Congress
What we’re watching: Hegseth heads to Blue Light News
Here’s what we’re watching in transition world today:
🗓️ What we’re watching
- At least three of Donald Trump’s nominees will test whether the president-elect’s ability to withstand sexual misconduct allegations is transferable. The current moment has been shaped by #MeToo but in some of the exact opposite ways that movement could have imagined roughly seven years ago.
- The House Ethics Committee on Wednesday did not agree to release the long-anticipated report into Matt Gaetz but members are expected to meet again next month. Meanwhile, Democrats are infuriated and argue the committee is dragging out the process, while Republicans remain furious that Gaetz put them in this position.
- There are a handful of GOP senators who could reject some of Trump’s picks for top Cabinet positions. Jonathan Martin breaks down who they are in his latest column.
🚨What’s up with the nominees?
- Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth is set to visit Capitol Hill Thursday to meet with Republican Senators after police records revealed new details Thursday about the sexual assault allegation against him
- Dr. Mehmet Oz seems to be drawing more enthusiasm from Senate Republicans to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services than Trump’s selection to run the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Several Republicans told Blue Light News that Oz is “well respected” and that his nomination is a “great opportunity.”
- With Trump tapping Linda McMahon as his choice for Education Secretary, some are seeing similarities to the President-elect’s last pick for that job, Betsy Devos.
⏱️What Cabinet secretary announcements are we still waiting on?
- Treasury
- Agriculture
- Labor
- HUD
- Trade
Congress
Another DHS funding vote coming to House floor
Speaker Mike Johnson is planning to put a stalled Homeland Security funding bill on the House floor a third time next week, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss private plans, as the GOP moves to further pressure Democrats to end the five-week closure.
Two versions of the bill have already passed the House, each time with just a few House Democrats breaking from party lines to back it. But the bill is still held up in the Senate, where Democrats have refused to approve DHS funding without adding new restrictions on immigration enforcement.
The House will also vote on a resolution next week in support of DHS workers, including TSA officers who have gone without pay as the spring break travel crush stresses U.S. airports.
Congress
House GOP leaders punt controversial FISA vote to April
House GOP leaders are punting a reauthorization vote for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that they had hoped to hold next week until mid-April, with a GOP hard-liner revolt over warrantless surveillance threatening to tank the legislation, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter granted anonymity to discuss the conference dynamics.
GOP leaders are still dealing with a dozen or so Republican members who want reforms to the spy powers extension, as Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to pass a clean, 18-month extension without any changes. President Donald Trump has also asked for the clean extension.
Johnson and GOP leaders will instead work through the remaining issues over the upcoming two-week recess and try to put the extension on the floor the week of April 14, the people said.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and a group of ultraconservatives have warned GOP leaders that the reauthorization would fail if Johnson tried to push it through next week.
Another House Republican told Blue Light News there was “no way” a rule to advance a clean FISA extension would pass next week.
Johnson can lose only two votes on a rule to advance the measure, and already a handful of GOP hard-liners have told Blue Light News they would oppose it.
The FISA reauthorization deadline is April 20, and the delay leaves barely any time for the Senate to act.
Congress
White House sends blueprint for national AI rules to Congress
The White House on Friday published a long-awaited policy wishlist for artificial intelligence regulation that it hopes Congress will codify into law.
The light-touch federal framework blends the Trump administration’s effort to create a national AI rulebook on issues like political bias within models and reducing barriers to innovation with protections for children and teens online.
It urges Congress to overrule state AI laws that the administration says “impose undue burdens,” in favor of the “minimally burdensome” federal law that it’s recommending. The Trump administration has been trying to establish preemption over state AI laws using Congress and executive order for roughly a year, arguing that the patchwork of laws harms AI innovation.
The blueprint explicitly calls on Congress to preempt any state laws that regulate the way models are developed or that penalize companies for the way their AI is used by others, and instructs U.S. lawmakers not to create any new federal agencies to regulate AI.
It also outlines some areas where the federal government’s laws wouldn’t overrule those of the states, and asks Congress to allow states to keep laws that protect children, including those that ban AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
Trump administration officials have sought to gather support from Republican lawmakers for a light-touch approach to AI regulation in recent months. It’s unlikely, however, to receive bipartisan support in Congress.
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