Evening Report — GOP defense hawks brace themselves

🔵 Plus: Bernie Sanders & AOC's huge crowds

View Online Evening Report Friday, March 21 | By Jonathan Easley TRUMP FIRST 100 DAYS ©  AP GOP defense hawks brace for Trump changes PRESIDENT TRUMP UNVEILED the sixth generation F-47 fighter jet Friday, as top Republicans in Congress warned him against reported plans to shake up the U.S. military command abroad.   Trump was flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other senior military officials in the Oval Office, who touted U.S. military might and said the new jets would "reestablish deterrence" to keep Americans safe.   "It sends a direct clear message to our allies that we aren't going anywhere and to our enemies that we will be able to project power unimpeded around the globe for generations to come," Hegseth said.   The Trump administration is making a concerted effort to project military strength in what they said is a break from former President Biden's policies.   Vice President Vance will tour the Marine Corps Base at Quantico next week. Hegseth also announced the Pentagon had broadly slashed $580 million in grants and contracts he deemed "wasteful spending." TRUMP RUNS INTO GOP OPPOSITION OVER PROPOSED SHAKE UP Some Republicans are fearful over elements of the Trump administration's proposed military overhaul.   The Republican chairmen on the Armed Services committees in the House and Senate made the rare move this week to release a joint statement brushing Trump back after NBC News reported the Pentagon is considering giving up the U.S. role as NATO's supreme allied commander.   "We will not accept significant changes to our warfighting structure that are made without a rigorous interagency process, coordination with combatant commanders and the Joint Staff, and collaboration with Congress," Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said in a statement. "Such moves risk undermining American deterrence around the globe and detracting from our negotiating positions with America's adversaries."   Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned such a move would significantly weaken NATO.   The conservative editorial board at The Wall Street Journal said the move "sounds more like an American retreat."   Trump did not address the matter when asked about it during an Oval Office press conference on Friday.   The Hill's Alexander Bolton writes that the issue puts Trump "on a collision course with Republican defense hawks over the question of whether the United States should continue its 75-year military leadership of NATO and at what level of commitment."   The dust-up has drawn attention to Trump's hostility toward NATO, as he pushes the global alliance to contribute more of its own money toward defense spending and threatens to draw the U.S. back from the global stage. MEANWHILE ... Trump sharply denied a New York Times report that the Pentagon was set to brief Elon Musk over hypothetical war plans involving China.   Musk visited the Pentagon on Friday, but Trump said the visit was solely to discuss his work with the Department of Government Efficiency.   The president lashed out at The Times, saying the report came as a surprise to him, and he immediately called Hegseth to ensure no such briefing was in the works.   "You're talking about a potential war with China," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "I don't want anybody seeing potential war with China."   He said Musk wouldn't be allowed to view sensitive military secrets involving China because he has business interests there that would potentially make him "susceptible." 💡Perspectives: • The Wall Street Journal: How to really shrink the Department of Education. • The Hill: Public schools are languishing in a political dead zone. Read more:  • Boeing wins battle for $20B fighter jet contract. • Musk on Pentagon leakers: 'They will be found'. • Rubio slams CNN report he's 'frustrated' by Witkoff's role • Internal USAID list provides snapshot of Trump cuts. • Map shows sabotage across Europe blamed on Russia. CATCH UP QUICK The Trump administration is importing millions of eggs from Turkey and South Korea, with other countries likely to be contributing in the coming weeks. Johnson & Johnson says it will invest more than $55 billion within the United States over the next four years, including four new manufacturing plants. The United Arab Emirates has committed to a 10-year, $1.4 trillion "investment framework" in the U.S.   London's Heathrow Airport shut down after a large fire knocked the power out, disrupting global travel. NEWS THIS AFTERNOON ©  AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin Sanders, AOC draw huge crowds out West Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) "Fighting Oligarchy" rallies are drawing bigger crowds than his presidential campaign rallies, as liberals flock to the events to express their frustration with Elon Musk's government cutbacks.   A rally Sanders held with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats on Thursday night in Tempe, Ariz., drew 15,000 people, an astonishing crowd for a non-campaign year.   Sanders's spokeswoman Anna Bahr noted that his trip to Tempe in 2015 at the height of his presidential run drew about 11,300.   The progressive senator also drew more people to a rally in Las Vegas earlier in the day than he did for a 2020 presidential campaign rally, when he was on his way to a decisive victory in the Nevada caucuses.   Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez will hold two rallies in Colorado on Friday, before returning to Arizona for a rally in Tucson on Saturday.   Sanders has been urging liberals to run as independents at a time when the Democratic Party is at historically low levels of approval.   "I think what the American people see and what the polling suggests, and voter registration suggests is not a whole lot of faith in either party, Democrats or Republicans," Sanders told Fox News Digital.   At the rally in Tempe, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez took aim at Musk, who has become a primary target for Democrats as they seek to regain their footing in Trump's second term.   "We are here together because an extreme concentration of power and corruption is taking over this country like never before," Ocasio-Cortez said.   Sanders later warned that Musk would gut Social Security and Medicaid.   In his Whole Hog newsletter, Chris Stirewalt writes about how the high-profile state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin later this month is a test of Musk's clout.   A Musk-backed super PAC has spent millions on the race, while drawing headlines for its tactics, which include offering $100 for petition signatures opposing "activist judges."   Meanwhile, Democrats are running ads in the race warning about Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts, Politico reports. ON THE HOME FRONT Some Democrats are facing unruly town hall crowds back home, as they hear from constituents who want them to be fighting back harder against Trump's agenda.   Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said at a town hall that the diverse politics of her swing state "require me to be more than just an AOC."   "I can't do what she does, because we live in a purple state and I'm a pragmatist. Everyone you mentioned has a lot of words, but what have they actually done to change the situation with Donald Trump?" she said, according to CNN.   The Concord Monitor reports that Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.) faced the "holy anger" of her constituents Thursday night.   "I feel like we're being played … I'm looking for you and your other colleagues in the Democratic Party to take the helm of the ship and get it back on course," a retired teacher said to Goodlander. 💡Perspectives: • The Liberal Patriot: What Democrats can learn from the German election. • New York: All Is Not Lost for Democrats in 2025. • MSNBC: The old GOP is never coming back. Read more:  • Democrats face frustrated voters at raucous town halls. • Carville blasts Democrats for focusing too much on urban voters. • Gun violence prevention group March for Our Lives laying off staffers. ON TAP Here's who's talking Sunday... NewsNation's "The Hill Sunday": Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman (D). ABC's "This Week": Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Trump border czar Tom Homan.   Fox News "Sunday Morning Futures": Attorney General Pam Bondi; Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.); New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.   NBC's "Meet the Press": Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah).   Fox News "Sunday": Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D).   CNN "State of the Union": Education Secretary Linda McMahon; Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). IN OTHER NEWS ©  Greg Nash Washington roundup: Trump, GOP eye judicial restraints President Trump and GOP lawmakers are searching for ways to stop nationwide injunctions imposed by the courts against his executive actions as part of an ongoing feud with federal judges.   In a Truth Social post, Trump said it was the "obligation of Law abiding Agencies of Government to have these 'Orders' overturned."   "Stop nationwide injunctions now, before it is too late," he added.   Congressional Republicans are considering legislation that could potentially blunt nationwide injunctions imposed by the courts.   U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's temporary order freezing deportations under the Alien Enemies Act was the tipping point in the feud between Trump and the judiciary.   Boasberg has demanded the Trump administration prove it didn't defy his order to return alleged Venezuelan gang members who were deported to El Salvador.   At a Thursday hearing, Boasberg alleged the administration had "evaded" his deadline to provide information on the deportations.   Trump and Republicans have called for Boasberg to be impeached and removed, putting the ball in Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) court.   "You can't stop [deportations] with a judge sitting behind a desk who has no idea what's going on and happens to be a radical left lunatic," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.   If all House Republicans voted in favor, it's possible Boasberg could be impeached. However, it would take a two-thirds majority in the Senate to remove him from the bench. The impeachment and removal of judges has historically only been used in cases pertaining to crime and corruption. ELSEWHERE… Trump said Friday that several functions that were once housed under the Department of Education (DOE) will be moved to other agencies following his executive order gutting the DOE.   Student loans will be handled by the Small Business Administration, which is cutting its own workforce by 40 percent.   Programs benefitting students with disabilities will be run out of the Department of Health and Human Services.   Trump is urging Congress to vote to officially abolish the Department of Education, which he scaled back dramatically by executive order.   "We're going to educate the children in their states," Trump said Friday.   There is some Republican support for legislation to abolish the department.   "I agree with President Trump that the Department of Education has failed its mission," Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) posted on X. "Since the Department can only be shut down with Congressional approval, I will support the President's goals by submitting legislation to accomplish this as soon as possible." 💡Perspectives: • Mahmoud Khalil: I am a Palestinian political prisoner in the U.S. • New York Post: Trump is fighting a cartel of corrupt judges. • Los Angeles Times: The U.S. careens toward a constitutional crisis. • Commentary: John Roberts delegitimized the Supreme Court. • The Hill: When the courts can't save us, who can?  Read more:  • Johnson faces complicated path in push to impeach Judge Boasberg. • Judge temporarily blocks DOGE access to Social Security records. • Judge halts Georgetown scholar's removal from U.S. • Judge tells Columbia not to give House GOP student data. Stay Engaged Someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up to get your own copy: TheHill.com/Evening. Did I miss a story? Drop me a line. See you next week! 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