MORNING REPORT

Monday, March 9 | By Jared Gans

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In today's issue:

▪ Trump puts pressure on Thune

▪ Iran chooses new supreme leader

▪ Trust in public health institutions drops

▪ Officials investigate U.S. Embassy explosion

Trump voting bill ultimatum adds to pressure on Congress

President Trump's declared refusal to sign any legislation until Congress passes a key bill that would add new voting requirements is putting new pressure on GOP leaders ahead of the midterm elections.

"It must be done immediately. It supersedes everything else," Trump said in a post on Truth Social over the weekend.

"MUST GO TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE. I, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed, AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION - GO FOR THE GOLD: MUST SHOW VOTER I.D. & PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS EXCEPT FOR MILITARY - ILLNESS, DISABILITY, TRAVEL..." he said.

Trump's ultimatum is sure to be welcome news to House Republicans, whom he will be speaking to Monday at their three-day issues retreat in Miami. The party is set to map out its legislative agenda and sharpen its messaging for the midterms.

The president's post follows weeks of debate over the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which passed the House last month but is awaiting a vote in the Senate. The legislation would require individuals to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote and a form of ID before casting a ballot.

The bill has almost universal support among Republicans in Congress, but Democrats are staunchly opposed and can use a filibuster to prevent it from advancing in the upper chamber. That has led the president and some conservatives in Congress to push Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to return the Senate to a "talking filibuster" that could allow them to move the bill forward.

Under current interpretations of the filibuster rule, a member can object to a bill passing and hold it up until 60 senators vote to overcome the filibuster. But a talking filibuster would force Democrats to speak on the floor continuously to prevent a vote from happening.

Once they give up the floor, Republicans could pass the legislation with 51 votes.

But Thune has so far rebuffed those calls.

He ran for Senate GOP leader on a commitment to keep current filibuster rules in place, and he has warned of Democrats potentially using new rules to their advantage if they retake control of the upper chamber.

But Trump's statement is the most intense pressure that has been put on Thune so far. If Trump holds to his stance, it could paralyze other critical pieces of legislation.

The president didn't clarify if his position applies to legislation to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has been shuttered for more than three weeks.

The Hill's Mike Lillis reports Democrats are digging in on their position against reopening DHS without significant reforms to immigration enforcement policy. Republicans have sought to pressure Democrats to cave on their demands following the administration's strikes against Iran, but Democrats remain mostly unified in holding the line.

Still, the ouster of Kristi Noem as DHS secretary has added to some hopes that the parties can reach a deal. Senate sources familiar with the negotiations told The Hill's Alexander Bolton that Noem's pending departure, set for March 31, has opened a path for a potential deal.

Noem has been the face of Democrats' anger at DHS under the Trump administration, though the party has indicated they want more than just a change in leadership for the department. Still, one source told Bolton that Republican leaders hope it will persuade enough Democratic moderates to break with their leaders and vote to reopen DHS.

If Trump's position is absolute and stays steady, however, even a DHS bill could have a new obstacle.

▪ The Hill: Trump turns to 'Shield of the Americas' initiative for war on drugs.

▪ The Hill: Questions linger for Federal Emergency Management Agency after Noem.

3 Things to Know Today

A seventh U.S. service member has died from injuries sustained during Iran's initial retaliatory attack throughout the Middle East, the Pentagon announced Sunday. The service member was seriously injured in Saudi Arabia, officials said.
Police said a device ignited at a protest outside New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's (D) home was an improvised explosive. No one is believed to be injured, and two individuals were arrested on the scene.
The Trump administration has reportedly removed a Republican member of the National Transportation Safety Board, the second member of the board to be ousted in the past year. J. Todd Inman told The New York Times he wasn't given a reason for his firing.

LEADING THE DAY

IRAN QUESTIONS: The president is facing scrutiny on multiple fronts as he moves forward with his offensive against the Iranian regime.

