Tuesday, March 25 | By Jonathan Easley |
White House digs in as furor grows over breach
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PRESIDENT TRUMP IS SIGNALING the White House will stand by its national security team as the furor grows in Washington over a journalist being added to a group chat discussion about a Yemen bombing campaign. Trump on Tuesday gave a vote of confidence to national security adviser Mike Waltz, whose account apparently added The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the chat group. The text chain included Vice President Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, among others. "Michael Waltz has learned a lesson and he's a good man," Trump told NBC. "It's just something that can happen," he added. Waltz took shots at Goldberg on Tuesday while saying he had no idea how he got on the text chain. "This [journalist] in particular I've never met, don't know, never communicated with, and we are looking into and reviewing how the heck he got into this room," Waltz said. Hegseth is also a key player in the drama, as Goldberg says the Defense chief detailed the administration's secret war plans against the Iranian-backed Houthis. "Nobody was texting war plans," Hegseth said. "That's a lie," Goldberg responded on CNN. "He was texting war plans." Goldberg contends he has proof that the officials were discussing secret war plans — including about weaponry, targets and timing — but said he does not plan to publish the highly sensitive material at this point. The National Security Council said Monday that the chain was authentic. The White House is publicly backing Hegseth and going on the attack against Goldberg, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying he's "well-known for his sensationalist spin." Gabbard and Ratcliffe testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee, insisting no classified material was shared on the chat, though questions remain on exactly how that conclusion was reached. |
Sen. Mark Warner (Va.), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called on Hegseth and Waltz to resign, arguing that others in the same position would be fired for mishandling sensitive information. "This is one more example of the kind of sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior, particularly towards classified information, that this is not a one-off or a first-time error," Warner said. Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.), the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus and an Air Force veteran, also called on Hegseth to resign, saying his "reckless" handling of sensitive material put the lives of U.S. troops at risk. "Had that information gotten to the Houthis, American pilots could have been shot down, [and] Navy sailors could have been targeted," Lieu said. |
NATSEC CONCERNS AROUND SIGNAL APP |
In addition to questions about whether the officials inadvertently shared classified material with a journalist, it's unclear whether the national security team is authorized to communicate over Signal, an encrypted app. Russia-aligned cyber actors have targeted the app for spying in the past. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said there's "no doubt" that Russia and China were monitoring the U.S. officials' devices. "I will guarantee you, 99.99 percent with confidence, Russia and China are monitoring those two phones," Bacon told CNN's Manu Raju. "So I just think it's a security violation, and there's no doubt that Russia and China saw this stuff within hours of the actual attacks on Yemen or the Houthis." Republicans have largely stopped short of calling for consequences over the breach, but acknowledge that a full accounting must take place. Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he spoke "at length" with Rubio about it. "This is a matter that's going to be investigated," Risch said. Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said his panel plans to investigate. |
U.S. consumer confidence fell for the fourth straight month amid rising concern over tariffs and inflation. President Trump signed a memorandum directing the declassification of FBI files related to the investigation into his 2016 campaign's potential ties to Russia.
The FBI established a task force to investigate the wave of vandalism and arson incidents targeting Tesla in recent weeks.
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Johnson ups ante in GOP fight against the courts
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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is taking the GOP's battle with courts to a new level, warning Tuesday that Congress has "authority over the federal courts" and could "eliminate an entire district court" if they wanted. "We do have power over funding over the courts and all these other things," Johnson said. "But desperate times call for district measures, and Congress is going to act." Johnson clarified that he was not threatening to wipe out a district court, but his rhetoric underscores the deep anger Republicans feel at what they view as activist judges standing in the way of President Trump's agenda. The tipping point for Republicans has been the standoff with U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, who temporarily blocked deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which Trump has used to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members. Democrats and some legal observers say American citizens or the wrongly accused could get swept up in those deportations because the war time powers allow the administration to circumvent due process. At an appeals court hearing Monday, one of the judges on the three-judge panel said "Nazis got better treatment" under the Alien Enemies Act than was afforded the alleged Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members who were deported to a prison in El Salvador. The government has been battling to withhold information from Boasberg over the deportations, invoking a state secrets privilege. The Trump administration is seeking to have the appeals court overturn Boasberg's pause on the deportations and wants him removed from the case. Attorney General Pam Bondi said she expects the case will eventually wind up in front of the Supreme Court. Trump and some Republicans have called on Boasberg and other judges to be impeached and removed, provoking a rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts. Two GOP lawmakers filed articles of impeachment this week against two other judges who issued rulings that blocked Trump from advancing parts of his agenda. The House could impeach Boasberg and other judges if Republicans stick together, but it would take a two-thirds majority in the Senate to remove them from the bench, which is extremely unlikely given the GOP's 53-47 majority in the upper chamber. Johnson has not indicated that he has any plans to bring impeachment articles to the House floor for a vote. Republicans are instead looking at potential legislative avenues, including new limitations on the power of district judges to impose nationwide injunctions. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will hold a hearing on the issue next week. |
Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) will meet Tuesday with committee chairs from both chambers as they seek a compromise on how to pass Trump's spending and tax cuts agenda. The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports: "The Speaker has set a goal of getting that "one big, beautiful bill" to Trump's desk by the end of April or — at the latest — by Memorial Day, but Thune has privately told Senate colleagues that ambitious timeline is unrealistic, and that getting it passed by the end of July is a more attainable target." |
💡Perspectives: • The Hill: Deportation foes find a story to tell with 'Andrys'. • MSNBC: Bondi should know 'our government' includes Boasberg. • Reason: This fight will not end well for the courts. |
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© Vyacheslav Prokofyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP |
Roundup: White House says Russia, Ukraine agree to key elements of limited ceasefire
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The White House said Tuesday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to some elements around a limited ceasefire, a significant step as the U.S. seeks to broker a peace deal between the two nations. Russia and Ukraine agreed to "eliminate the use of force" in the Black Sea, potentially paving the way to reopen commercial shipping lanes in the critical waterway. There also appears to be an agreement in place to end strikes on energy facilities, although Ukraine previously accused Russia of violating the pause on attacks against energy pipelines and infrastructure. Russia said it expects the U.S. to ease certain sanctions as part of the agreement for a limited ceasefire. U.S. officials are in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia meeting separately with Russian and Ukrainian officials. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff a portrait of Trump to deliver to the U.S. president as a gift, the Kremlin said. • President Trump is considering carveouts for some countries over his threatened reciprocal tariffs that are scheduled to land on April 2. "I may give a lot of countries breaks. It's reciprocal, but we might be even nicer than that," Trump told reporters at the White House. "You know, we've been very nice to a lot of countries for a long time." • The Trump administration said Columbia University has made first steps toward "meaningful reform" that would restore about $400 million in federal funding for the university. The university is said to be complying with demands it change its disciplinary procedures to crack down on antisemitism and protest culture. The Hill's Lexi Lonas reports: "Columbia agreed to all of the Trump administration's terms, including the most controversial ones such as putting certain departments under academic receivership." Still, education groups are suing the Trump administration over its threat to withhold federal funds if Columbia does not comply with its demands. And Columbia University student Yunseo Chung is suing the Trump administration for seeking to deport her over her participation in pro-Palestinian protests. Chung, a 21-year-old South Korean native, has been in the U.S. since she was 7 and is a lawful permanent resident. |
💡Perspectives: • New York: There's a new war among the liberal intelligentsia. • The Hill: Putin is playing Trump for time. • The American Prospect: Blue states must commit to governing. • The Hill: The media is under attack — man the barricades. |
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