Post Politics Now: Trump’s fate hangs in balance with Manhattan grand jury

© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Former president Donald Trump waves to the crowd during a campaign rally at Waco Regional Airport in Waco, Tex., on Saturday.

Today, Donald Trump’s fate continued to hang in the balance as the Manhattan grand jury that is investigating hush-money payments from the former president to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels adjourned Monday but did not vote on an indictment. In social media posts, Trump again denied that he had an affair with Daniels, and he praised the work of House Republicans who have accused the Manhattan district attorney of mounting a politically driven prosecution and have demanded documents and testimony about the ongoing investigation.

In Washington, President Biden hosted a summit on women-owned businesses. Vice President Harris is on a three-nation tour of Africa as part of a Biden administration effort to strengthen ties to the continent.

7:48 PM: On our radar: Biden will travel to N.C. to visit a semiconductor manufacturer

© Misper Apawu/AP Vice President Harris is on a seven-day African visit. (Misper Apawu/AP)

On Monday, President Biden renewed his call on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban after a shooter killed at least six at a private school in Nashville. The president has long called for the ban, arguing that it is one of the best ways to end the mass shooting epidemic, but the measure is unlikely to pass in a divided Congress. Here’s what we’ll be watching on Tuesday:

• Biden is traveling to Durham, N.C. He will speak at Wolfspeed, a semiconductor manufacturer, about how his agenda will lead to job growth and investment.
• Vice President Harris continues her tour of Africa. On Tuesday, she will speak in Accra, Ghana, before traveling to Cape Coast, where she will meet with Osabarima Kwesi Atta II. After that, she and the second gentleman will tour Cape Coast Castle, where she will deliver remarks.
• The House will begin work on an energy policy measure that seeks to lower prices by increasing oil and gas production and accelerating the federal permit approval process. Biden has said he would veto the bill.
• The Senate will continue working on bills to repeal the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for use of military force in Iraq. Votes on Republican-led amendments to the measures will be held.
• The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases. One is Smith v. United States, a case that tests criminal law, while the other is Lora v. United States, a case that tests federal criminal sentencing laws.
• Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland will testify before separate Senate committees. Mayorkas will testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, while Garland will testify on Biden’s 2024 budget request before subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

7:37 PM: The latest: Supreme Court hears free speech challenge to portion of immigration law

The Supreme Court on Monday seemed divided over whether a federal law that makes it a crime to encourage undocumented immigrants to stay in this country might be so broad it would jeopardize charitable groups that feed the hungry or a family’s plan to have a grandmother keep living nearby.

As Robert Barnes reports, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit found the decades-old law “overbroad and unconstitutional” because it potentially outlawed more free speech than needed to meet the law’s goals.

And during their nearly 1½-hour hearing Monday, some justices had no trouble pinging Deputy Solicitor General Brian H. Fletcher, representing the Justice Department, with examples of who might fall on the wrong side of an immigration law that penalizes a person “who encourages or induces an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States.”

Per Robert:

Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh wondered about charitable organizations that say there is a “threat of prosecution for them for providing food and shelter and aid and recommending people for scholarship and all the rest.” Kavanaugh, who has served meals to the homeless near the Supreme Court, added: “They seem to have a sincere concern about that and that it will deter their kind of everyday activities.”

Justice Elena Kagan also pressed Fletcher. “What happens to all the cases where it could be a lawyer, it could be a doctor, it could be a neighbor, it could be a friend, it could be a teacher, it could be anybody, says to a noncitizen, ‘I really think you should stay?’ What happens to that world of cases?”

Fletcher acknowledged there would be hard cases. But he said the 9th Circuit got it wrong by issuing a ruling on the case at hand — involving a man who defrauded the undocumented — and “giving the words 'encourage’ and 'induce’ their broadest possible meaning and sweeping in wide swaths of protected speech.”

“Our position here is that the statute need not and should not be read that way,” he added.

Read more on the case, United States v. Hansen, here.

7:29 PM: The latest: Harris, in Ghana, promises support for Africa but faces skepticism

© Francis Kokoroko/Reuters Vice President Harris is accompanied by Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo as they attend a state banquet. (Francis Kokoroko/Reuters)

Vice President Harris began a week-long tour of Africa on Monday by announcing the United States’ plan to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the continent, but she found herself fighting a perception that Africa was simply the latest arena for America’s geopolitical game of chess with China and Russia.

As Cleve R. Wootson Jr. reports from Accra, Ghana, Harris told reporters she had discussed that concern from some African leaders with Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, assuring him that the Biden administration was sincere in its desire to stimulate economic development and bolster relations in Ghana — as well as with Tanzania and Zambia, where Harris travels next.

Per Cleve:

America’s interest in Ghana is not a case of global behemoths elbowing for position, she said. “The relationship between the United States and this continent and African leaders is an important one,” Harris said. “There’s a historical basis for this relationship — not to mention as we look forward, as all governments should, and recognize the unachieved as-of-yet opportunities that exist going forward.” …

Harris is the highest-ranking Biden administration official to come to Africa so far, as the White House seeks to reset relations following the administration of former president Donald Trump, who never visited the continent and derided its nations with a vulgar epithet. Five Biden Cabinet secretaries have visited Africa, including Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. ...

On Monday, Harris announced that the administration plans to provide $139 million worth of bilateral assistance to Ghana in fiscal 2024, although that proposal needs the approval of Congress, which could be a tough ask given the parties’ sharp partisan divides over spending and foreign aid.

Separately, Harris said the administration would also seek more than $100 million in regional conflict prevention funds for Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Togo to help the nations address regional security, governance and development issues.

