Congress
Congressional briefings on Iran conflict are postponed
A pair of planned congressional briefings on the volatile situation in the Middle East have been postponed, according to four people granted anonymity to describe the private plans.
The House and Senate were set to receive separate all-member briefings Tuesday afternoon from a group of top aides to President Donald Trump, including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs Chair Dan Caine.
The Senate briefing has been rescheduled for Thursday, one of the people said. The rescheduling comes as a Trump-brokered cease-fire between Iran and Israel hangs by a thread and as Trump and other top national security officials travel to the Netherlands for the yearly NATO summit.
Congress
Muslim Democrats ask leaders to denounce Islamophobic attacks on Zohran Mamdani
All four Muslim Democratic House members are denouncing “racist smears” against Zohran Mamdani from lawmakers in both parties since his New York City mayoral primary win, according to a statement provided first to Blue Light News.
“The vile, anti-Muslim and racist smears from our colleagues on both sides of the aisle attacking Zohran Mamdani cannot be met with silence. These hateful, Islamophobic, and racist tropes have become so entrenched and normalized in our politics,” said Reps. Andre Carson of Indiana, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Lateefah Simon of California in a statement.
The lawmakers said that “at a time when we are facing increased violence against elected officials, we cannot allow the attacks on Zohran Mamdani to continue” and asked for elected leaders to speak out on them.
Mamdani, who would become New York’s first Muslim mayor, has faced attacks from GOP lawmakers after his primary win this week. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) tied him to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) called for him to be deported, among others. The left was also concerned about since-clarified comments from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) about Mamdani’s rhetoric about Israel.
Critics of the democratic socialist have called some of his comments about Israel, including his defense of the phrase “globalize the intifada,” antisemitic, which he’s denied.
The Muslim lawmakers have sought a more forceful pushback from their leaders to the GOP attacks and have privately approached Democratic leadership about doing so. Speaker Mike Johnson didn’t answer a question from a reporter Friday asking him to respond to the remarks from Mace, Ogles and others.
Congress
Megabill delay ‘possible,’ Johnson says
Speaker Mike Johnson opened the door Friday to a possible megabill delay past the GOP’s self-imposed July 4 deadline.
“It’s possible … but I don’t want to even accept that as an option right now,” he told reporters as Republicans scramble to cut a series of deals with holdout members. Johnson said he had spoken with his Senate counterpart, Majority Leader John Thune, in the “last 20 minutes.”
Already time is running tight for Republicans. With the Senate not expected to start debating the bill until Saturday at the earliest, the House might not get the bill until Sunday. Johnson confirmed he plans to observe a House rule giving members at least 72 hours to review the bill before floor consideration begins.
“The House will not be jammed by anything,” he added.
Congress
Mike Johnson hails ‘progress’ toward SALT deal
The White House is close to clinching an agreement on the state and local tax deduction after a last-ditch flurry of negotiations with blue-state House GOP holdouts and Senate Republicans, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the talks.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is brokering the politically complex deal that is key to unlocking the GOP megabill, will attend Senate Republicans lunch later today, according to a another person with direct knowledge of the matter.
Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Friday morning that there was “a lot of progress yesterday” at an evening meeting of SALT Republicans and Treasury officials and that he expected the issue to get “resolved in a manner that everybody can live with.”
“No one will be delighted about it, but that’s kind of the way this works around here,” he said. “But the other issues [with the megabill], I think, will be resolved, hopefully today, and we can move forward.”
However, one hard-line SALT holdout, New York Rep. Nick LaLota, said: “If there was a deal, I’m not a part of it.”
Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
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