Today’s notice: A dive into the midterm Senate map. A former Senate candidate’s run-in with the FEC. Abortion provider shield laws get tested. But first: an increasingly big question mark.
Courts vs. Politics
A popular word in political writing these days is “remarkable.” Every story’s gotta have one. Is it always necessary? Remarkably, we say no. Then there are days like Monday, where two presidents of two different nations essentially say they have no power to fix the problem. That’s effectively what happened when Donald Trump and Nayib Bukele of El Salvador were asked what will happen to Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia.
Trump said Abrego Garcia is El Salvador’s problem. Bukele said he did not have the power to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
Trending
The question of who will take responsibility for Abrego Garcia operates off an assumption that someone will. That’s under the “presumption of regularity,” a legal principle that assumes the government will act lawfully and consistently, writes Steve Vladeck, a legal expert and Georgetown University professor. But there’s little reason to presume regularity here, leaving big question marks about what happens next.
Meanwhile, the specifics of this remarkable moment play out. NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery reports that DOJ lawyers pushed past a deadline to update District Court Judge Paula Xinis in response to her order that federal authorities “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return. When they filed an update, it echoed the White House’s defiant tone. Abrego Garcia’s confinement is not a problem we can solve, was the gist of the filing.
This case is showing how hard it is to graft the slow and nuanced world of courts onto the fast-paced, declarative world of politics. There will be more on this case today, when Xinis holds a scheduled hearing. But there’s no indication that hearing will clear up the political questions still swirling regarding Abrego Garcia’s fate.
—Evan McMorris-Santoro and Shifra Dayak | Read Jose’s story.
Chaos on the Senate Map?
Next year is a midterm year, which historically means it’s a good time to be the party not in the White House. But Democratic Senate candidates have not been doing amazing in red states lately, to put it mildly, and next year’s map is looking tough. NOTUS’ Ursula Perano reports on some potential developments that have Democrats dreaming of a (narrow, treacherous) path to some upsets.
One reason they’re optimistic about their odds? The recent economic upheaval. Democrats are looking at sliding consumer confidence and a growing belief that a recession is on the way (a notion the White House rejects). And they remember what voters’ bad economic feelings meant for them last year.
“Given what we’re seeing politically, especially if these tariffs continue,” two-time DSCC chair and retiring Sen. Gary Peters told Ursula, “you would definitely see an expansion of the map.”
Front Page
- The California GOP’s Chair Says the Party Can Make Inroads in Blue Areas. Democrats Say Bring It On.: “They’re drinking crazy juice,” one Democratic representative told NOTUS.
- The Democrats Who Voted for Trump’s Housing Secretary Have Moved On: As Secretary Scott Turner overhauls HUD, Sens. Peter Welch and John Fetterman are hoping he’ll turn to building more affordable housing.
- Democrats Accuse Intuit of ‘Misleading’ Taxpayers Into Paying for TurboTax: Intuit has been lobbying to end the government’s Direct File program.
NOTUS Scoop: Dan Osborn’s FEC Warning
Dan Osborn refunded a salary payment he received late last year from his Senate campaign, aides to the Nebraska politician say. The refund followed a warning from the Federal Election Commission to his campaign that the expenditure appeared to be in violation of election rules, NOTUS’ Alex Roarty and Reese Gorman report.
On March 30, the FEC sent a letter to Osborn’s campaign, alerting him that he may have improperly taken a personal salary outside of the time frame allowed by law. Candidates are only allowed to take a salary from their campaign while the election is taking place and 20 days after the election has ended.
But Osborn’s campaign paid him $7,100 on Dec. 11 — well outside that window.
Osborn talked often during last year’s campaign about drawing a salary from campaign funds, saying a bona fide member of the working class needed the cash to support his family if he was going to run a campaign instead of work on a job. In total, he paid himself more than $50,000 (including the payment in December his campaign now says was made in error.)
—Alex Roarty and Reese Gorman
A Test Case Against Shield Laws
A New York doctor facing charges in Louisiana and Texas for allegedly providing abortion services via telemedicine is set to be at the center of a legal fight that could determine the future of shield laws, which are intended to protect abortion providers from prosecution in states where abortion is restricted. Anti-abortion activists are excited about the possibility of more national restrictions on abortion — and that abortion access advocates are in the hot seat, NOTUS’ Oriana González reports.
“It’s the first time … that it’s their laws being challenged,” said anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson.
NOTUS Scoop: Embracing Diversity Programs in the Age of Trump
Rep. Sharice Davids is increasing outreach through the New Democrat Coalition’s diversity initiative, NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz reports, in her position as honorary chair of the ReNew Democracy Foundation. The foundation places fellows in centrist Democrats’ offices with the hopes of increasing diversity on Capitol Hill.
Davids is ramping this up at a time when much of the political and business establishment is dialing way back on diversity efforts under public pressure from MAGA.
“I do think that President Trump’s cuts to things like diversity programs [are] harmful, particularly because it’s cutting off those opportunities and from people who are very talented and often overlooked,” Davids told NOTUS.
—Daniella Diaz
D.C. Feels the Squeeze
It is the budget crisis no one expected and everyone says they don’t want. Yet it remains unsolved. Senators rushed to pass a bill after Congress defunded a huge chunk of the D.C. budget, and Trump has urged the House to pass it. But that hasn’t moved Republican leadership.
“Nobody’s talking about it, I don’t know. I mean, the leadership has got to figure out when they want to bring it to the floor, and what form and what amendments,” Rep. Andy Harris, chair of the House Freedom Caucus, told NOTUS.
—Emily Kennard
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- Trump’s federal worker cuts are destabilizing the nation’s 2 richest Black counties by Greg Morton and Sapna Bansil for The Baltimore Banner
- The $1.5 Million Lobbying Blitz Behind the Self-Described “Dictator” Visiting Trump’s White House by Anna Massoglia for Influence Brief
- Marjorie Taylor Greene bought thousands of dollars in stock right before Trump’s tariff pause sent markets soaring by Bryan Metzger for Business Insider
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