The vice president also announced U.S. support for programs intended to reduce child labor, improve weather forecasting, support local musicians and defend against disease outbreaks.

Read more on Harris’s remarks in Ghana here.

7:05 PM: The latest: Trump extends election-rigging myth to his potential criminal charges

© Evan Vucci/AP Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Waco, Tex., on Saturday. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Former president Donald Trump opened the first mega-rally of his 2024 campaign by playing a recording of the national anthem sung by inmates charged in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

As Isaac Arnsdorf and Hannah Knowles report, in the 90-minute remarks that followed on Saturday, Trump repeatedly emphasized — even more than in last year’s rallies for the midterms — his false insistence that the 2020 election was stolen from him. But he added a new twist: that his political opponents were now bent on rigging the next election against him through the prospect of criminal charges.

“This is their new form of trying to beat people at the polls,” Trump elaborated to reporters on his flight home from the rally, according to a recording obtained by The Washington Post. “This is worse than stuffing the ballot boxes, which they did.”

Per our colleagues:

Saturday’s speech by the early polling leader for the Republican nomination shows how Trump is seeking to adapt the stolen election myth, continually absorbing new allegations when old ones are debunked or obsolete — from supposed foreign plots to tamper with voting machines to alleged manipulation of social media and now potential prosecution. The latest version also underscores Trump’s continued determination to elevate conspiracy theories with inflammatory rhetoric that has already inspired violence by his supporters, which he continues to downplay or defend …

Trump’s choice to center Jan. 6 in his first big rally drew rebukes across the political spectrum. “Look, when it comes to running for president or any other office, people don’t want you to re-litigate all your grievances in the past. They want to know what your vision for the future is,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) said Monday. “I don’t think it’s a formula for success.”

Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said Trump had hit “new depths” with the fresh glorification of Jan. 6 rioters. “I don’t know how much more disrespectful the former president can be when it comes to the men and women in law enforcement who were attacked and some lost their lives because of this situation,” Durbin, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, said.

But public opinion surveys suggest many Republicans agree with Trump’s denial. An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll taken last week found 80 percent of Republicans viewed the investigations into Trump as a “witch hunt” (though only 41 percent of all Americans took that position.)

Read more on Trump’s new twist of rhetoric here.

5:48 PM: Analysis: That jarring new poll on ‘patriotism’

It’s one of the more jarring charts you’re likely to see this week: A new poll released by the Wall Street Journal shows a precipitous decline in Americans’ views of certain values, including patriotism, Aaron Blake writes.

While 70 percent of Americans in 1998 said patriotism was “very important” to them, that number dropped to 60 percent in 2019 and to just 38 percent today — about half of where it was a quarter-century ago. We’ve also seen sharp drops on views about religion, having children and community involvement.

A couple of thoughts from Aaron:

One is that the chart is a little misleading, even as these values are rather evidently at a low point. And two is that the biggest drop — on patriotism — is clearly a byproduct of polarization. That’s for a host of reasons, including some that are especially relevant now as former president Donald Trump pitches the Jan. 6 insurrection as if it were an event to be proud of.

The Journal’s write-up features only polls from those three years — 1998, 2019 and 2023. But when the newspaper has highlighted this data in the past, it has mentioned another poll, asking the same question, in 1976 and 1977.

The results then? Not too far afield from today’s. At the time, just 43 percent said patriotism was “very important” to them...

That history reinforces the idea that this dip isn’t simply a matter of Americans always having been quite patriotic until just now. It’s difficult to know for sure what people have in mind when they answer such a question — and these surveys don’t define or invite people to define patriotism for themselves — but the evidence suggests that answers tend to be responsive to real-world events.

Read more on this poll here.

5:47 PM: Analysis: DeSantis’s policies get mixed reviews … from DeSantis supporters

© Rachel Mummey/For The Washington Post Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signs books in Des Moines. (Rachel Mummey for The Washington Post)

It is fair to assume that some of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s high-profile, combative policy moves over the past two years have been undertaken with an eye toward the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Some part, certainly, is a reflection of his political views. But the guy who won the Republican gubernatorial primary in his state in 2018 by drawing over-the-top comparisons between himself and Donald Trump might be assumed to be thinking about the political utility of his efforts.

As Philip Bump writes, there’s just one catch: Polling suggests that those policies get mixed reviews from Republicans, including the ones who support DeSantis. What’s more, for a candidate whose central value proposition to primary voters might be that he is more electable in a general election, his policies get broadly negative views from Americans overall.

Per Philip:

YouGov recently conducted a national poll for Yahoo News looking at a number of DeSantis’s most prominent policies and proposals.

Before asking about each idea, the pollsters asked respondents whether they might vote for DeSantis or Donald Trump in 2024. Overall, respondents were slightly more open to supporting DeSantis than Trump, though, among Republicans, the figures were similar.

Then the pollsters presented eight different proposals without mentioning DeSantis. For seven of the eight, more Americans said they opposed the ideas than said they supported them. The only exception was a proposal to ban transgender women from playing on women’s or girl’s sports teams at public schools.

Republicans only supported six of the ideas on net, the exceptions being allowing concealed carrying of firearms without a permit and allowing political appointees to fire tenured university staff. Even those who indicated that they planned to vote in the Republican primary for DeSantis disagreed with those policies.

Read more about the unpopularity of DeSantis’s policies here.

4:26 PM: Noted: GOP congressman from Nashville district ‘heartbroken’ by shooting

Rep. Andrew Ogles (R-Tenn.), who represents the Nashville district where the Covenant School is located, said Monday in a statement that he was “utterly heartbroken” by the mass shooting that left six dead, including three children.

Gun control advocates and Democrats highlighted another post from Ogles on Monday — a 2021 Christmas photo of his family posing with firearms.

