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IN THIS EDITION

Iran, FISA, reconciliation 2.0 and expulsions: Congress’s week

Expulsion free-for-all in the House

What we’re watching

Melania Trump is heading to the Capitol

Rutinel goes after Bird over ICE

Emmer’s big Q1 and job moves

THE TOP

Iran, FISA, reconciliation 2.0 and expulsions: Congress’s week

Happy Monday morning.

Welcome back to Capitol Hill, everyone. The Senate returns this evening, the House comes back Tuesday night.

It’s been an eventful two-week recess, to say the least. U.S.-Iranian peace talks in Pakistan collapsed over the weekend, and President Donald Trump announced he wanted to blockade the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the diplomatic setback.

U.S. Central Command said Sunday that the naval blockade will cover “all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on April 13 at 10 a.m. [ET].” Ships heading to “non-Iranian ports” won’t be stopped. Oil is back above $100 per barrel, and Trump warned that gas prices could remain high through November. There may be House and Senate war powers votes on Iran this week too.

Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer face a number of tricky decisions they’ll have to make very quickly. The shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security is on Day 58.

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (Calif.) gubernatorial bid imploded amid a torrent of accusations of sexual assault and improper behavior. Even though he’s dropped out of the race, Swalwell still may face an expulsion vote very soon, perhaps as early as this week. So could Reps. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), Cory Mills (R-Fla.) and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.). More on this below.

Let’s start with the Senate.

Senate Republican leaders feel like they’re in a good position as they embark on a budget reconciliation effort to fund ICE and CBP for multiple years. As we reported Friday, Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Majority Whip John Barrasso secured Trump’s buy-in for the plan, which is to keep it narrowly focused on ICE and CBP.

This week will be crucial as Senate GOP leaders meet with rank-and-file Republican senators about the plan. There’s widespread frustration within the Senate GOP leadership about House Republicans delaying re-opening DHS and conditioning it on the Senate’s reconciliation progress.

The Senate GOP leadership’s tentative plan is to have a budget resolution ready for floor action as soon as next week, although a number of factors could delay that.

The Senate also will resume floor debate on the SAVE America Act. Thune will need to decide when to cut it off given the lack of GOP support for the so-called “talking filibuster.” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and other conservatives are continuing to pressure Thune to keep the floor debate going.

Separately, Senate Democrats are planning to force another Iran war powers vote this week. Keep an eye out for potential GOP defections, especially Republican senators who said they hoped the conflict wouldn’t drag out.

The Senate’s progress on reconciliation will dictate how quickly Johnson can move to re-open DHS. If Senate Republicans can advance their reconciliation bill, Johnson will be able to make the case that the ICE-and-CBP only reconciliation plan is proceeding as envisioned and it’s time to end the shutdown. If not, Johnson may have to continue to placate the House Republican Conference by continuing to refuse to move a DHS funding bill.

But most important for Johnson is reauthorizing FISA, which expires next week.The speaker is a member of the Gang of Eight and understands that the Section 702 program is key to U.S. surveillance operations. The White House is pushing for a clean 18-month extension of the program.

However, Johnson has a conference to manage as well, and there are a lot of opinions about FISA. A group of House Republicans — mainly hardline conservatives — are demanding Johnson allow amendments to institute warrant requirements for FISA investigations. There are others who want the SAVE America Act attached to any FISA reauthorization.

Johnson’s aim is to deny all amendments. He has an out on SAVE, which is that Trump and the White House have acknowledged that elements of SAVE should be included in any third reconciliation package. House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), once the chief proponent of reforming FISA, has dropped those demands.

Johnson has decided that he’ll put FISA on the floor under a rule. That means the speaker has to get the rule through the House Rules Committee. If the Rules panel is going to forbid amendments, then Johnson is going to be walking a very tight rope.

Going through Rules brings into play several wild cards for Johnson. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) is in the middle of an attorney general campaign in Texas, while Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) is running for governor of South Carolina. Johnson can lose those two, but he can’t lose anyone else. Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) is also someone to watch.

Then getting the rule through the floor leaves very little room to maneuver. Democrats typically don’t vote for rules — unless they get something in return. Johnson will have a two-vote margin once Rep.-elect Clay Fuller (R-Ga.) is sworn in.

The House Republican leadership is going to be looking to the White House to help on FISA every step of the way.

Here’s some news: Senate Leadership Fund and One Nation, the two related Senate Republican money groups, raised $115 million in the first quarter of 2026. Thune and the SLF team have raked in $300 million overall this cycle.

SLF, the super PAC, raised $72 million. And One Nation, the non-profit, raised $43 million. One Nation transferred $11 million to SLF. SLF will report $167 million cash on hand.

