GRIND TO A HALT: Conservative hard-liners have largely frozen House business in protest until Congress advances the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act.
The president’s staunchest allies have defended his demand that Congress pass the bill, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to cast a ballot, before he signs the bipartisan housing legislation. That’s created a new challenge for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to keep his conference in line before members shift their attention to the midterm elections.
A few hard-liners, such as GOP Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.) and Ralph Norman (S.C.), have said they would block any procedural rules in the House until the SAVE America Act passes. Both members said they don’t believe the House should move any legislation on the floor until after the Senate gets back from its recess, which won’t happen until mid-July.
Trump weighed in to call on the hard-liners to stop “grandstanding” following an afternoon meeting with Johnson on Thursday.
“House Republicans should unify, and stop voting down ‘Rules’ or, threatening to do so. Giving power to the Radical Left Dumocrats in the House to control what goes up for a Vote will make our outcomes worse, not better,” he said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump’s remarks reflect his strong relationship with Johnson but also underscore the Speaker’s need for Trump’s help in managing his GOP members at times.
The opposition forced House Republican leadership to scrap a planned procedural vote on Wednesday. Two appropriations bills were set to be advanced this week, but leaders canceled votes Friday, punting them to later.
The tensions are adding difficulties to achieving other GOP priorities, including a third budget reconciliation package and renewing the federal government’s foreign warrantless surveillance powers.
▪ The Hill: Senate GOP scrambling for strategy to please Trump.
▪ Politico: Luna jamming the House to get the Senate moving.
SHIP STRUCK: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reportedly struck a container ship with a Singaporean flag in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, potentially complicating efforts to move traffic through the waterway.
The attack hit the ship’s starboard side and caused damage to the bridge but no injuries.
The deal reached between the U.S. and Iran has led to the reopening of some maritime trade through the strait and sent oil and gas prices back down. Dozens of oil tankers passed through the strait on Thursday through a route along the coast of Oman that a United Nations agency has promoted.
But the agency paused the evacuation of ships stuck in the strait after the British military said a vessel was hit by a projectile off the Omani coast. Brent crude prices also rose after the attack.
The hit on the ship came after Tehran issued a threat for vessels to not use routes the IRGC hasn’t approved. Iran appears to be angry with Oman, which had worked with vessels on an alternative route.
Trump and the GOP are counting on clear traffic through the strait to lower energy prices and help convince voters that their concerns about affordability — the buzz word this election year — are being addressed.
Global oil prices had fallen to their lowest point since the war began, but inflation reached its highest mark in more than three years Thursday as data from the Commerce Department showed prices rose 4.1 percent over the past year. The inflation data reflects numbers from earlier in the spring, so they are a bit of a lagging indicator of prices at the moment. But they could also be a harbinger of things to come if energy prices rise again. And in the meantime, gas prices have not yet fallen to their pre-war levels.
The higher inflation is another signal that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to lower interest rates in the near future.
▪ The Hill: Five takeaways from the inflation report.
▪ The New York Times: Lesson from the war: Reduce reliance on the strait.
FOLLOWING UP: Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee are demanding that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin keep his pledge to provide all the contracts signed by his predecessor that he plans to cancel.
The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch reports they sent Mullin a letter call for a full accounting of his review of contracts signed by former Secretary Kristi Noem, who faced backlash during her tenure over allegations that she improperly spent funds. That includes a $200 million ad campaign showing herself riding a horse in which contracts went to her allies.
Mullin told the panel during an appearance earlier this month that he would turn over his review of the contracts, but the committee’s ranking member, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), said he hasn’t yet delivered on the promise.
Mullin had told the committee that he had already canceled some of Noem’s contracts but couldn’t cancel others unless the Office of the Inspector General found an underlying issue.
“As with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals. Any recipient of federal funding should expect accountability for how taxpayer dollars are spent,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Hill.
▪ The Hill: Mullin confronts House Democrat at hearing.
LANDMARK SHOW: The president will travel to South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore at the end of next week for a fireworks show honoring the country’s 250th birthday.
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden (R) announced on Thursday that Trump would attend the show next Friday to kick off a three-day weekend of celebrations. Trump previously attended the memorial for July 4 celebrations and fireworks in 2020, during the last year of his first term.
“Together, we will throw the biggest birthday party ever for our nation and celebrate America’s legacy of freedom, liberty, and justice for all,” Rhoden said.
Before attending the event, Trump will visit North Dakota for the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
Trump kicked off the “Great American State Fair,” a 16-day festival honoring the country heading into the semiquincentennial, with a rally on the National Mall on Wednesday. The event and other moves by the president have raised some accusations of politicizing the anniversary.
▪ The Associated Press: How Americans are feeling about the anniversary.