On Monday, after news of the Nashville shooting broke, Ogles said in a statement that he and his family “are devastated by the tragedy that took place at The Covenant School in Nashville this morning.”

“We are sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of those lost,” he said. “As a father of three, I am utterly heartbroken by this senseless act of violence. I am closely monitoring the situation and working with local officials.”

His critics shared the congressman’s statement along with the Christmas photo.

“How much more bloodshed will it take?” wrote Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Tex.) in a tweet featuring Ogles’s photo. “It’s. The. Guns.”

Fred Guttenberg, a proponent of stricter gun control after his 14-year-daughter Jaime was killed in the Parkland school shooting in 2018, said the tragedy “is listening to Tennessee politicians who refuse to call it a shooting but who engaged in behavior that caused this to be more likely when they glorify guns.”

Read more on Ogles and his support for firearms here.

4:19 PM: Analysis: Why guns are America’s number one killer of children

Three children who woke up in their beds on Monday morning were shot and killed at the Covenant School in Nashville. It’s an all-too-familiar story for The Post’s Philip Bump, who has two children under the age of 10, and he says making sense of the data behind the heartbreaking news of yet more of America’s school kids being shot and killed while sitting in their classroom is his way of coping.

In 2020, for the first time, more children in the United States died from firearms than any other cause, Philip writes. This is in part because the number of children dying in car accidents has decreased, thanks to decades of focus on keeping children safe and on new regulations aimed at ensuring that vehicular crashes are less dangerous. It is also in part because more children are being shot to death each year, like those three on Monday in Tennessee.

Over the past four decades, the number of children in the United States who are dying has fallen. That’s largely because the number of deaths from accidents has declined.

Per Philip:

In 1981, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that nearly 16,000 Americans aged 1 to 18 died in accidents. About 9,000 of those — more than half — were car accidents. The number of young Americans who died in accidents related to firearms was much smaller, a bit over 500.

Since that time, both numbers have dropped significantly. In 2020, the most recent year for which these data are available, fewer than 3,000 children died in car accidents and only a bit over 100 died because of firearm-related accidents. Both figures were up over 2019, but the long-term trend has been positive.

In both cases, of course, changes in public understanding, better manufacturing and laws have made a difference: Mandated car seats and awareness about proper firearm storage. More information about where children should sit in cars. Legislation covering trigger locks. More kids kept alive as a result.

But deaths from accidents are only a small portion of firearm deaths in this age group. Most of the deaths from firearms for those aged 1 to 18 are homicides, with about a third being suicide. In 2020 in particular and in recent years more generally, the number of firearm homicides within this age range spiked.

Read more on what’s killing the country’s children here.

3:11 PM: The latest: ‘We have to do more,’ Biden says in renewed call for assault weapons ban

© Alex Brandon/AP President Biden spoke about the shooting at a Nashville school at a meeting about women in business at the White House on Monday. (Alex Brandon/AP)

Congress must do more to pass gun safety regulations, including an assault weapons ban, President Biden said Monday in the wake of the Nashville mass shooting.

“We have to do more to stop gun violence — it’s ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of this nation,” Biden said during a White House event on women in business. “We have to do more to protect our schools, so they aren’t turned into prisons.”

Biden noted that the alleged shooter in the Nashville attack “had two assault weapons and a pistol,” and he urged Congress to pass an assault weapons ban.

“It’s about time that we began to make some more progress,” he said.

Biden has pushed for better gun control regulation throughout his presidency, issuing an executive order to increase the number of background checks for gun sales and signing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first gun-control measure that Congress had passed in 30 years. While that measure expanded background checks and provided mental health funding, it was crafted to be relatively modest to pass a divided Congress, which is why Biden is asking Congress to take up the assault weapons ban.

Biden called the Monday shooting a “family’s worst nightmare.”

“I just wanted to send my … heart out to so many parents out there,” Biden said.

Biden likened the trauma of surviving a mass killing to the post-traumatic stress members of the military undergo in war zones.

“These children, these teachers, you should be should be focusing on their mental health, as well,” Biden said.

2:59 PM: Analysis from Mariana Alfaro, Reporter on the breaking political news team

“It’s just, it’s sick,” President Biden said Monday of the news of yet another mass killing at an American school.

Biden made the remarks, his first about the Nashville shooting, while speaking at a White House meeting on small businesses. He said that his administration is still awaiting more details from the investigation but that “we do know that, as of now, there are a number of people who did not make it, including children. It’s heartbreaking.”

2:29 PM: This just in: ‘Enough is enough,’ White House says, demands GOP act on assault weapons ban

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during the daily news briefing in the James Brady Room at the White House on March 27. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)

The White House had a message for Republicans in the immediate aftermath of the mass Nashville killing: “Enough is enough.”

“How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban, to close loopholes in our background check system or to require the safe storage of guns?” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said to reporters Monday. “We need to do something.”

Jean-Pierre said President Biden has been briefed on the shooting that killed at least three children and three adults and added that, while “we don’t know yet all the details in this latest tragic shooting, we know that too often our schools and communities are being devastated by gun violence.”

The shooter, identified by police as a 28-year-old Nashville woman, had two “assault-style rifles” and a handgun, according to Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron.

Biden, Jean-Pierre noted, issued an executive order last month that increases the number of background checks for gun sales and has also helped shepherd measures through Congress — including the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — that expand gun safety laws. But this is not enough to stop mass shootings, Jean-Pierre said. The president can’t take executive action to ban assault weapons, which means Congress would have to act.

“He wants Congress to act because enough is enough,” Jean-Pierre said. “Once again, the president calls on Congress to do something before another child is senselessly killed in a preventable act of gun violence. We need to do something.”