Senate out. Alex Nguyen, Schumer’s communications director, is leaving Capitol Hill to become a director of corporate communications for Salesforce. Nguyen has spent 17 years in total on Capitol Hill, the last seven with Schumer.

Ally Biasotti, a longtime Schumer communications staffer, will take over. Biasotti has served as Schumer’s national press secretary since 2022.

BTW: We’ve changed the format of the newsletter slightly to give us some more space to showcase our own reporting. Email Jake if you have any feedback, questions or concerns – [email protected].

– Jake Sherman, John Bresnahan and Andrew Desiderio

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THE HOUSE

Expulsion free-for-all in the House

The House of Representatives has only expelled six members in its 237-year history, the most recent being former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) in 2023.

But now, there are calls to expel as many as four members immediately, only one of whom has been found guilty of any ethics violation — Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (Fla.). Cherfilus-McCormick faces a sanctions hearing by the full Ethics Committee on April 21, with expulsion potentially on the table. The three-term House member also faces a federal criminal trial that’s scheduled to begin Jan. 20 in Miami.

The expulsion mania reflects the extraordinary situation that House leaders in both parties face right now. Rank-and-file members are calling for “One-of-ours-for-one-of-theirs” trade. That looks good at first glance, but it’ll be much more difficult to pull off in reality. We’ll explain.

The sexual assault scandal involving Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) that broke Friday night has led to calls for the California Democrat’s expulsion if he doesn’t resign immediately. Swalwell suspended his gubernatorial campaign on Sunday evening in the wake of reports by the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN outlining alleged sexual assaults or harassment of four women.

On Friday evening, House Democratic leaders took the unusual step of calling on Swalwell to end his gubernatorial campaign. Given the super-cautious nature of the House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries-led leadership team, this shows how serious the allegations are.

Also in serious trouble are GOP Reps. Cory Mills (Fla.) and Tony Gonzales (Texas). Mills is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over “allegations of sexual misconduct and/or dating violence,” as well as campaign finance and gift violations.

Gonzales — who announced he wouldn’t run again — is under investigation by the Ethics Committee too. Gonzales has admitted to an extramarital affair with an aide who later died by suicide. Speaker Mike Johnson and other House GOP leaders demanded Gonzales retire.

All of which leads to the “one-of-ours-for-one-of-theirs” situation. Some members are already calling for a trade — Gonzales for Swalwell. Or two Democrats — Cherfilus-McCormick and Swalwell — could be expelled at the same time as Republicans Gonzales and Mills. An expulsion vote could happen as early as Wednesday, we’ve been told.

Such a move wouldn’t really change the balance of power in the House because it doesn’t change the voting margin of two votes. The House ratio will be 218 Republicans, 214 Democrats and one Independent once Rep.-elect Clay Fuller (R-Ga.) is sworn in this week. That’s a two-vote margin.

But that’s not how it’s done. This all sounds very good on social media, but expelling two or four members in some big political trade isn’t how it’s done. Or it hasn’t been anyway.

Not to downplay the very serious allegations against Swalwell in any way — they may even be criminal — but there’s been no Ethics Committee or even Office of Congressional Conduct investigation into the matter at this point. The story broke on Friday. It’s hard to imagine the House would expel him this week. A lot of members would be shocked and appalled, even though Swalwell has tons of GOP enemies.

Plus, the Mills and Gonzales’ cases are still under investigation by the Ethics panel, the only bipartisan committee in the House. The Swalwell scandal will put pressure on Ethics to speed up those probes.

Always remember that the Ethics panel isn’t a law-enforcement agency. It’s a committee made up of members appointed by party leaders to an assignment they loathe, so the process is naturally slow and very lawyerly.

Democratic and GOP leaders are going to move cautiously here. Many members didn’t like the precedent set by the Santos expulsion, which happened even before the New York Republican was found guilty of a crime (President Donald Trump eventually commuted Santos’ seven-year prison sentence).

New York Republicans wanted Santos out quickly because he was a problem back home. Will Swalwell become a problem for California Democrats now that he’s out of the gubernatorial race? We’ll have to see.

And can Democratic and GOP leaders trust each other enough to do a one-for-one or even two-for-two trade? There were no discussions on this over the weekend as far as we can tell.

Majority math. Here’s something else to keep in mind. If the House were to expel Gonzales and Swalwell, Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott has more leeway in how quickly to call a special election than California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. That’s got to be at least somewhat comforting to Johnson.

– John Bresnahan, Jake Sherman and Max Cohen

📆

What we’re watching

OMB Director Russ Vought will be up for a grilling on Capitol Hill this week.

