said.
Updated
Eric Swalwell accuser holds press conference
A woman who accused Eric Swalwell of sexual misconduct is holding a news conference on Tuesday. Lonna Drewes is accompanied by her two attorneys.
“I had contact with Eric Swalwell on three separate occasions after meeting him socially,” she said.
Updated
California congressman Ro Khanna is set to introduce legislation on Tuesday that would ban the export of gasoline during price surges, amid the rising gas prices triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran.
“The country is crying out for a new energy policy,” said Khanna in an interview with the Guardian, “that doesn’t have us subject to the whims of the profits of big oil companies.”
The war on Iran has sparked the largest-ever disruption to fuel supply, causing the price of gasoline to spike dramatically. People in the US are now paying more than $4 per gallon at the pump.
Keeping domestic gasoline supplies at home, Khanna said, could lower the cost of gas for US consumers. During any period when national gas prices average $3.12 a gallon or higher, his proposed legislation would stop US shipments of refined gasoline to other countries.
Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday rebuked the US over the death of a Mexican immigrant who died in US immigration custody this week.
“We are going to defend Mexicans at every level,” Sheinbaum said during her daily press briefing, according to the Associated Press, adding that “there are many Mexicans whose only crime is not having papers.”
On Monday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a Mexican man, detained inside an ICE facility in Louisiana, died in their custody on 11 April. The man, Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, was the fifteenth Mexican citizen who has died in US custody in a year.
Sheinbaum’s government previously said it would file a legal brief supporting a lawsuit by detainees over poor conditions in US immigration detention centers and would raise the detainee deaths with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
On Tuesday, the Mexican president added that her government was also considering appealing to the United Nations.
Updated
Trump says Iran talks could resume over next two days - report
Donald Trump has said that talks with Iran could resume in Pakistan over next two days, according to an interview with the New York Post.
“You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there,” Trump was quoted as saying.
After saying in an initial call that talks were unlikely to return to Pakistan, the Post said Trump called back minutes later to say it was “more likely” they would go back to Islamabad because the country’s army chief Asim Munir “is doing a great job”.
Updated
One consequence of the US-Israel war on Iran has been a surge in gas prices in the US: The average gas price is now more than $4 per gallon, up from about $3 a year ago.
We would like to hear how this has affected you. Has it changed where you’re going and what you’re doing? Perhaps it has caused you to alter your holiday plans. Or maybe you’re cutting back on other expenses to manage the extra fuel costs. Tell us.
Share your experience using the form below.
Former attorney general Pam Bondi was meant to testify before the House oversight committee today on the government’s handling of the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, and the justice department’s release of files relating to the late sex offender.
However, the panel was informed last week that since she no longer serves as an administration official she would no longer sit for lawmakers.
Robert Garcia, the committee’s top Democrat, has continued to slam Bondi’s decision, noting that the subpoeana stands regardless of her position. “If she continues to ignore the law, Oversight Dems will move forward with contempt proceedings immediately,” he said in a statement.
Updated
A reminder that at 12.30pm ET a woman “with serious sexual misconduct allegations” against Swalwell will hold a press conference alongside her attorneys, Lisa Bloom and Arick Fudali.
Both lawyers have previously represented victims in sexual misconduct cases involving Bill O’Reilly and Jeffrey Epstein, “will describe the next legal steps” in the woman’s case.
As Swalwell has announced his resignation from Congress, he will probably avoid the House ethics committee investigation that was launched on Monday. This, of course, doesn’t prohibit any criminal or civil charges being brought against the representative.
Updated
Luna vows expulsion vote if Swalwell doesn't officially resign today
Anna Paulina Luna, the Republican congresswoman from Florida, said that she would push for an expulsion vote if Eric Swalwell didn’t formally resign with the Clerk of the House by 2pm ET today.