You can find updates on this developing story here.

2:24 PM: The latest: White House says it welcomes Netanyahu’s announcement

© Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily news briefing at the White House on Monday.

The White House on Monday said it welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that he would delay his government’s plan to overhaul Israel’s judiciary.

Addressing reporters, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the delay would “create additional time and space for compromise.”

“A compromise is precisely what we have been calling for, and we continue to strongly urge Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible,” she said. “We believe that it is the best path forward for Israel … and all of its citizens to find this compromise.”

“Checks and balances and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support,” Jean-Pierre added later.

Netanyahu’s effort to overhaul the judiciary that has spurred months of mass protests and led to unprecedented nationwide strikes on Monday, including a shutdown of the international airport.

You can read more on what’s happening in Israel in The Post’s live update file here.

1:40 PM: Analysis: How big is Trump’s true-believer base?

© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Supporters attend a campaign rally for former president Donald Trump at Waco Regional Airport in Waco, Tex., on Saturday.

With a potential indictment looming and former president Donald Trump seeking to mobilize his base against it, it’s a big question: Just how big is Trump’s true-believer base? How many people are willing to stand by Trump no matter what?

The Post’s Aaron Blake writes that this matters both when it comes to any backlash against an indictment — on which Trump has increasingly alluded to the prospect of violence — and for Trump’s 2024 presidential prospects. Per our colleague:

The answer: Die-hard support remains substantial. But the number has clearly shrunk. And it’s apparently not a majority of the Republican Party.

This is a somewhat subjective exercise, but there are a number of measures we can isolate.

One of the best ways to look at the question is to focus on how many Republicans view Trump not just favorably but “very” or “strongly” favorably.

And by this measure, Trump has declined significantly since his 2020 defeat. While Fox News polling in October 2020 showed 7 in 10 Republicans had a “strongly” favorable opinion of him, by December 2022 that 69 percent had dropped all the way to 43 percent.

You can read the full analysis here.

1:11 PM: Analysis: As always, Republicans are ready to give Trump a pass

© Go Nakamura/Reuters Former president Donald Trump gestures as he attends his first campaign rally after announcing his candidacy for president in the 2024 election at an event in Waco, Tex., on Saturday.

One of the remarkable aspects of the lengthy investigation conducted by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III from 2017 to 2019 is that it changed basically no one’s mind.

At the edges, yes, the details uncovered by Mueller and his investigators fleshed out our understanding of how Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election and how Donald Trump’s campaign welcomed that interference. But, after the report came out, Americans generally viewed the whole thing precisely as they did at the outset.

With that in mind, new polling by Marist conducted for NPR and PBS NewsHour should not be a surprise, Philip Bump writes. Asked generally about investigations Trump is facing, three-quarters of Republicans dismissed them as a “witch hunt.”

Republicans are also less likely to say the hush-money payments were a crime. In fact, that’s a big change from earlier this month, when three-quarters of Republicans said such actions were criminal.

Then YouGov simply asked if Trump should face criminal charges for making such a payment. More than 6 in 10 Republicans said he should not:

Read more on these polls here.

12:46 PM: The latest: At least 50 U.S. government employees targeted with phone spyware overseas

© Sebastian Scheiner/AP A European Parliament committee is investigating use of NSO Group's Pegasus and other spyware. (Sebastian Scheiner/AP)

The mobile phones of at least 50 U.S. government employees in at least 10 countries overseas have been targeted with commercial spyware, a number that is expected to grow as an investigation continues, senior administration officials said this week.

As The Post’s Ellen Nakashima and Tim Starks report, the revelation coincides with a White House announcement of a new executive order to ban the use by the U.S. government of commercial spyware that poses a risk to national security and human rights. The order, unveiled Monday, follows in the wake of a long-running controversy over the misuse of powerful spyware, Pegasus, by foreign governments to hack journalists, activists and dissidents around the world. It also comes as the administration this week co-hosts the second global Summit for Democracy.

Per our colleagues:

In late-2021, Apple alerted roughly a dozen U.S. Embassy employees in Uganda that their iPhones had been hacked using Pegasus, military-grade spyware developed by NSO Group, an Israel-based company with government clients in dozens of countries. The tool allows its users to steal digital files, eavesdrop on conversations and track the movements of targets — often activated through “zero-click” malware that doesn’t even require the target to click on a link.

But the latest figure — of at least 50 government employees — shocked the Biden administration. ...

The order, which grew out of a White House review begun in late summer 2021, bars federal agencies from using commercial spyware if it has been used to hack or target U.S. government devices or personnel — or if it has been used to abuse human rights, such as by targeting dissidents. It applies to spyware built by foreign or American companies, a measure to avoid creating a “perverse incentive” for companies to relocate to the United States to bypass restrictions, the official said.

There’s an exception for spyware that might be needed for helping U.S. agencies develop defensive cyber measures or testing countermeasures to defeat hackers, the official said.

Read more on this spyware and the order here.

12:25 PM: Analysis: Will Mexico’s president be a help or hindrance on migrants?

© Henry Romero/Reuters Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador speaks during a news conference in Mexico City on March 9.

Fresh off the heels of his first presidential trip to Ottawa where he touted the strength of the U.S.-Canada alliance, President Biden is turning his attention toward a centuries-old partnership with a key ally that could help mitigate the migration crisis: Mexico.

Writing in The Daily 202, The Post’s Tobi Raji notes that the Biden administration is negotiating a historic agreement with Mexico that would stem the flow of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border. Per our colleague:

The deal would allow U.S. authorities to deport Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who unlawfully cross into the United States back across the border. The migrants would also be banned from the United States for five years, and could face felony charges and longer jail sentences if they attempt to cross a second time.

