The inside story of the 2024 election

12:30 REPORT 12:30 REPORT Tuesday, April 1 | By Cate Martel Today in DC: ☀️ 59°  Sign up It's Tuesday. It's April Fools' Day, so keep your wits about you. And send me any pranks you come across. 😉 In today's issue: Behind the scenes of Biden dropping out Booker's 16+ hour marathon speech White House on defense over latest deportation  White House declares Signal controversy over Trump administration sends man to El Salvador prison after 'clerical error':  The Trump administration has admitted it mistakenly deported a man with protected legal status, reports The Hill's Rebecca Beitsch.   The White House just addressed it: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt just called it a "clerical error" but claimed that the man was a member of MS-13 and faced other allegations. Immediate evidence was not provided, though. 📺 Watch Leavitt's full response   What happened?: A Maryland father with protected legal status was accidentally deported to El Salvador. But the problem now is U.S. courts don't have jurisdiction to bring him home from the "megaprison" where he's locked up.   "Attorneys for several Venezuelan deportees have said that the Trump administration falsely labeled their clients as gang members because of their tattoos. Trump officials have disputed those claims."   Read The Atlantic's reporting: 'An 'Administrative Error' Sends a Maryland Father to a Salvadoran Prison'   Plus: The New York Times reports that a professional makeup artist was deported because of his tattoos, according to court filings. The makeup artist reportedly identifies as gay and works at beauty pageants. "Lawyers for [Andry José Hernández Romero] said that his tattoos included one showing a crown next to the word 'Mom' and another of a crown next to the word 'Dad.'"   Read The NYT's reporting: 'U.S. Tied Migrants to Gang Based Largely on Clothes or Tattoos, Papers Show' ➤ OH, BY THE WAY, THIS OVER CONTROVERSY IS OVER: If you didn't know, the controversy surrounding senior White House officials mistakenly adding a journalist to a sensitive military group chat is over, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. The administration would really like to move past this situation.   Meanwhile, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) slammed the Trump administration for doing "nothing" to ensure the Signal leak won't happen again. ➤ FOR YOUR RADAR: President Trump is planning to announce sweeping tariffs tomorrow for a day he dubbed "Liberation Day."   What we know: The Washington Post's Jeff Stein and David J. Lynch report that White House aides have drafted a proposal for 20 percent tariffs on most imports to the U.S.   Read: 'Trump aides draft tariff plans as some experts warn of economic damage' ➤ TIDBITS: Tiger Woods got Trump's blessing to date Vanessa: Trump gave golf star Tiger Woods his blessing when he started dating Donald Trump Jr.'s ex-wife, Vanessa Trump.  "Tiger actually called me a few months ago. … I said, 'Tiger, it's good, it's good.' I'm very happy for both," Trump said. "Let them both be happy. They're both great." Spotted at the White House: Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) — who is joining a law firm as a senior adviser — per CNN's DJ Judd. 📸 Photo 🥊️ TALK OF THE MORNING Real talk — this past election was *wild*: ©  UPI The Hill's Amie Parnes and NBC News's Jonathan Allen just published the first book that tells the full, behind-the-scenes story inside the Biden, Trump and Harris campaigns. It's already in the Top 10 on Amazon (and No. 1 for elections).   Top revelations about the 2024 election:   🔷 Obama didn't want Harris: Former President Obama wanted then-President Biden to drop out and then have the party move to an open fight for the nomination. Obama ultimately endorsed then-Vice President Harris a few days after Biden's withdrawal, but "did not think she should be the candidate," according to an unnamed confidant.   🔷 What if Biden died?: Back in 2023 (!), Biden's aides had backup plans for the scenario that Biden died and Democrats needed another candidate in 2024. "It shows what we had to do to prepare with the unique circumstances we had, which was an eighty-plus-year-old president who was running," one party official who was involved in the secret talks told Parnes and Allen. A Harris aide went as far as carrying around a list of judges who could swear in the vice president on short notice.   🔷 Omg, this made me laugh: Remember when Biden had COVID-19 over the summer right before he dropped out? Well, Biden's campaign aides had a karaoke night during that time, eating, drinking and singing Tubthumping" by Chumbawamba. One aide described it as "karaoke at the end of the world."   🔷 Nancy Pelosi urged Biden *not* to debate Trump: Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) assured Biden that he could beat now-President Trump but warned him: "You just can't go onstage with him."   