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‘Trump is on the ballot in 2026,’ Johnson says after GOP drubbing

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Speaker Mike Johnson connected House Republicans’ fate in next year’s midterms to President Donald Trump Wednesday, just hours after GOP candidates took an Election Night drubbing from Democrats who centered their campaigns on opposing him.

“President Trump is on the ballot next fall,” Johnson said in his first comments of the off-year election results, delivered at a news conference outside the Capitol Wednesday. That, he explained, is because Democrats will work to unwind Trump’s agenda and “move to impeach him.”

Johnson’s remarks are in part meant to address anxieties among Republicans about the party’s lackluster electoral performance when Trump is not a candidate and can’t draw voters to GOP candidate down the ballot.

But they also underscore what is certain to be a key Democratic message going into next year: that the midterms are a referendum on Trump, whose approval ratings are currently in the low 40s, according to most recent polls— the lowest of his second term.

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Congress

The future of SAVE America

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As a potential Homeland Security funding deal comes together, Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday the Senate could temporarily drop its consideration of a contentious GOP elections bill, the SAVE America Act, then return to it after DHS funding is passed.

Thune’s comments come as Republicans are trying to reach an agreement with Democrats on ending a five-week shutdown of the sprawling department. Thune has threatened to cancel a planned two-week recess if the shutdown doesn’t end this week.

“Assuming we can move on … government funding, we can pick this thing up when we come back” from Easter, Thune said.

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Congress

These House GOP election proposals could end up in a reconciliation bill

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The chair of the House committee overseeing elections is circulating a list of proposals to include in a budget reconciliation bill as Senate Republicans and the White House move to rev up the party-line process to pass pieces of a contentious GOP voting bill in the coming months.

The list from House Administration Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) is a peek at what sort of provisions Republicans could try to pass under reconciliation, which is strictly reserved for legislation with a direct fiscal impact. The party-line effort is likely to rule out big portions of the SAVE America Act, the bill President Donald Trump has called his “No. 1 priority” for the year.

Steil’s proposals would mandate or financially incentivize states to implement voter ID laws, require proof of citizenship for voter registration, share voter data with federal agencies for verification and conduct post-election audits, among other items, according to a document obtained by POLITICO being circulated with GOP leaders and several Republican offices. It’s an effort to try to secure major pieces of Trump’s election-related demands.

In some cases, states would lose funding under the 2002 Help America Vote Act, a law passed in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election that provides federal money to help administer elections, if they fail to comply.

It’s not clear if parts of Steil’s proposals would in fact pass muster under the party-line reconciliation process. The Senate parliamentarian’s guidance typically determines what is and isn’t included.

Three people granted anonymity to discuss the brewing deal Senate Republicans and Trump discussed Monday evening, to pass Homeland Security funding now and SAVE America Act provisions later, say the most likely outcome for a new reconciliation bill is adding money for ballot security measures and potentially incentivizing more states to enact voter ID requirements. Steil’s list includes some of those pieces.

Under Steil’s proposal, states using noncompliant IDs would be ineligible to receive HAVA funding — consistent with Steil’s bill, the Make Elections Great Again Act, which overlaps with the SAVE America Act but also has no current path to passage in the Senate.

His effort to mandate proof-of-citizenship requirements would appropriate funds to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to amend the national voter registration form to require “Documentary Proof of Citizenship” such as a passport or military ID. States would have to forfeit HAVA funds if they fail to share data with federal agencies to verify voter registration data, a move officials in several states have refused to make.

Besides the Senate parliamentarian, any effort to pass elections provisions on party lines will face other obstacles. The decision to pursue a new reconciliation bill in lieu of trying to pass the SAVE America Act in full is already generating major pushback from conservative hard-liners.

The House Freedom Caucus took a shot at Senate Republicans Tuesday, arguing the brewing DHS deal means Senate Republicans are opting for “failure theater” and “gaslighting” instead of fighting to pass the bill Trump has endorsed. Even GOP senators and senior aides are privately cautioning the fresh reconciliation push could fall apart, stranding the elections overhaul and other GOP priorities.

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Congress

King Charles to make first US state visit, address Congress next month

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England’s King Charles III will make his first state visit to Washington next month.

As part of his visit, the king will address Congress in a joint meeting the week of April 27, according to two people familiar with the matter granted anonymity to discuss plans ahead of a formal announcement.

The visit was first reported by Punchbowl News.

It will be the first time a British royal has addressed Congress since 1991, when Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, became the first British monarch to speak before a packed House chamber.

President Donald Trump visited London in September, and House Speaker Mike Johnson visited in January as part of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations. Johnson addressed Parliament during his visit, becoming the first House speaker to do so.

Charles’ visit comes as Trump continues to pressure Prime Minister Keir Starmer for assistance in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.

Starmer has distanced himself from the war, previously stating, “This is not our war, and we are not getting dragged into this war.”

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