Pair of House members to resign in face of expulsion threats

Plus: Trump won't say sorry to Pope Leo

MORNING REPORT  MORNING REPORT Tuesday, April 14 | By Jared Gans View Online  |  Sign up Listen and Subscribe: In today's issue: ▪ Swalwell, Gonzales to resign ▪ Trump won't say sorry to Pope Leo ▪ Strait of Hormuz blockade in effect ▪ California governor’s race shake-up © AP | Tom Williams via CQ Roll Call | Rich Pedroncelli Pair of House members to resign in face of expulsion threats Two House members are on their way out of Congress as Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) announced their resignations Monday evening in the face of building efforts to expel them over sexual misconduct allegations. Swalwell’s announcement came first, completing his stunning fall from arguable front-runner in the California gubernatorial race to being pushed out of a job within days. He has maintained his innocence in the face of four women coming forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against him, but he said he didn’t want to distract from his office’s responsibilities to his constituents. “I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” he said in a statement posted on the social platform X. “I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.” “I am aware of efforts to bring an immediate expulsion vote against me and other members. Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong. But it’s also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress,” he said. After days of rumors online of misconduct allegations, the San Francisco Chronicle first reported accusations from a former Swalwell aide who said the congressman sexually assaulted her twice when she was too intoxicated to give consent. CNN shortly after published its own report detailing allegations from three other women who made separate accusations against Swalwell, while one former staffer alleged rape. Within days of the reports on Friday, Swalwell had lost both of his campaign co-chairs and all of his endorsements from congressional Democrats. He dropped out of the race Sunday evening. The growing calls for Swalwell to give up his House seat also raised the heat on Gonzales, who already ended his reelection bid last month following pressure over his affair with a former staffer who later died by suicide. An effort from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) to expel Swalwell and Gonzales gained steam as members of both parties called on them to resign or be ousted. Luna said earlier Monday that she thought she had enough support to expel them. Gonzales signaled he would resign once the House returns from recess Tuesday. “There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all. When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office,” he said in a post on X on Monday, just an hour after Swalwell’s announcement. “It has been my privilege to serve the great people of Texas.” While Gonzales didn't use the word resign in his message, NOTUS reported that he told the outlet he will step down Tuesday. Still, a spokesperson for Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), who was leading the push to expel Gonzales, told Axios she would file the expulsion resolution this afternoon at the earliest moment if Gonzales's resignation isn't effective immediately. Swalwell and Gonzales didn’t say exactly when their resignations would take effect. While their announcements make any push to expel them unnecessary, they leave a question on the implications for two other members of Congress — Florida Reps. Cory Mills (R) and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D). The push to expel Swalwell and Gonzales raised questions about whether the House would also expel the Florida House members. Mills is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged dating violence and campaign finance violations, among other allegations of wrongdoing that he has denied. The Ethics Committee found Cherfilus-McCormick committed 25 ethics violations related to allegations that she used federal disaster funds for her campaign, which she has also denied. The committee has a public hearing scheduled for next week to determine what sanctions against Cherfilus-McCormick would be appropriate. ▪ Politico: The whisper network that caught up to Swalwell ▪ Vox: Swalwell’s downfall, explained Smart Take  with Blake Burman The U.S. blockade on Iranian ports began Monday, as traffic through the all-important Strait of Hormuz remains significantly lower than usual. The strait is one way in, one way out, and Iran has six major ports. I asked Mark Esper, the former Defense secretary from the first Trump administration, how the military could enforce a blockade.  “I don't think that we're going to see a destroyer or two outside of every [Iranian] port,” Esper told me. “What I think is going to happen is they're going to run a picket line south of the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf of Oman and really pick up ships coming north, trying to land at Iranian ports, or ships coming out of Iranian ports that head south through the strait,” he added. Despite the blockade, crude oil prices dropped lower than $100 per barrel. One thing I’ll be watching in the coming days is how oil prices move, even with a blockade in effect, as it has a direct line to what Americans eventually pay at the pump. Burman hosts "The Hill" weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation. 