Vought will testify at the House Budget Committee on Wednesday at 10:15 a.m. and the Senate Budget Committee on Thursday at 10 a.m. Fittingly, Vought’s hearings are among the first on the Trump administration’s FY2027 budget request. A parade of top Trump officials will follow as the House Appropriations Committee kicks off a hearings dash.

House Democrats have been demanding Vought’s appearance, eager to press him on the economy, spending proposals and rescissions. There are sure to be fireworks.

Around Washington:

— Monday. The Senate returns. The House is in pro forma at 2:30 p.m.

— Tuesday. The House is back.

— Wednesday. It’s Tax Day! Internal Revenue Service CEO Frank Bisignano will update senators on the tax filing season at a 10 a.m. Senate Finance Committee hearing.

Top Federal Trade Commission officials will be at the Senate Commerce Committee for an oversight hearing at 10 a.m. The tech world will be closely watching. Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson and Commissioner Mark Meador are set to testify.

Michael Selig, chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will testify before the House Agriculture Committee at 10 a.m. Expect lots of questions about prediction markets.

A Senate Appropriations subcommittee will dig into the latest on preparations for the FIFA World Cup at an 11 a.m. hearing.

The House Appropriations Committee has a budget hearing with Energy Secretary Chris Wright at 2 p.m.

First-quarter campaign finance reports are due by midnight. This fresh trove of data will tell us a lot about which candidates are competitive.

— Thursday. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will testify before the House Ways and Means Committee at 9 a.m. It’s RFK Jr.’s first stop in a series of budget hearings where he’ll have to face critics in both parties.

Selig will appear at 10 a.m. at the House Agriculture Committee.

The House Appropriations Committee has more subcommittee hearings on the budget, including Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins at 10:30 a.m. and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at 11 a.m. Officials leading Department of Homeland Security agencies will also testify.

Voters in New Jersey’s 11th District will go to the polls in a special election to fill former Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s (D-N.J.) seat. Democrat Analilia Mejia is the heavy favorite here.

– Laura Weiss, Ally Mutnick and Max Cohen

THE WHITE HOUSE X CONGRESS

Melania Trump is heading to the Capitol

News: First Lady Melania Trump will be on Capitol Hill this week, making a rare visit to meet with lawmakers and promote foster care efforts.

The first lady will be speaking at a closed-door roundtable Wednesday at 2 p.m. with members of the House Ways and Means Committee. The bipartisan meeting will also include witnesses from the foster care system.

Melania Trump has been leading initiatives aiding children and young adults in and transitioning out of foster care. Proposals meant to improve the foster care system and boost adoption have also been a priority for House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.).

The committee is pushing for a package of bills to modernize the Chafee program, which helps foster youth transition to adulthood. The measures would boost access to housing, expand education and training vouchers and provide more legal services. Each bill is led by both a Republican and Democrat on the panel, improving their chances of moving forward this year.

The first lady’s visit could bolster the House’s efforts. It also comes on the heels of Melania Trump’s surprise comments last week calling on Congress to look deeper into public figures with ties to Jeffrey Epstein. She also slammed “false” claims that she had ties to Epstein.

– Laura Weiss

COLORADO WATCH

Rutinel goes after Bird over ICE

News. Colorado state Rep. Manny Rutinel’s campaign is launching a $50,000 digital ad buy hitting Shannon Bird as the Democratic primary in Colorado’s 8th District heats up.

Democrats are desperate to unseat GOP Rep. Gabe Evans (Colo.) in one of the tightest swing seats in the country. But the competitive primary between Bird and Rutinel is turning fractious.

The Rutinel ad accuses Bird of abandoning Latino families by supporting a bill that strengthens ICE. It’s the latest sign that Democrats view immigration enforcement as a salient issue in primary elections.

Bird is the moderate in the race and supported by both the New Democrat Coalition Action Fund and the Blue Dog PAC, in addition to EMILYs List.

Rutinel is running to Bird’s left and has the backing of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus BOLD PAC.

Evans narrowly beat former Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.) in 2024.

— Max Cohen

AND THERE’S MORE

Emmer’s big Q1 and job moves

News: House Majority Whip Tom Emmer raised $9.2 million in the first quarter as he continues to position himself as an heir apparent to the top rung of the GOP leadership.

Emmer raised $38 million this cycle and has transferred $13.3 million to the NRCC.

Job moves. Halie Craig, formerly a top GOP staffer on the Senate Commerce Committee, is joining Invariant, which continues to load up on Republican talent.

Mark Gruman, the longtime chief of staff for GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), is joining Capitol Venture LLC as a senior vice president. Gruman was Cramer’s chief of staff for 13 years before leaving his post last month.

— Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan