MORNING REPORT

Friday, March 27 | By Jared Gans

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In today's issue:

▪ Senate passes TSA funding

▪ Trump extends Iran strikes pause

▪ Maduro makes court appearance

▪ More DEI probes at schools

Effort to fund TSA, most of DHS shifts to House

The pressure is on the House to sign off on badly needed funding for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and most of the rest of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) following an early morning vote from the Senate.

Senators agreed to a proposal early Friday to fund TSA and other key agencies in DHS by unanimous consent, leaving out U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol. The measure also funds the U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Attention now shifts to the lower chamber to see if it can pass the bill Friday before heading out for its scheduled two-week Easter recess. Senators departed after passing the legislation, planning to return in mid-April.

The surprise vote by the Senate came hours after members failed again to reach a deal to fund the entirety of DHS. Members of both parties have been under increasing pressure to reach an agreement as delays at airports nationwide have been growing and TSA employees have been overwhelmed, short-staffed and unpaid.

But the pressure wasn't enough for Democrats and Republicans to reach a deal. The Senate again rejected a House-passed bill Thursday to fund DHS mostly along party lines in a 53-47 vote, falling short of the 60-vote threshold required for the measure to advance.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) kept the vote open for hours to give Republican and Democratic negotiators time to agree on details of a deal to split funding for ICE's emergency removal operations from the rest of DHS funding.

A group of moderate Democrats have been talking to GOP negotiators to try to find an off-ramp to the shutdown, but they were unable to reach a resolution.

Instead, senators agreed to fund all but the agencies responsible for immigration enforcement. Democrats have been pushing that proposal for weeks but repeatedly ran into opposition from Republicans.

Senate leaders sent a hotline request to senators early Friday to see if there would be any objections to the proposal, and there were none, The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports.

Thune told reporters that Republicans rejected the idea before because they were hoping for a deal to fund all of DHS. But he said they "pivoted" after it became clear Democrats wouldn't accept Republicans' proposed reforms to ICE in exchange for agreeing to fund the entire department.

"We had hoped we would get a funding bill and we were trying to accommodate their requests for reform," Thune said. "We couldn't get any closer on it so you kind of pivot to the next strategy."

The key question now is whether the House will be able to get the bill passed Friday and whether President Trump would be willing to sign it into law.

Trump had said on Thursday evening, after it became clear the Senate wouldn't agree to a full DHS appropriations bill, that he would take action to try to alleviate rising TSA issues. He said he would order Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to "immediately" pay TSA agents to address the "emergency situation."

A senior administration official said money from Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act will be used to pay TSA staffers. But if the House can pass the bill and Trump signs it, that wouldn't be necessary.

Airports across the country are badly in need of reinforcements. They've been dealing with rising call-out rates as TSA agents have been without pay for more than a month.

Airports in Texas have suffered some of the most severe disruptions, seeing some of the highest TSA call-out rates in the country, The Hill's Sarah Fortinsky reports.

Thune said he was hopeful Trump would be willing to sign the bill into law.

"I never speak for him, but he understood where we were, where the Democrats were," he said of Trump's support. "I hope so."

Without full funding for DHS, the current partial shutdown will technically break a new record for the longest in U.S. history on Sunday, surpassing the one from last fall. But passing the funding for most of the department would provide new hope for getting TSA and other agencies back on track.

▪ WTOP: Security lines stretch outside terminal at Baltimore airport.

▪ Business Insider: Wait times range from nothing to 4 hours.

3 Things to Know Today

The Department of Education announced it will move out of its current headquarters to a smaller building occupied by the Department of Energy. Officials said the decision will save $350 million in maintenance costs to the current building.
The Treasury Department plans to add Trump's signature to paper currency to mark the country's 250th anniversary. This will be the first time a sitting president's signature will appear on currency.
A federal judge has blocked the Pentagon's designation of the AI company Anthropic as a supply chain risk. The judge paused the ruling from taking effect for a week to allow the administration to appeal.

LEADING THE DAY

PAUSE EXTENDED: Trump announced Thursday that he's extending the pause on U.S. forces striking Iran's energy infrastructure for another 10 days following a request from the Iranian government.

The extension adds on to the initial five-day pause Trump announced Monday following his threat to destroy Iran's power plants if Tehran didn't reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The announcement comes as talks have been going on this week between the U.S. and Iran to try to bring an end to the war.

"Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Iran has sent mixed messages about the seriousness of the talks. While the two countries have exchanged proposals and Iran has issued its five key demands for ending the conflict, Iranian officials have also pushed back strongly against the U.S., showing signs of defiance against pressure from Washington.

Trump had earlier Thursday cast doubt on the prospect of a ceasefire deal with Iran, saying Iranian leaders must convince him to agree.

"They are begging to work out a deal," Trump said at a Cabinet meeting. "I don't know if we'll be able to do that. I don't know if we're willing to do that."

"In the meantime, we'll just keep blowing them away unimpeded," he said later.

But Trump also suggested Iran sought to show they're serious about talks, as the "present" he referred to days earlier was Tehran allowing the passage of 10 oil-carrying ships through the strait. He said two additional boats were also allowed safe passage.

▪ The Hill: Secretary of State Marco Rubio faces skeptical Europe at key moment.

▪ NBC News: Nasdaq moves into correction as war impacts markets.

MADURO IN COURT: Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores made their first court appearances Thursday since they were arraigned in January.

