BREATHING ROOM: House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) narrow House majority got a little more room Wednesday as Washington mourned the passing of Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.), who died at age 80 after more than 20 years serving in Congress.
First elected in 2002, Scott was the first Black lawmaker to serve as chair of the House Agriculture Committee. Scott was praised as a trailblazer by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
His death marks the second vacancy of a Democratic-held seat in two days following the resignation Tuesday of former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.), who faced ethical controversies and rising momentum for her expulsion.
That leaves the House with 217 Republicans, 212 Democrats and one independent — Rep. Kevin Kiley (Calif.), who caucuses with the GOP. Five seats are vacant, four of which became open in the past 10 days.
The openings are key as congressional Republicans are seeking to push through legislation to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A reconciliation bill to fund immigration enforcement agencies is making its way through the Senate, and Johnson is facing pressure from all sides as he insists on passing that bill before another one to cover the other parts of DHS, The Hill’s Sudiksha Kochi reports.
Republicans can afford to lose two of their own members on party-line votes, presuming Kiley votes with the GOP and all members are in attendance.
Special elections could fill some of the vacancies, but even if they happen before the November elections, the seats still won’t be filled for months.
That may ultimately be key in reopening DHS and on other initiatives, including the effort to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
▪ The Hill: House clamors for ethics reforms after resignations.
▪ The Hill: Negotiators hope for FISA deal.
NEXT TALKS? The next peace talks with Iran could come as soon as Friday following Trump’s announcement of an indefinite extension of the ceasefire.
Trump told the New York Post on Wednesday that the next round of meetings could happen in the next 36 to 72 hours.
The second round of negotiations had been set to take place Wednesday as a last-ditch effort to reach a permanent end to the conflict before the expiration of a two-week ceasefire. But Trump said he would extend the ceasefire until discussions are concluded “one way or the other.”
The planned meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, was called off, while the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will continue.
Trump seems to have moved into a holding pattern as he tries to find an off-ramp for the war that would allow him to claim victory, The Hill’s Laura Kelly and Mallory Wilson report.
The ceasefire’s continuation got off to a rough start as Iran attacked and seized multiple cargo ships in the strait. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News the U.S. did not believe the seizures were a violation of the truce.
▪ The Hill: Republicans divided on whether to check Trump’s power.
▪ The Washington Post: Clearing strait of mines could take six months.
PENTAGON OUSTER: Navy Secretary John Phelan is leaving his position after just more than a year in the job.
The Pentagon announced Phelan's departure, with chief spokesperson Sean Parnell expressing gratitude for Phelan’s service in a statement.
“We wish him well in his future endeavors,” Parnell said.
An administration official told The Hill that Phelan was “asked to step down.” CNN reported that Phelan did not believe his ouster was coming from Trump, so went to the White House to confirm the president’s sign off.
Trump was reportedly frustrated with the pace of shipbuilding under Phelan, a former investor and donor to Trump’s campaigns.
Undersecretary Hung Cao, a Navy veteran and former Senate candidate, will serve as acting Navy secretary.
Phelan is the latest high-ranking Pentagon official to be ousted as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has pushed out dozens of leaders in the department during his tenure.
MORNING REPORT EXCLUSIVE: A right-leaning free-market advocacy group has filed an amicus brief supporting the AI company Anthropic in its lawsuit against the Trump administration after the president ordered that its products be blacklisted from use by federal agencies.
The Taxpayers Protection Alliance Foundation argued in its brief that the administration’s actions violate Anthropic’s First Amendment rights and destabilize markets as AI technology is breaking new ground.
Anthropic sued the Pentagon last month after officials labeled it a supply chain risk and directed all federal agencies to cut ties with the company. It followed a dispute over the terms of use of Anthropic’s AI model, Claude.
Anthropic has insisted that the model not be used by the Pentagon for fully autonomous lethal weapons or to conduct mass surveillance on Americans, but the Defense Department has said it should be able to use the product for “all lawful purposes.”
A federal judge sided with Anthropic against the supply chain risk designation, and the administration is appealing that ruling.
The foundation’s brief makes it a relatively rare conservative group weighing in on Anthropic’s side.
“This understandable point of view on the current limits of what AI ought to be used for is core First Amendment-protected expression,” the brief states.
▪ The Hill: Anthropic becomes impossible for White House to ignore.
RESCUE PLAN: The Trump administration is reportedly close to reaching a deal to provide a $500 million bailout for Spirit Airlines, which has filed bankruptcy twice in the past two years.
The Wall Street Journal reported Trump, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick met Tuesday to form a plan to bring Spirit back from the brink of liquidation.
The finance option would be in exchange for warrants to purchase up to 90 percent of the new entity, people familiar with the potential deal told Bloomberg.
The reports come days after Trump pushed against a proposed merger between United and American Airlines and urged Spirit to be bought instead.
“I’d love somebody to buy Spirit. It’s 14,000 jobs. Maybe the federal government should help that one out. I told my people,” Trump told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
▪ NPR: How the airline industry would be affected if Spirit is liquidated.
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