Notably, the embattled California Democrat did not say when he would officially step down in his resignation announcement. Instead, Swalwell said he is working with his staff to ensure they can “serve the needs” of constituents. Luna, for her part, called this “not binding” and “wormy”.
Luna said she would also continue her expulsion resolution against Tony Gonzales if he doesn’t follow through with his plan to file his “retirement from office” today.
Updated
Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, slipped toward $98 per barrel on Tuesday. This comes after Donald Trump’s claims that Iranian officials want to make a deal “very badly” and a blockade of Iranian ports in the strait of Hormuz.
The price of oil has ricocheted throughout the war on Iran, peaking at $119 per barrel at the end of March. On Monday, Chris Wright, the US energy secretary, sais oil prices will peak “in the next few weeks” until the US gets “meaningful ship traffic through the strait of Hormuz”.
Congress agenda also includes DHS funding bill and war powers resolution
As both chambers of Congress return to Capitol Hill today, the news of two resignation announcements is not the only thing news occupying lawmakers.
The House still needs to pass a bill to fund several Department of Homeland Security (DHS) subagencies, like the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Coast Guard, amid a record-breaking partial government shutdown.
The Senate advanced measure that remedies this funding lapse, but doesn’t include money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border patrol, has stalled in the lower chamber. Hardline House Republicans argue that their colleagues are ultimately handing a win to Democrats, who refused to pass legislation to fund DHS without stronger guardrails on federal immigration enforcement, following the crackdown in Minneapolis where officers fatally shot two US citizens.
Now, House speaker Mike Johnson has to bring his fractured GOP conference together. Both he and John Thune, the Senate majority leader, are also on the clock to pass a budget bill that would fund ICE and CBP via reconciliation, a process that only requires a simple majority.
Meanwhile, there is a bicameral effort from Democrats to pass a war powers resolution to curb the Trump administration’s military action in Iran. Lawmakwers in the House and Senate appear confident they have the handful of Republican votes needed to pass the measure. However, even if it were to pass, it’s unlikely to achieve a two-thirds majority needed to overcome Donald Trump’s inevitable veto.
Updated
A reminder that my colleagues are covering the latest developments out of the Middle East, including the ongoing blockade of ships entering and leaving Iranian ports in the strait of Hormuz.
According to reports that have analyzed shipping data, three Iran-linked tankers have passed through the waterway on the first full day of the blockade. This comes after Trump threatened to decimate any vessels that come close to the US flotilla.
Donald Trump is in Washington today. All of his scheduled events are currently closed to the press, but there’s always a chance things open up.
He’s set to meet with House speaker Mike Johnson and Richard Hudson, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee at 1:30pm ET. He’ll then speak with labor union leader Sean O’Brien, who serves as general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Trump will also sit for an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo at 4pm ET, before welcoming David Perdue, US ambassador to China, to the White House at 5:30pm ET.
French president Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday he had spoken with Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian and US president Donald Trump on Monday and called for talks to restart between Washington and Iran and for a halt of any possible escalation.
He added in a post on social media platform X that the strait of Hormuz must be reopened unconditionally as soon as possible.
“Under these circumstances, negotiations should be able to resume quickly, with the support of the key stakeholders,” he said.
Faced with high demand for GLP-1 drugs, some American cities and states that previously covered the cost of the weight-loss medication for low-income residents and public employees have now started to restrict or eliminate coverage.
The pullback stems from the dramatic increase in public spending on drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy in recent years.
Still, some legislators and healthcare providers argue that dropping coverage of the drugs might provide short-term relief for governments but will ultimately harm Medicaid recipients’ health. They argue that cities and states will then have to pay for more health problems related to obesity.
“Patients should have access to these therapies,” said Dr Matthew Klebanoff, a professor of internal medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine who has studied prior authorization policies for GLP-1 drugs. “It’s just very challenging right now for payers to be able to afford covering these medications for everyone who could benefit.”
