Welcome to the second week of congressional recess. Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are lucky that Congress is out of session this week. The House has a pro forma session today at 10 a.m, while the Senate has one at 1 p.m.
President Donald Trump has scheduled a 1 p.m. press conference at the White House. Military officials will also attend.
The Department of Homeland Security is still shut down. It’s Day 51 for those keeping track, the longest agency shutdown in U.S. history.
House GOP leaders aren’t planning to come back into session until next week for action on a Senate-passed bill that would fund all of DHS except ICE and CBP. Trump issued an executive order on Friday paying all the DHS employees that he hadn’t done earlier with his TSA emergency order. This has eased the pressure among Republicans to get a long-term solution.
Trump Talk. Tracking and understanding Trump right now is very difficult, especially on the Iran war. It’s like trying to nail Jell-O to a wall. He’s all over the place on every issue — domestic policy, international affairs and Iran specifically — presenting Republicans with a political mess.
Had Congress been in town, every Republican would’ve been forced to respond to Trump’s threat to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Ages where they belong” during his White House speech last week. Or his shockingly angry Easter morning Truth Social post.
Yes, Trump isn’t judged by the same standards as his predecessors. But even for him, Trump’s statements during the last few days have veered wildly from presidential norms, especially on an issue as serious as a U.S. military conflict.
The Army’s chief of staff was suddenly replaced in the middle of a war, prompting pushback from some on the MAGA right. The White House is seeking an FY2027 Pentagon budget of $1.5 trillion, military spending on a scale not seen since World War II. Trump said it’s impossible for the federal government to pay for Medicare, Medicaid and day care because ”We’re fighting wars.” Meanwhile, gas is $4.11 per gallon and rising.
There’s now a new report of a possible ceasefire deal between Iran and the United States brokered by Pakistani officials, but the details remain unclear. Axios had earlier reported a potential 45-day ceasefire was on the table in discussions being led by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian officials. Vice President JD Vance has also been playing a role in efforts to end the conflict. However, Iran kept up attacks on Israel, Kuwait and other Gulf states overnight.
All this comes after Trump said Sunday morning that unless Iran opens “the Fuckin’ Strait” of Hormuz by Tuesday at 8 p.m., it would “be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one.”
“You’ll be living in hell,” Trump warned. And he closed with a gratuitous “Praise be to Allah.”
Shortly afterward, Rachel Scott of ABC News asked Trump if he expected a deal to end the war by Monday.
“There could be a deal, and there could also not be a deal,” Trump told Scott. “I don’t know.”
In the same interview, Trump said he would blow up “the whole country” if Iranian officials don’t reach an agreement quickly. Trump made similar comments to other reporters.
Democrats responded with outrage to Trump’s remarks, while GOP leaders stayed silent.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed the “Disgusting and unhinged Easter message from Donald Trump.”
“Something is really wrong with this guy,” Jeffries added.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer complained that Trump was “threatening possible war crimes and alienating allies.”
Other Democrats said Trump’s Sunday threats would violate the Geneva Conventions if carried out.
The Trump administration did have very good news over the weekend. U.S. forces rescued two pilots from inside of Iran in a daring covert mission. Read this NYT story about the rescue, which involved U.S. commandos having to destroy two aircraft in Iran.
But the GOP-run Congress largely has been a mere bystander in this conflict — and only has itself to blame for this outcome.
There hasn’t been a single public congressional hearing about the war since it began Feb. 28. The Republican leadership hasn’t been probing the administration’s goals or strategy. GOP leaders have either lined up with Trump or ducked questions entirely, merely saying they “trust Trump.” Mostly they’ve been out of town.
Congress was always relying on a supplemental spending bill as a pressure point for the administration to explain its war strategy. Yet the Pentagon hasn’t submitted anything and doesn’t plan to as long as DHS is closed.
However, we’re beginning to see tension and even perhaps a breaking point with some Republicans. It’s worth remembering that many Republicans have said from the start that they hope the Iran operations are a short-term commitment.
Case in point: Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) said he won’t support new funding without a formal declaration of war.
“I stand by the President’s actions taken in defense of our national security interests in the Middle East. But we must be clear-eyed about history and the Constitution,” Curtis tweeted on Friday. “While I support maintaining our readiness and replenishing stockpiles, I cannot support funding for further military operations without a formal declaration of war from Congress.”