Iranian clerics selected Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country's next leader on Sunday. The younger Khamenei was seen as the front-runner for the role and is viewed as a hardliner.

Trump told ABC News on Sunday before the announcement that Iran's new leader "is not going to last long" if the Middle Eastern country doesn't get approval from him first. Trump has said he wants to be personally involved in picking the leader.

The comments add to the signals Trump has given that he's going all in on the military operations that the U.S. and Israel have carried out since Feb. 28. But he's facing challenges in being able to continue with his strategy, including concerns from members of his own party.

The Hill's Sudiksha Kochi reports Republicans are hoping the conflict doesn't spiral into an endless "forever war," similar to prolonged conflicts such as the Iraq War. Trump has said he expects the conflict to last four to five weeks, but he said the U.S. has the capability to go on "far" longer than that.

Reports have indicated Russia is providing Iran with intelligence assistance, adding another major player to the expanding conflict.

Meanwhile, parts of the GOP are worried about alienating the "America First" base, especially with the midterms coming up.

Trump is also dealing with the economic fallout of the conflict. Oil prices have soared, reaching more than $100 per barrel Sunday for the first time since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The president brushed off the concerns, saying in a Truth Social post that the increase will be a short-term effect and is a "very small price to pay" for "safety" and "peace" for the world.

But he also received additional bad economic news Friday as the U.S. unexpectedly lost jobs last month, adding to the country's economic anxiety, The Hill's Sylvan Lane reports.

And the administration is still trying to cool the heat it's received for the thousands of Americans who were still in the Middle East without a clear exit plan when the strikes began. The State Department has said it's helping to charter flights and other means of evacuation for stranded Americans and has helped nearly 13,000 evacuate.

▪ The Hill: U.S. military has an Iranian drone problem.

▪ The Hill: Centcom issues safety warning for Iranian civilians.

LAKE DISQUALIFIED: A federal judge has ruled that Kari Lake was unlawfully appointed as the acting head of the U.S. agency that oversees Voice of America (VOA), voiding the layoffs conducted at the outlet during her tenure.

U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Royce Lamberth ruled Saturday that Lake's appointment as acting CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media violated the Constitution's Appointments Clause and the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. Trump initially made Lake the senior adviser to acting CEO Victor Morales last March before making her the acting head in July.

Lake served entirely without Senate confirmation and left the CEO role in November, but Lamberth declared all of her actions while she was the leader are void. That includes wide staff layoffs in August.

Lake, who was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Arizona governor in 2022 and Senate in 2024, vowed to appeal the ruling in a post on the social platform X.

"The American people gave President Trump a mandate to cut bloated bureaucracy, eliminate waste, and restore accountability to government," she said. "An activist judge is trying to stand in the way of those efforts at USAGM. Judge Lamberth has a pattern of activist rulings — and this case is no different."

▪ The Hill: VOA journalist says he was fired over Iran coverage.

▪ The Hill: Trump lashes out at Supreme Court.

SCRATCH THAT: The Florida Bar clarified Friday that it is not probing former interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan after issuing an earlier statement suggesting she was under investigation.

"There is no such pending Bar investigation of Lindsay Halligan," Jennifer Krell Davis, the communications director for the state bar, said in a statement. "In this case, The Florida Bar received a complaint against Lindsay Halligan and, consistent with standard practice, the Bar is monitoring the ongoing legal proceedings underlying the complaint."

The update came a day after reports indicated the bar seemed to confirm a review was taking place by saying it doesn't "comment on active cases."

A person familiar with the situation told The Hill that the bar opened a "monitor file" on Halligan, the regular process for when any attorney is involved in an active legal proceeding. Halligan is currently appealing her disqualification as a U.S. attorney, though she left the role in January.

A watchdog group has filed complaints against Halligan in Florida and Virginia.

▪ The Hill: Department of Justice seeks tighter grip on state bar ethics probes.