The talks come as the White House prepares for the May 11 expiration of the pandemic-era border policy known as Title 42. The Biden administration has used this Trump-era enforcement tool since March 2020 to expel nearly 3 million migrants.

The administration, fearing a new surge of migrants at the Southern border once the restrictions expire, is relying on Mexico to take in deportees.

You can read the full analysis here.

12:05 PM: Noted: Rep. Jackson Lee enters Houston mayoral race

© Tom Brenner/For the Washington Post Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) attends a House Judiciary Committee meeting on in July 2022.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.), a member of Congress since 1995, has launched a bid to become mayor of Houston.

“Sheila Jackson Lee wants to come home to be your mayor for the city of Houston,” Jackson Lee said at a church event Sunday in remarks that were shared online Monday by Urban Reform, a Houston online publication.

She told the Houston congregation that she has tried to be “a humble servant” in Washington for 28 years, adding that her mayoral bid will depend on “each and every one of you.”

Jackson Lee is joining a nonpartisan race that will be decided in November and that has already drawn several other candidates. Because of the timing of the race, Jackson Lee won’t be required to give up her seat in Congress to run.

The mayoral seat in the nation’s fourth largest city is open because the current officeholder, Sylvester Turner, is term-limited.

Before serving in Congress, Jackson Lee was on the Houston City Council.

According to the Texas Tribune, the early front-runner in the mayoral race is state Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat, while others in the race include Chris Hollins, the former Harris County clerk, and Amanda Edwards, a former Houston City Council member.

11:36 AM: Analysis: In Waco, Trump stokes anger and valorizes violent actors

© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Donald Trump supporters stand for “Justice for All,” a song that incorporates the Pledge of Allegiance and national anthem, during a campaign rally in Waco, Tex., on Saturday.

Donald Trump walked down the steps from his private jet and onto the stage at his rally in Waco, Tex., on Saturday, the sound system blaring Lee Greenwood’s syrupy jingle “God Bless the U.S.A.” The crowd, some of whom had been waiting hours to see the former president, cheered enthusiastically.

Before Trump began to speak, however, there was one other bit of patriotic business at hand.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” an announcer told the MAGA gear-bedecked assembly, “please rise and place your hand over your heart for” — and here’s where you expect the disembodied voice to say “the Pledge of Allegiance,” but that is not what he said — “the number one song on iTunes, Amazon and the Billboard charts: ‘Justice for All,’ featuring President Donald J. Trump and the J6 choir!”

One Billboard chart, actually, but that’s not the point, writes The Post’s Philip Bump. Per our colleague:

The point is first that Trump turned the pledge — which, in “Justice for All,” he intones over voices singing the national anthem — into a salable commodity.

Second, and more importantly, this particular presentation of the pledge is about valorizing and celebrating the violent actors who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — an effort focused on overturning the results of the 2020 election and helping Trump retain power. The voices singing the anthem purportedly belong to people jailed for their roles in the riot that day.

You can read the full analysis here.

11:05 AM: The latest: White House vows veto of House energy package

© Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), speaks on Capitol Hill on March 10.

President Biden on Monday announced he would oppose a sprawling energy package that Republicans will seek to pass this week.

The package, known as H.R. 1, or the Lower Energy Costs Act, aims to boost the nation’s fossil fuel production and includes an array of other provisions, many of which run counter to Biden administration policies.

The White House vowed that Biden would veto the legislation, sponsored by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), if it gets to his desk.

“This Administration is making unprecedented progress in protecting America’s energy security and reducing energy costs for Americans — in their homes and at the pump,” the White House said in a statement. “H.R. 1 would do just the opposite, replacing pro-consumer policies with a thinly veiled license to pollute.”

The White House said the bill “would raise costs for American families by repealing household energy rebates and rolling back historic investments to increase access to cost-lowering clean energy technology. Instead of protecting American consumers, it would pad oil and gas company profits — already at record levels — and undercut our public health and environment.”

10:47 AM: On our radar: White House, others warily eying commercial real estate market

© Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News The commercial real estate sector could become a problem for midsize banks if the value of loans for office and retail buildings drops as demand for space falls. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News)

Federal authorities still grappling with the banking crisis caused by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank are already beginning to worry about the next potential bomb to go off in the nation’s financial system.

The Post’s Jeff Stein writes that in the White House, Treasury Department and Federal Reserve, policymakers are examining the potential risks posed by the approximately $20 trillion market for commercial real estate, which some analysts project is heading for a crash over the next two years, according to four people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect private conversations. Per Jeff:

Another midsize bank, Raleigh, N.C.-based First Citizens, will purchase Silicon Valley Bank, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced early Monday morning. Over the past two decades, such regional banks — as SVB and Signature Bank had been — have grown enormously as commercial real estate boomed, because such banks rely heavily on lending to businesses and property developers.

But the pandemic upended office leasing and construction, with many companies shifting to remote work and reducing their office space. That has quashed demand, leaving the market saturated with vacancies and threatening to push property values down.

You can read Jeff’s full story here.

10:28 AM: Noted: Nearly 350 groups urge Congress to pass permitting bill

© Bing Guan/Reuters GE Renewable Energy wind turbines at a wind farm near Encino, N.M. (Bing Guan/Reuters)

A diverse coalition of nearly 350 organizations are launching a campaign Monday calling on Congress to pass a permitting bill before the August recess.