Maduro and the former Venezuelan first lady have been in U.S. custody for nearly three months since they were captured in a stunning U.S. raid that removed him from power after more than a decade leading the South American country. They have pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges.

Maduro's attorney argued at the hearing that the former leader and his wife cannot afford legal representation of their own and Caracas should cover their legal fees. Prosecutor Kyle Wirshba maintained that U.S. sanctions prevent Venezuela from providing assistance, and the U.S. is investigating whether they are able to pay their own legal fees.

Wirshba said Maduro and Flores could receive services from public defenders.

Presiding Judge Alvin Hellerstein didn't rule on the debate and hasn't yet set a trial date. But he did say he doesn't plan to dismiss the case.

▪ Al Jazeera: How strong is the case against Maduro?

BALLOT PUSH FAILS: A Republican-led push in Utah to place a measure on the ballot to allow the state Legislature to redraw the state's congressional lines has failed after it fell below the required number of signatures.

The effort initially had enough signatures to get the measure on the ballot in November, but thousands of signatories removed their support for the measure, causing it to fall short. An independent commission has been responsible for creating and recommending congressional maps to lawmakers since Utah voters approved a ballot measure in 2018.

The state GOP has pushed to scrap the commission since the state Supreme Court ruled the Legislature couldn't override the will of the voters from the 2018 referendum. A Utah judge ordered the state's current lines to be redrawn last year, finding the map violated state law.

The ruling ordered the creation of a Democratic-leaning district based around Salt Lake City, likely handing Democrats a surprise pickup opportunity in the national redistricting battle.

▪ The Hill: Poll shows Dem leads by 8 points in North Carolina Senate race.

WHEN & WHERE

The president will participate in executive time at 8 a.m. He will deliver remarks to farmers at 12:30 p.m. He will depart the White House for Miami and deliver remarks at the Future Investment Initiative at 5:30 p.m.
The House will convene at 9 a.m.
The Senate is out today.

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ZOOM IN

DEI PROBES: The Trump administration is expanding its push against the use of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in university admissions, opening investigations into three medical schools.

Stanford University, The Ohio State University and the University of California, San Diego received letters Wednesday asking for seven years of data concerning applicants' race, standardized test scores, relations to donors, ZIP codes and other information, The Hill's Lexi Lonas Cochran reports.

The government is also demanding documents related to DEI use in admissions and other university communications regarding race, donor status and other information gathered during admissions. They were given a deadline of April 24 to comply.

The administration has prioritized trying to obtain various admissions data from universities during Trump's second term, expressing concern that academic institutions are using other methods to get around a 2023 Supreme Court decision banning the use of affirmative action in admissions.

Many universities have handed over admissions data or changed policies to abide by federal officials' requests, while 17 Democratic-led states are suing to stop their universities' admissions data from being collected.

▪ The Hill: Trump efforts stirs fears of retaliation.

ELSEWHERE

IOC RULING: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided to bar transgender women from competing in women's events ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

The IOC's policy, announced Thursday, states eligibility to participate in women's sports will be based on screening for the "absence or presence of the SRY gene," which is located on the Y chromosome and is responsible for male sexual development. The IOC said in a statement that it considers the SRY gene to be "fixed throughout life."

Testing will take place through an athlete's saliva, a cheek swab or blood test. An athlete who tests negative for the gene will be considered permanently satisfying the IOC's criteria and won't need to get tested again unless there is reason to believe an error in the test occurred.

"As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition," IOC President Kirsty Coventry said in the statement. "The policy that we have announced is based on science and has been led by medical experts."

The policy is based on findings from a working group that found those born as biologically male have physical advantages.

The decision comes as the Trump administration and Republican-led states throughout the country have moved to restrict transgender women from participating in women's sports. While the Olympics are taking place inside the U.S. in 2028, the IOC didn't reference Trump's executive order or other actions taken on the topic in its announcement.

▪ The Washington Post: White House applauds IOC decision.

▪ The Hill: Lawmakers ramp up fight against sports betting prediction markets.

OPINION

Robert Mueller's ultimate legacy: Preventing an American MI5, Christopher M. Donohue writes in The Hill.
The dark cloud looming over baseball's new golden age, Will Leitch writes in The Washington Post.

THE CLOSER

And finally … 👏👏👏 Congrats to this week's Morning Report quiz winners! This was a tough one this week, as only a few people notched perfect scores. But a lot of thoughtful answers and close calls, so still a good effort to those who answered. And definitely a job well done to those who were perfect.

Here's who went 4/4: Stan Wasser, Ned Sauthoff, Linda L. Field and Mark R. Williamson.

ICE officers were deployed to 14 airports throughout the country to start, though White House border czar Tom Homan said the number will rise.

Including the acting secretaries, Trump had six secretaries of DHS during his first term. He started with John Kelly, who served for about six months before he became White House chief of staff. He was replaced by acting Secretary Elaine Duke and then Kirstjen Nielsen, who was confirmed by the Senate and served more than a year. After Nielsen left, she was replaced by a succession of three acting secretaries, two of whom were later forced out after judges ruled they were unlawfully appointed.

Trump's initial deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was 48 hours, before he later delayed the deadline as talks began.

Combining the current record-long, full shutdown from the fall, a short partial one at the end of January and the current one, there has been a funding gap for a total of 88 days during Trump's second term, as of Thursday.