PLAQUE INSTALLED: A plaque honoring the law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot has been installed following a three-year delay.

"On behalf of a grateful Congress, this plaque honors the extraordinary individuals who bravely protected and defended this symbol of democracy on January 6, 2021," the plaque says. "Their heroism will never be forgotten."

Its installation at the Capitol follows through on a law former President Biden signed in 2022 that ordered the plaque be installed.

OBAMA LIBRARY: The Obama Presidential Library is set to open on Juneteenth, showing the life and legacy of the first Black president.

Former President Obama announced a dedication ceremony will be held for the library in Chicago on June 18, and the center will open to the public the following day. Each president is responsible for raising funds to build a library holding the records from their administration.

WHEN & WHERE

The president will participate in executive time at 8 a.m. He will participate in a roundtable at 3:30 p.m. and deliver remarks at the House Republican retreat at 4:35 p.m. He will later depart Miami en route back to the White House.
The House will convene at 9 a.m. for a pro forma session.
The Senate will meet at 3 p.m.

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LOSING THE BATTLE: Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears to be falling well short of one of the main metrics he set out for his vision leading the country's public health agencies — restoring the public's trust.

Kennedy has overseen significant shakeups and overhauls within the department since he took over as HHS secretary a year ago. That's included reducing the childhood immunization schedule, rolling back some vaccine recommendations broadly and pushing out some top leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

But The Hill's Joseph Choi reports the past year has seen public trust in government health institutions continue to drop.

A poll released Thursday from the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) found trust in the CDC, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health fell by 5 to 7 points in the past year. The poll found 38 percent of respondents said they had at least some amount of confidence in Kennedy, while 62 percent said they had not much or no confidence in him.

That poll adds to similar findings from other past surveys.

An HHS spokesperson pointed to surveys that found declining trust in public health institutions before Kennedy's tenure leading the department.

The APPC found organizations such as the American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics are increasingly viewed as the most reliable sources of health information.

The findings come as Vinay Prasad, the FDA's controversial top vaccine regulator, is set to leave the agency next month. He briefly stepped away from the role last summer as he faced criticism from the left and the right.

▪ The Hill: Childhood obesity at record high.

▪ The Hill: Unproven Trump claim on autism affected care.

ELSEWHERE

EMBASSY EXPLOSION: Norwegian police are investigating an explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo that caused minor damage to the building.

No one was injured in the blast, which happened Sunday around 1 a.m. local time. A U.S. official told The Associated Press an incendiary device inside a backpack detonated outside the entrance to the consular affairs office at the embassy.

Norwegian officials acknowledged the possibility of the attack being tied to the "current security situation" but said they are exploring multiple theories as to why it happened. They are seeking to talk to witnesses and searching for the perpetrators, though no arrests have been made.

"Given the current security situation, it is natural to consider whether this was a targeted attack on the American Embassy," police spokesperson Frode Larsen said at a news conference. "However, we have not committed to any single hypothesis."

A few U.S. embassies and consulates have been hit in recent days by Iranian drones in retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli attacks.

▪ The Hill: Mike Waltz calls to let the investigation into Iran school bombing 'play out'

OPINION

Isaacman makes his mark by revamping the Artemis return to the moon, Mark R. Whittington writes in The Hill.
Trump can win something greater than the Nobel Peace Prize, Joshua Muravchik writes in The Wall Street Journal.

THE CLOSER

And finally … More details have been unveiled about the upcoming UFC fight scheduled to take place at the White House in June.

The promotion company announced during the UFC 326 broadcast Saturday that a pair of title fights will headline the event, which is entitled "UFC Freedom Fights 250." A lightweight title fight between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje will be the main event, while Alex Pereira will face Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight championship in the co-main event, ESPN reported.

Four other fights will be part of the event.

The president previously announced the event will take place on June 14, which is Flag Day and his 80th birthday. The fight is also considered part of the country's semiquincentennial celebrations.