Writing in The Climate 202, The Post’s Maxine Joselow notes that the effort, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, includes pro-renewable groups such as the American Clean Power Association and the American Council on Renewable Energy, as well as fossil fuel industry groups such as the American Gas Association and the American Petroleum Institute. Per Maxine:

In a letter to lawmakers today, the groups will argue that the nation’s permitting process for energy projects is outdated, inefficient and unpredictable. They will also urge lawmakers to pass legislation that provides for greater certainty about a project’s timeline, better interagency coordination, transparency and stakeholder input.

“Our organizations will not agree on every issue,” the letter says. “We are committed, however, to working with Congress to find solutions and pass meaningful and durable legislation.”

The effort comes as the House is set to vote this week on a Republican energy package that includes legislation from Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) aimed at speeding up the permitting process. Democratic senators could seek a bipartisan compromise on that language, given their desire to accelerate the construction of clean energy projects nationwide.

You can read The Climate 202 in full here.

10:04 AM: On our radar: Some high-profile hearings on the Hill this week

Contractors are cleaning up and testing Sulphur Run, a creek that runs from the derailment site through the center of East Palestine, Ohio. (Rebecca Kiger for The Washington Post)

Some high-profile hearings are on tap this week in both the House and Senate.

Here are some of the highlights, as flagged by The Post’s Theodoric Meyer and Leigh Ann Caldwell in The Early 202:

• The Senate Banking Committee has summoned regulators to testify Tuesday about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. They’ll return Wednesday to appear before the House Financial Services Committee.
• The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s environment subcommittee will hold a hearing Tuesday on the catastrophic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, following a similar Senate hearing last week. The subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), represents the congressional district that includes East Palestine.
• The House Oversight Committee will bring D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) and other D.C. officials to the Hill on Wednesday to discuss public safety in Washington after Congress struck down the city’s new criminal code.

You can read The Early 202 in full here.

9:39 AM: Analysis: Critical lawmakers to watch on the GOP energy package

© Eric Gay/AP Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) is one of handful of House members whose votes could be pivotal to the GOP energy bill. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

The House is expected to vote this week on a sprawling Republican energy package, known as H.R.1 or the Lower Energy Costs Act, aimed at boosting the nation’s fossil fuel production and lowering energy prices for consumers.

Writing in The Energy 202, The Post’s Maxine Joselow notes that with a razor-thin majority, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) can afford only four GOP defections — or more if some moderate Democrats vote in favor of the measure.

The House Rules Committee will meet Monday to decide which amendments will be considered.

Ahead of the action, Maxine takes a look at three fence-sitters: Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.) and Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.). You can read what we know about where they stand here.

9:18 AM: Analysis: Utah governor says new social media laws will ‘prevail’ over challenges

© Elizabeth Frantz/For The Washington Post Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) plans to sign antiabortion legislation passed by the state’s GOP-led legislature. (Elizabeth Frantz for The Washington Post)

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed into law a pair of measures last week that seek to strictly limit social media access for kids and teens, marking some of the most aggressive laws passed by any state to curb the use of social media by young people.

Writing in The Technology 202, The Post’s Cristiano Lima says the move is likely to ignite another legal standoff with tech industry groups, which have already expressed concern about the laws’ constitutionality and gone on the offensive against a growing raft of state laws targeting social media companies. Per Cristiano:

Cox said Sunday that he believes state officials will topple lawsuits challenging its new social media laws.

“We feel very confident that we have a good case here,” Cox told NBC News’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday. “We expect that there will be lawsuits, and we feel confident that we will prevail.”

The laws would require companies to obtain parental consent before letting minors access their platforms and set a digital curfew for younger users. They would also require companies to give guardians access to their child’s account and to verify that users in Utah are over 18.

You can read the full analysis here.

8:59 AM: The latest: Sen. Warren announces reelection bid

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) made her plans to seek reelection next year official on Monday with a two-minute video that includes testimonials about her accomplishments and features the senator outlining an ambitious liberal agenda for another six-year term.

“I first ran for Senate because I saw how the system is rigged for the rich and the powerful and against everyone else,” Warren says in the video. “Now, I’m running for Senate again because there’s a lot more we’ve got to do: Pass a wealth tax. Make child care affordable. Protect our coastal communities. And build a 21st-century transportation system across all of Massachusetts. Oh — and like I’ve been saying for years — put stricter rules on banks so they don’t crash and hurt working people.”

Among those who compliment Warren in the video are Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (D) and Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.).

Warren, 73, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020, has signaled for some time that she would seek reelection next year. She faces no significant opposition at this point.

8:41 AM: Analysis: Post-Roe, some abortion clinics are moving to more liberal states

© Leah Willingham/AP The waiting room of the Women's Health Center of West Virginia in Charleston, W.Va., sits empty on June 29.

West Virginia’s only abortion clinic wrote on its website that it would no longer perform abortions the morning after state lawmakers passed a near-total ban on the procedure in mid-September.

Now, the clinics’ operators plan to announce today that they’ll soon open a new location in Cumberland, Md., roughly five miles from the West Virginia border, The Post’s Rachel Roubein writes in The Health 202. Per Rachel:

“This is a new option for not just Western Marylanders, not just West Virginians, but for people who are living in the abortion desert that is central Appalachia,” said Katie Quiñonez, the executive director of Women’s Health Center of West Virginia, which will open Women’s Health Center of Maryland in June.

In the post-Roe era, some abortion providers are rushing to relocate or open in states that are keeping abortion legal, such as New Mexico, Illinois and Minnesota.

It’s still a relatively small number that have done so, since it takes planning, time and money. But those that have are picking states with strong abortion protections and within striking distance of states with prohibitions on the procedure and abortion pills, an attempt to cut down on travel time.

You can read the full analysis here.

8:15 AM: Take a look: Springsteen guitarist shares photo with bandanna-clad Raskin

A few weeks back, rock guitarist Steven Van Zandt sent a supply of his trademark bandannas to Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.), who has been undergoing chemotherapy and sporting head coverings as a result of hair loss.