The obesity rate in the United States among adults was 40% in August 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In November 2025, 12% of adults reported that they were taking a GLP-1 drug – a 6% increase from 18 months earlier, KFF reported. Those drugs have contributed to a decrease in the country’s obesity rate, which fell to 37% in 2025, according to a Gallup report.
Maryland Democrats have rejected an effort to redraw the state’s congressional map to boost their party’s chances in the midterm elections.
The clock officially ran out on the proposal late Monday night as the state legislative session ended, a casualty of internal party disagreements, AP reported.
In the end, the Maryland Senate left the bill in a committee, with Democrats who control the chamber concerned it could backfire under judicial review.
The unusual mid-decade redistricting spree, which started when Trump encouraged Republican-controlled Texas to redraw their map last year, is expected to continue next week.
Republicans want to change congressional boundaries during a special legislative session in Florida, while Democrats are asking voters to approve a redistricting referendum in Virginia.
But Democrats will not be poised to pick up a seat in Maryland, where the proposed map would have made it easier for voters to oust the state’s lone Republican member of the US House.
Moore, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, said he disagreed with another powerful Maryland Democrat, state Senate president Bill Ferguson, about “what is required to be able to make sure we’re fighting back” against Trump.
“This is not a political game to me,” Moore said in an interview with the Associated Press.
“I don’t look at this as some kind of political talking point. I look at the fact that I think Donald Trump is actively trying to manipulate and change the rules around the November election and beyond because he knows he cannot win on his policies.”
The Save America Act looks set to die in Congress, but 23 mostly Republican-led US states have recently changed their voting procedures to mirror key aspects of president Donald Trump’s sweeping package of voting restrictions in time for November’s midterm elections, a Reuters analysis shows.
States from Wyoming to Georgia since 2024 have imposed new proof-of-citizenship requirements on Americans registering to vote and limited the types of photo ID accepted at the polls.
Officials in at least 17 of the states have opted to follow one of the Save America Act’s most controversial mandates: screening lists of registered voters for non-US citizens by running them through a federal system normally used to verify eligibility for public benefits.
Most of these state changes are not as extreme as the Save America Act when it comes to how voters can prove their citizenship and the types of photo ID accepted when casting a ballot, according to the Reuters analysis.
But voting rights advocates warn that these copycat measures could still disenfranchise citizens who lack certain forms of identification during this year’s elections, which will determine whether Trump’s fellow Republicans retain control over Congress.
Senate majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, did not mention the Save America Act in his opening address after Congress reconvened on Monday.
When the Democratic party’s governing body adjourned its meeting on Saturday in New Orleans, supporters of Palestine and an end of the genocide in Gaza had few reasons to celebrate. The Democratic National Committee had refused to give any ground to the large majority of the party’s voters with distinctly negative views of Israel.
Last summer, a Quinnipiac Poll found that 77% of Democrats agreed that “Israel is committing genocide.” Last month, an NBC poll found that registered Democrats – by a margin of 67-17% – were more sympathetic toward Palestinians than Israelis.
But the DNC continues to operate as if fully sealed off from the party’s voters on such matters. When the national meeting got under way on Thursday, the party’s resolutions committee proceeded to quickly discard a pair of resolutions critical of Israel.
One urged “an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory” as well as “pausing or conditioning US weapons transfers to any military units credibly implicated in violations of international humanitarian law”. Another included opposition to “military actions that endanger civilians or exacerbate repression” in Iran.
Those resolutions vanished in a matter of minutes as opponents shunted them aside to a snail’s-pace Middle East working group. That panel has scarcely met since it was announced last August by the DNC chair, Ken Martin. Only a minority of the panel’s eight members has a record of support for Palestinian rights, while several are fervent Zionists. The oil-and-water mix seems destined for stalemate or compromising platitudes.
