“Speaker Mike Johnson said he expects to change the Senate-passed Department of Homeland Security funding bill, a new wrinkle in the months-long fight to reopen the gigantic agency,” Punchbowl News reports.
Johnson said that the bill, which funded all of DHS except ICE and CBP, had “some problematic language because it was haphazardly drafted.”
Punchbowl News: “Congress is staring down an absolutely brutal week that will set the tone for the rest of the legislative year.”
Politico: Inside Mike Johnson’s grueling week.
Wall Street Journal: “Critics say the panel is too opaque and moves too slowly, with investigations sometimes taking years and often ending with no public report if a member leaves. Defenders say the committee has the near-impossible task of policing colleagues, and that due process requires a deliberative pace. The stresses have been exacerbated by lawmakers’ increasing eagerness to attack fellow members—even of the same party—and the narrow majorities in the House.”
“Some lawmakers are now asking: Is the Ethics Committee up to the job?”
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“House Speaker Mike Johnson is staring down a brutal pre-recess session next week as he tries to cram three high-stakes votes through a fractured conference,” Axios reports.
“Johnson has built a reputation for pulling off the improbable. But his rank-and-file have shown a new willingness to buck President Trump, who the speaker relies on to close tough votes.”
“Former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) just resigned a few days ago just ahead of an expulsion vote, but she’s still running for re-election, her campaign confirmed Friday,” Mediaite reports.
“Last month, the House Ethics Committee found that Cherfilus-McCormick was guilty of 25 out of 27 counts of embezzling funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that were intended for Covid-19 vaccination programs.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) “says she has a big announcement coming, setting off chatter about a book or TV deal, a return to the courtroom or even long-shot moves involving her old House seat,” the Dallas Morning News reports.
“The Dallas congresswoman is at a career crossroads after losing the Democratic primary for Senate to state Rep. James Talarico (D).”
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told ABC News that he spoke to Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. (R-NJ) by phone on Thursday, who said that he is dealing with an unspecified “personal health matter” and “expects to be back to 100% very soon.”
“A private investigator who is working for former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s lawyers called a former Swalwell staffer, asking them questions about their time in the office,” NOTUS reports.
“An investigator who identified herself as working for Beau Dietl & Associates, a high-profile New York firm, told the source she was mainly focused on sexual assault allegations and wanted to talk to the former staffer about her time in Swalwell’s office.”
Associated Press: “It’s a complaint as old as the Congress, with leaders in both major political parties often turning to the torturous grind of an overnight session to exhaust members, overcome objections and push legislation to passage. But it’s a scenario that is playing out again and again, nearly business as usual, as the House and the Senate fracture and careen from one crisis to the next.”
“Lawmakers say it’s a symptom of a broken Congress that leaders are increasingly forced to govern in the dead of night.”
Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) “is mired in a messy custody battle with his ex-wife that has involved a police investigation into their 2-year-old’s broken collarbone,” the New York Post reports.
“The former Trump aide had filed for divorce from Emily Moreno in 2024, not long after the birth of their daughter and initially agreed to an arrangement where the congressman ponied up $2,500 in child support each month.”
“But last month, Emily, who is the daughter of Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), moved to overhaul their shared parenting agreement, citing concerns about his behavior.”
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) told Punchbowl News that he’d absolutely leave the Republican Party and become an Independent if Pennsylvania had an open primary.
Said Fitzpatrick: “100 percent… 100 percent.”
“The House Ethics Committee interviewed a number of Rep. Alma Adams’ former aides as part of an investigation into an alleged inappropriate relationship between the lawmaker and a staffer who works out of her North Carolina district office,” NOTUS reports.
“Rep. Tom Kean Jr. represents New Jersey’s most competitive district this November — but nobody, even his GOP colleagues, can say where he’s been for the past month,” Politico reports.
“A scion of one of the state’s most storied political dynasties, Kean’s team says the two-term congressmember is facing unspecified health issues. The New Jersey Republican hasn’t voted since March 5 and has missed almost 50 roll call votes.”
“In the more than three years since he became the top House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries has sometimes struggled to escape the shadow of his esteemed predecessor,” Politico reports.
“He stood alone in the limelight Wednesday, however, after engineering a feat of political hardball — a statewide vote paving the way for new Virginia congressional maps that could wipe out four GOP-held seats — that earned praise from Nancy Pelosi herself.”
“With midterm elections looming, embattled congressional Republicans would like to be spending their scarce floor time showing voters they are tackling the high cost of living,” the New York Times reports.
“Instead, they are spinning their wheels on a series of bills with limited political payoff, if any, lacking the votes — or the consensus in their own ranks — to move ahead with much else.”
“Six months from voting that will decide control of Congress, Republicans in the House and Senate are bogged down on an intraparty fight over surveillance powers.”
Rep. David Scott (D-GA), who was seeking his 13th term in Congress despite challenges from within his party, has died at the age of 80, the AP reports.
Gallup: “Americans’ approval of Congress has fallen to 10%, barely above its all-time low of 9%, while disapproval has climbed to 86%, tying the record high for the institution.”
Punchbowl News: “Mills is under investigation by the Ethics Committee for alleged sexual misconduct and other violations. Many Democrats — along with some Republicans — have called for his expulsion.”
“Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) introduced a Mills expulsion resolution on Monday. Mace still hasn’t officially noticed the privileged resolution.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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