Early Monday, Van Zandt posted a photo on Twitter standing next to Raskin, both wearing big smiles in addition to bandannas. Van Zandt is in Washington ahead of Monday night’s concert by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Van Zandt is a guitarist for the band. He has also had a solo musical career and played consigliere Silvio Dante on “The Sopranos.”

The Post’s Sydney Page wrote last month about Van Zandt’s gesture. You can read that here.

7:52 AM: On our radar: A Republican energy bill

© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) meets with sixth-grade students from California in the Rayburn Room on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 8.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) shepherded a Republican-authored “Parents Bill of Rights” through the House on Friday with the support of all but five members of his conference, and he will need similar unity to pass legislation this week that aims to boost fossil fuel production.

Writing in The Early 202, The Post’s Theodoric Meyer and Leigh Ann Caldwell provide a preview:

McCarthy can afford to lose only four House Republicans — or more if a few Democrats vote for the measure or don’t show up to vote.

No Democrats voted for the education bill on Friday, and House Democrats are seeking to keep their ranks in line. They plan to highlight a Congressional Budget Office analysis showing that Republicans’ energy bill would add $2.4 billion to the deficit over 10 years, according to a Democratic leadership aide.

The legislation includes a top priority for Republicans as well as Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and some other Democrats: Changes to smooth the permitting process, which Manchin tried and failed to pass last year. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Clean Power Association, the American Petroleum Institute and hundreds of other groups sent a letter to lawmakers this morning urging them to pass a permitting bill “before the end of the summer.”

You can read The Early 202 in full here.

7:26 AM: On our radar: Bill seeks to acknowledge front-line duties of female military personnel

© Department of Defense Jaclyn “Jax” Scott, center, and a interpreter speak with a man in northern Afghanistan in 2012.

Years before U.S. military women were formally authorized to hold ground-combat jobs, Jaclyn “Jax” Scott was conducting nighttime raids with Special Operations personnel in northern Afghanistan as part of what was known as a cultural support team.

Writing in The Post, Hope Hodge Seck reports that in 2013, when Scott returned from consecutive deployments, she bore the scars of combat: a brain injury from concussive grenade blasts, and back, neck and shoulder ailments owed to heavy falls. When she sought treatment for post-traumatic stress, the Army doctor laughed at her, Scott said. He prescribed sleep aids for jet lag instead. Per Hope:

More than 300 women participated in the cultural support team program between 2009, when it was activated, and 2021, when the Afghanistan war ended. Many sustained life-changing injuries as a result of their work, only to find that they have had to prove to the federal government their need for specialized health care because the Pentagon never classified them as “combat” veterans.

Last week a group of House Republicans and Democrats, all military veterans, introduced the Jax Act, which would require that these women’s personnel records be updated to reflect their front-line duties.

The legislation, which was referred to the Armed Services and Veterans Affairs committees, is intended to remove the burden of proof Scott and others have faced when seeking medical treatment. Advocates say it also would change the broader conversation surrounding female veterans and challenge persistent misconceptions about their service. With its bipartisan sponsorship, there’s a strong chance the measure will move forward.

You can read the full story here.

7:05 AM: Analysis: Turmoil in Israel adds edge to Biden’s democracy summit

© Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post President Biden speaks at a virtual Summit for Democracy at the White House in December 2021.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is laboring to push through a new law as soon as this week that critics warn would take a sledgehammer to Israeli democracy — giving new relevance to the Biden administration’s summit this week that will highlight threats to democracy around the world.

Writing in The Early 202, The Post’s Theodoric Meyer and Leigh Ann Caldwell note that Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday, a day after Gallant criticized Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul Israel’s judiciary. Per our colleagues:

The move has spurred massive protests in Israel, an announcement of a general strike there and deep concern in the White House.

“As the president recently discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the U.S.-Israel relationship,” Adrienne Watson, a National Security Council spokeswoman, said on Sunday night. “Democratic societies are strengthened by checks and balances, and fundamental changes to a democratic system should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support.”

The White House pushback comes as the administration prepares to kick off a summit this week to strengthen democracy — a signature theme of President Biden’s tenure. Israel is among the countries invited, and it’s not the only one at risk of democratic backsliding.

You can read the full analysis here.

6:45 AM: On our radar: Grand jury investigating Trump could reconvene today

© Jeenah Moon/For The Washington Post Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has received numerous death threats as he pursues his investigation into a payment made before the 2016 presidential election to an adult-film actress.

A grand jury in Manhattan investigating hush-money payments from former president Donald Trump to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels could reconvene as early as Monday.

In social media posts overnight, Trump issued a fresh denial of having had an affair with Daniels and praised the work of House Republicans who have accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) of mounting a politically driven prosecution and have demanded documents and testimony about the investigation.

Trump also addressed the investigation — and other probes swirling around him as he seeks to return to the White House — during a rally Saturday night in Waco, Tex.

“When they go after me, they’re going after you,” Trump told a crowd of thousands in a roughly 1½-hour speech in which he sought to cast himself as the victim of one “phony investigation after another.” Behind him, supporters held up signs that read “WITCH HUNT.”

Grand jury proceedings are secret, and Bragg has not detailed a timetable for seeking a possible indictment of Trump related to the hush-money payments. Trump incorrectly predicted he would be arrested last week.

6:36 AM: Noted: Rep. Ro Khanna endorses Rep. Barbara Lee in Senate race in California

© Eric Lee/Bloomberg Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) speaks during a news conference near the Capitol in Washington on March 30, 2022.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a leading liberal Democrat, said Sunday that he will not enter the primary to replace retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) of California and will support another candidate, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).