🔷 Trump was worried about debate optics: Trump was worried he was hitting Biden too hard during the infamous June debate. Excerpt: "How do I keep hitting him without coming off as an a—hole? Trump thought. And if I do stop hitting him, will viewers lose interest? He suddenly became acutely aware of the optics of bullying a sitting president of the United States." The Hill's Jared Gans added some more context here   📺 Watch: Parnes and Allen discussed more revelations on Hill TV's "Rising" — keep an eye on TheHill.com for video of the segment this afternoon. 🖱️ Order 'Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House' ⏱️ON CAPITOL HILL Cory Booker right now: ©  GIPHY/Energizer Bunny Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has been speaking on the Senate floor since 7 p.m. Monday (!) to protest the Trump administration's policies. Is this a filibuster?: It's not technically a filibuster because he's not actually holding up any specific bill or nominee. But Senate rules allow senators to speak as long as they wish, per NPR. How long will he speak?: As long as he's "physically able." 💻 Watch it live Has he had any breaks?: A few of Booker's colleagues have jumped in throughout the marathon speech. Omg: "Booker also had a Senate page take away his chair so he was not tempted to sit down throughout his speech, according to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who also joined him on the floor," reports The Hill's Al Weaver. ➤ THE PEOPLE'S HOUSE WANTS BETTER FOOD: It's widely known on Capitol Hill how bad the food is in the House. New members have been surprised at just how bad it is, and some members bring their own food because of it. Well, NOTUS's Oriana González reports how House members and staff are looking to fix that. Read: 'The Quest to Replace the Worst Food in Congress' Some drama in the House: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) has been trying to force a vote to allow new parents to vote remotely. House Republicans are expected to try to block this move. For context: Luna had a baby in 2023. She has received 218 signatures on her resolution — that's enough for it to pass! But Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) opposes the effort, arguing it's unconstitutional. He basically thinks it's a slippery slope to allow more lawmakers to vote remotely. House Republican leaders are planning to throw a procedural hurdle at the bill today to block it. House Democrats think this is "outrageous," by the way. 🔎 Read Mike Lillis's reporting But wait, another twist: Republicans face a possible rebellion over their hardball tactics, The Hill's Mychael Schnell and Emily Brooks report. 🗳️️ HAPPENING TODAY Weil, it's a Fine Tuesday: ^ I'll see myself out now. There are several big elections to watch today. In Florida: All eyes are on the special election to replace White House national security adviser Michael Waltz. It's a deep red district, but Democrat Josh Weil has been polling eerily well against Republican state Sen. Randy Fine. 👀 Plus: Voters will fill former Rep. Matt Gaetz's (R-Fla.) open seat. It's also a bright red district, so everyone will be watching the margins. In Wisconsin: Voters will fill an open state Supreme Court seat. Tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk has poured a lot of money into this race. 🔎 Read Caroline Vakil and Julia Manchester's primer for today Luigi Mangione could get the death penalty: Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that she has ordered the Department of Justice to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione if he is convicted of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. COMING UP The House and Senate are in. President Trump and Vice President Vance are in Washington. (All times EST) Noon. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt briefs reporters. 💻 Livestream 12:30 p.m. Trump and Vance have lunch together. 1 p.m. First lady Melania Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio speak at the 19th International Women of Courage awards ceremony. 💻 Livestream   1:30 p.m. First House votes. Last votes are expected around 4:45 p.m. 📆 Today's agenda   2 p.m. A House hearing on the release of former President Kennedy's assassination records. 💻 Livestream   3:30 p.m. Trump signs executive orders.   7 and 8 p.m. Polls close in Florida for the special elections. 🔎 Primer   9 p.m. Polls close in Wisconsin for the state supreme court race. 🐝 INTERNET BUZZ 🥖 Celebrate: Today is National Sourdough Bread Day.   🧳Spotted at DCA: Former second gentleman Dough Emhoff with his security detail, per @DCCelebrity. 📸 Photo   🤖 Idk how I feel about this: Fashion brand H&M is planning to create digital clones of 30 models. Did we learn NOTHING from "Westworld"?? 👋 AND FINALLY… This bird is having a particularly tough day. Who wants to tell him there's another way to get down from the chair…?  Stay Engaged  📺 Miss yesterday's edition? Catch up with a 1-minute recap. Send your feedback, tips and cookie recipes 🍪 to cmartel@thehill.com. Check out more newsletters. See you next time! 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