Trump deletes post with AI image of himself as Jesus-like figure after outcry
Less than a year after signing legislation that will pull nearly 12 million Americans off health insurance by gutting Medicaid, Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself to Truth Social on Sunday depicting him as a Jesus-like figure, with divine light emanating from his hands as he heals a stricken man in a hospital bed with a demon from hell floating in the background.
The president has since deleted the post, which also followed a lengthy tirade about Pope Leo XIV on the site the same day in which he called him “weak on crime” and blamed the head of the Catholic church for being influenced by Barack Obama strategist David Axelrod. Trump refused to apologize to the pope, saying: “He went public. I’m just responding to Pope Leo.”
Trump faced the wrath of some of his most high-profile and loyal Christian supporters, many of whom have stood by the president through multiple other indiscretions and were unable to contain their righteous fury.
Riley Gaines, a Fox News podcast host and conservative commentator, wrote on X she “cannot understand why he’d post this”.
She continued: “Is he looking for a response? Does he actually think this? Either way, two things are true. 1) a little humility would serve him well 2) God shall not be mocked.”
When reporters asked Trump whether he posted a picture depicting himself as Jesus Christ, Trump said “it wasn’t a depiction, it was me”, though he insisted: “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better.”
He added: “And I do make people better. I make people a lot better.”
House returns as two lawmakers vow to resign amid scandals
Hello and welcome to our coverage of US politics. The House returns following recess amid continued anger over Donald Trump’s conflict with Iran, the standoff over the DHS funding package and debates over restrictive voter ID legislation.
But first let’s look at the news that two lawmakers have stepped down, with two more facing possible expulsion over a series of scandals that have rattled both parties and thrown the House of Representatives into turmoil.
Representative Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, said on Monday he would resign from Congress following multiple allegations of sexual assault and misconduct that ended his bid for governor.
“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” Swalwell said in a statement shared on social media. “I will fight the serious false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.”
Hours later, representative Tony Gonzales, a Republican from Texas, announced he was stepping down from Congress after acknowledging an extramarital affair with a staffer. House speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican leaders had already urged him not to seek reelection.
“There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all. When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office. It has been my privilege to serve the great people of Texas,” Gonzales wrote on X.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are considering separate controversies involving two Florida lawmakers – Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Republican Cory Mills – in an unusual push for disciplinary action.
“Congress should not tolerate representatives who abuse staff, betray public trust for personal gain, and generally violate their oath of office,” New York Democrat Nydia Velazquez posted on X, calling for all four to resign and adding “if they refuse, they should be expelled.”
Expulsion from the House requires a two-thirds majority, a threshold so high that Congress has wielded the sanction only in the gravest cases, removing just six members in its 237-year history.
In other developments:
Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV exchanged retorts after Trump posted and then deleted an AI-generated image of himself as a Christ-like figure. As he began a 10-day tour of four African countries, Leo told reporters he didn’t “want to get into a debate” with Trump, but added that “the message of the gospel” is being “abused”.
As the US blockade of the strait of Hormuz continues, Trump vowed that any Iranian ships that came “anywhere close” would be “immediately ELIMINATED”. In a post on Truth Social, the president added that US forces would use “the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea. It is quick and brutal.”
The US military struck another vehicle in the eastern Pacific, killing two people. Following an attack on Saturday that killed five people, this strike brings the number of people who have been killed in boat strikes by the US military to at least 170 since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.
A federal judge dismissed Trump’s $10bn lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and its publisher Dow Jones, after the president claimed the Rupert Murdoch-owned outlet defamed him by reporting on the president’s alleged message to Jeffrey Epstein, as part of the late sex offender’s 50th birthday album. Judge Darrin Gayles said that Trump’s legal team failed to proved that the Journal acted with “actual malice”, a key requirement in defamation cases involving a public figure.
The Senate returned to work, while the House held a brief procedural session before getting back to regular business on Tuesday. Lawmakers have a vast agenda to tackle on their return, including a funding bill to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) subagencies affected by the record-breaking partial government shutdown, now in its ninth week.