The Post’s Azi Paybarah has details:

Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Khanna said: “I have concluded that despite a lot of enthusiasm from Bernie folks, the best place, the most exciting place … for me to serve as a progressive is in the House of Representatives.”

Khanna, who was a co-chair of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential bid, said he will co-chair Lee’s campaign for the Senate.

Feinstein, 89, has held the seat since 1992 and announced last month that she will not seek reelection next year. Along with Lee, who is 76, Reps. Katie Porter, 49, and Adam B. Schiff, 62, both House Democrats, are running to replace Feinstein.

You can read the full story here.

6:32 AM: Analysis: Indictment or no, Trump’s strategy is to attack and threaten

© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Former president Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally in Waco, Tex., on Saturday.

The weekend arrived, and Donald Trump, contrary to his predictions, had not been indicted. He nonetheless used this possibility to make himself the center of attention of both the legal and political worlds, offering a window into his campaign strategy while highlighting the dangers he poses to the stability of the country, The Post’s Dan Balz writes.

Trump predicted more than a week ago that he would be indicted by a New York grand jury for his role in the payment of hush money to the adult-film actress Stormy Daniels. The investigation, led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, does appear to be nearing a decision point, with the grand jury scheduled to meet again Monday. Per our colleague:

In typical fashion, however, Trump didn’t wait for the grand jury to speak, calling on his followers to stage protests in an echo of what he had tweeted ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol (“Be there. Will be wild.”).

On Friday morning, the former president posted an even more troubling message on Truth Social, calling Bragg “a degenerate psychopath” and warning of “potential death and destruction” if he is indicted in connection with what he termed “a false charge.”

In the past, statements like that were not taken seriously enough. But after his lies about the 2020 election, the storming of the U.S. Capitol and everything else he has done to undermine the integrity of the voting process, that’s no longer possible. No one today discounts the possibility of violence surrounding the former president or instigated by him.

His call for protests prompted law enforcement officials in New York to erect security barriers around the criminal court complex. His declarations on Friday led House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to warn that Trump’s “reckless, reprehensible and irresponsible” rhetoric could “get someone killed.”

You can read the full analysis here.

6:28 AM: Noted: Biden’s FAA nominee withdraws after Sinema scuttles committee vote

© J. Scott Applewhite/AP Phillip Washington, the nominee to become administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, testifies before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on March 1. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

President Biden’s nominee to head the Federal Aviation Administration has withdrawn after Republicans assailed his selection and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) scuttled a planned committee vote last week, congressional aides said.

The Post’s Michael Laris reports that transit and airport executive Phillip Washington, a 24-year Army veteran and chief executive of Denver International Airport, headed Biden’s transition team for transportation after the 2020 election. Per our colleague:

“The partisan attacks and procedural obstruction he has faced are undeserved,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg tweeted late Saturday. The FAA, which has been without a permanent leader for a year, “needs a confirmed Administrator, and Phil Washington’s transportation & military experience made him an excellent nominee.”

Republican senators, led by Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), said Washington lacked the aviation safety experience required for the job. They sought to tie him to local political issues in California, where he headed the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and assailed his focus on diversifying the ranks of transportation officials and contractors.

You can read the full story here.

6:25 AM: Noted: Indicted Chinese exile controls Gettr social media site, ex-employees say

© Jane Rosenberg/Reuters A sketch shows Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese businessman with ties to former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon, at a courthouse in New York on March 15.

An exiled Chinese tycoon indicted in New York this month in a billion-dollar fraud case controls the conservative social media platform Gettr and used it to promote cryptocurrencies and propaganda, former employees have told The Washington Post.

The Post’s Joseph Menn reports that they said the arrested expatriate, Guo Wengui, and his longtime money manager, William Je, called the shots at the company while Donald Trump’s senior adviser Jason Miller was its chief executive and public face. Miller served in that capacity from before Gettr’s July 4, 2021, launch until this month, when he returned to work on his third Trump presidential campaign. Per our colleague:

Gettr doled out tens of thousands of dollars to right-wing figures including Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon, sent money to contractors affiliated with Guo, and altered information on Gettr users that law enforcement agencies had sought, according to the former employees and internal company documents obtained by The Post.

The revelations show that a man accused of massive fraud on two continents climbed high into Trump’s political sphere and dictated messaging at a social media site that reaches millions of Americans.

Guo was arrested March 15 at his Fifth Avenue penthouse in New York, where a fire broke out as agents hunted for documents. Je, who lives in London, remains at large.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged both men with 11 counts of securities and wire fraud, money laundering and related offenses and Je with an additional count of obstruction. The legal documents do not allege any wrongdoing at Gettr; prosecutors did not return a call seeking comment Friday.

You can read the full story here.

6:21 AM: The latest: Sen. Mitch McConnell out of rehab facility after a fall

© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) holds a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was released from inpatient physical therapy and returned home 2½ weeks after a fall that left him with a concussion and a broken rib, he said in a statement Saturday.

The Post’s Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff reports that the 81-year-old senator did not specify when he will return to his office in Washington but said he will spend the coming days working from home. Per our colleague:

“I’m in frequent touch with my Senate colleagues and my staff,” he said in the statement. “I look forward to returning in person to the Senate soon.”

The Senate begins a long Easter recess Thursday, so it is unlikely he will return to the chamber for legislative business until the Senate reconvenes April 17.

McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader, was hospitalized for five days after he tripped while attending a private dinner at a Washington hotel March 8. McConnell on Tuesday spoke directly with members of his leadership team for the first time since the fall, telling them he was “eager” to be back.

You can read the full story here.