3 Things to Know Today Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) said he would push to hold former Attorney General Pam Bondi in contempt if she does not appear for a deposition today on the Epstein files. The Department of Justice previously said Bondi wouldn’t comply with the subpoena. The Trump administration will allow an LGBTQ pride flag to fly at the Stonewall national monument following a lawsuit challenging its removal in February. Officials have targeted signs and information deemed too “woke” or negative about U.S. history at the National Park Service and Smithsonian museums. Israel and Lebanon will hold their first direct diplomatic talks in decades in Washington today as Beirut hopes to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will take part in the talks along with the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. LEADING THE DAY © AP | Andrew Medichini RELIGIOUS FEUD: President Trump is refusing to apologize to Pope Leo XIV for comments criticizing the Catholic Church leader, despite anger from allies abroad and some supporters at home. Trump railed against the first U.S.-born pope in a lengthy Truth Social post on Sunday, calling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for foreign policy.” That came after Leo publicly spoke out against the U.S. war in Iran, pushing for an end to the conflict. The president told reporters Monday that he didn’t owe the pope an apology and was “just responding” to him. “So, we believe strongly in law and order,” he said. “And he seemed to have a problem with that, so there’s nothing to apologize for. He’s wrong.” Leo brushed off Trump’s comments while aboard the papal plane on Monday, saying he’s “not afraid of the Trump administration.” He said he isn’t a politician and has foreign policy views different from politicians. “I will continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems,” he said. Trump is facing backlash both at home and abroad for the spat, including from some key supporters, The Hill’s Mallory Wilson reports. Bishop Robert Barron, a member of the president's Religious Liberty Commission, called the comments “entirely inappropriate and disrespectful.” “No President in my lifetime has shown a greater dedication to defending our first liberty,” he wrote. “All that said, I think the President owes the Pope an apology.” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni slammed Trump’s criticism of the pope as “unacceptable.” “The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal that he calls for peace and condemns every form of war,” she said. The president's beef with Pope Leo was just one of his religious controversies on Monday, as The Hill’s Sarah Fortinsky reports. Trump drew the ire of many Christians conservatives with an AI generated image showing himself as Jesus, wearing a long white robe with a red shawl draped over his shoulders and light emanating from his hands. The post was later deleted. “Blasphemy from the Oval Office is not a funny troll,” conservative political commentator Cam Higby said in a post on X. He said he thought the image depicted him as a doctor, saying “Only the fake news could come up with that one.” But his explanation didn’t convince many supporters. ▪ The Washington Post: Trump risks alienating conservative Catholics ▪ The Associated Press: Pope calls for peace in first papal visit to Algeria BLOCKADE BEGINS: A U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is now in effect, adding pressure on Iran to strike a deal to end the war between the two countries. Trump said Iranian representatives called U.S. officials Monday morning, as the blockade went into effect, hoping to make a deal. That comes after 21 hours of talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Saturday failed to reach any breakthrough. “We’ve been called this morning by the right people, the appropriate people and they want to work to do, they would like to work,” he said. But how serious any potential return to the negotiating table might be remains uncertain. Multiple outlets reported the U.S. in Islamabad proposed Iran halt its nuclear program for 20 years. Iran has offered to suspend nuclear activity for up to five years, which the U.S. has rejected, according to The New York Times. Trump had pointed to talks over Iran's nuclear program as the main obstacle to a deal. Iranian officials taunted the president on Sunday ahead of the blockade’s implementation over rising gas prices in the U.S. A spokesperson for the Iranian military told Reuters that ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman would be at risk if Iran’s ports were threatened. “With the so-called ‘blockade’, Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said in a post on X. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday night that Saudi Arabia is pressing Trump to back off the blockade, worried that Iran and its Houthi allies in Yemen will retaliate by closing the Bab al-Mandeb strait in the Red Sea, another key shipping lane. ▪ The Hill: Trump puts squeeze on Iran ▪ The Hill: GOP senators uncomfortable with Trump’s Iran endgame CASE DISMISSED: A federal judge has dismissed a defamation suit that Trump filed against The Wall Street Journal over a story it published describing a letter that he allegedly sent Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday. U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles ruled the president didn’t show in the filing that the Journal acted with “actual malice,” the high standard that must be met for public figures to pursue defamation claims. Trump has said the letter is fake and that he told the Journal that it was before the article was published. The Journal has stood by its report. The president filed the complaint in July after the Journal published the 2003 letter, which purportedly includes lines of text “framed by the outline of a naked woman.” Trump will be able to amend the lawsuit and try again to pursue the case, which he said in a Truth Social post that he plans to do. ▪ The Hill: Hollywood figures come out against Paramount-Warner Bros. merger WHEN & WHERE The president will participate in executive time at 8 a.m. He will meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, at 1:30 p.m. He will meet with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien at 3 p.m. He will participate in a pre-taped television interview with Fox Business's Maria Bartiromo at 4 p.m. He will meet with U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue at 5:30 p.m. The Senate will meet at 10 a.m. The House will convene at noon.  ZOOM IN © The Associated Press | Laure Andrillon JUMP BALL: With Swalwell out of the California governor’s race, the contest seems to be wide open with less than two months before the primary. Swalwell had been leading his other Democratic rivals by a small but consistent margin in most recent polls before he ended his campaign Sunday. In California, all candidates from both parties compete on the same ballot in the primary, and the top two candidates advance to face each other in the general election. With so many prominent Democrats in the race, the heavily Democratic electorate has been split, raising concerns that the two main Republicans in the race could finish first and second. Swalwell had appeared to be arguably the closest to breaking into the top two. Now that he’s out of the race, Democratic strategists told The Hill’s Caroline Vakil and Julia Mueller that the race is up for grabs. Billionaire Tom Steyer or former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) may be the biggest beneficiary of Swalwell’s absence from the race. They had been just behind Swalwell in many polls, and they wouldn’t need to gain much to jump into the top two positions. The possibility remains that Democrats will split the vote and get boxed out of the general election. Republicans still haven’t consolidated behind one candidate between former Fox News host Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sherriff Chad Bianco. But California Republican strategist Matt Klink said Trump’s endorsement of Hilton likely ensured a classic Democrat-versus-Republican matchup. ▪ Los Angeles Times: California Republicans rejoice on Swalwell but are split ▪ The Hill: California GOP doesn’t endorse candidate at convention ELSEWHERE © The Associated Press | Alastair Grant LIBERAL GAINS: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals have won a majority of the country’s Parliament, likely ensuring he stays in power through most of the rest of the decade. The Liberals won at least two of the three special elections for open seats held Monday, putting them over the necessary threshold of 172 members of the House of Commons for a majority government. The party has benefited recently from five defections from opposition parties, including four from the rival Conservative party. Reaching the majority is for Carney and the Liberals as it would allow them to unilaterally pass any bill and stay in power until 2029 without needing another general election. The gains for the Liberals mark a significant turnaround from its recent positioning  under Carney’s predecessor, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. While Trudeau served as the head of the country’s government for 10 years through three elections, the latter two only yielded the Liberals a minority government, limiting their power. Carney has been widely popular since taking office, particularly as he has clashed with Trump over a range of issues. ▪ The Washington Post: Hungary’s opposition faces tough transition OPINION MAGA break with Trump on Iran is imaginary, The Hill’s Chris Stirewalt writes. The death of the basic American car, Clifford Winston writes in The New York Times. THE CLOSER © The Associated Press | Julia Demaree Nikhinson And finally … Trump revealed plans Monday for a 4,500-seat arena to be built for the scheduled UFC fight on White House grounds in June. “I’ve been involved in a lot of big events, I have never had an event that has had more interest than the UFC fight we have right at the front door,” Trump told reporters. The event, called “UFC Freedom 250,” is scheduled for June 14, set to coincide with Trump’s 80th birthday. “Right there,” the president said, pointing to the South Lawn, “they’re going to start building a 4,500-seat arena.” “And then in the back at the Ellipse, we’re going to have 100,000, maybe 50 [50,000] to 100,000 people, I guess,” he continued. “They’re building tremendous stages, and we’re going to have massive screens of the fight. It’s a very popular sport.”  Trump attended UFC 327 in Miami over the weekend. Stay Engaged We want to hear from you! Email me here and suggest this newsletter to friends! 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