Congress
Musk targets Trump’s favorite fighter jet
Elon Musk is tearing into the F-35, the most expensive weapons program in history and a favorite of his new best friend, President-elect Donald Trump.
In a series of posts on X, the world’s richest man and proponent of driverless cars targeted the tri-service fighter jet program while coming out in favor of uncrewed aircraft.
“Manned fighter jets are obsolete in the age of drones,” he wrote on Monday. In another instance, Musk responded with the “100” emoji to another user’s tweet that “Drone superiority is the new air superiority.”
He also shared a video of Chinese drones and said “Meanwhile, some idiots are still building manned fighter jets like the F-35.”
The comments set up a potential rift between Musk and Trump, who spent the better part of his first presidential term touting his involvement in bringing the cost of the Lockheed Martin program down and then singing the praises of the fifth-generation stealth aircraft, saying in rallies that the plane is “invisible.”
Musk’s position as co-leader of a new advisory group meant to combat government inefficiency, however, means that defense producers are now looking to the tech billionaire for cues about government acquisition. The Department of Government Efficiency is tasked with helping the government reduce spending and cut regulations.
A spokesperson for Lockheed Martin, which produces the jet in partnership with Northrop Grumman and BAE, defended the F-35 as an advanced aircraft key to many operations, adding that the company looks forward to working with the Trump administration and the new Congress.
The F-35 program is the Defense Department’s most expensive program, topping out at a projected cost of $2 trillion, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, with more than $183 billion in cost-overruns.
While advocates have praised the plane’s capabilities, the rise of drones in Ukraine and elsewhere has prompted debate over whether the United States is investing enough in unmanned systems and other emerging tech that cost orders of magnitude less than typical Pentagon programs.
Those within the drone industry, meanwhile, warmed to Musk’s focus on autonomous systems.
“We’re a perfect fit for this new government,” said Jeff Thompson, CEO of Red Cat, whose subsidiary Teal recently won an Army competition to field thousands of small drones for the infantry.
Congress
Capitol agenda: House hard-liner headaches ahead
House Republicans are heading into a chaotic two-week sprint to try and make real legislative headway before a subsequent two-week recess — and prove that their narrow and deeply fractious majority can still get something done.
Hard-liners are already signaling this exercise won’t be easy. Here are the revolts to watch in the next two weeks:
— First, there’s FISA: Republican leaders want to pass a straightforward extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, next week, to give the Senate enough time to reauthorize the key spy authority before the April 20 deadline. The White House supports this path forward.
But conservatives want to add additional privacy guardrails to the existing law that allows the government to collect the data of noncitizens without a warrant.
Speaker Mike Johnson can only afford to lose one Republican on party-line procedural votes without grinding floor operations to a halt. At least two of his members, Reps. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Keith Self of Texas, aren’t ruling out opposing a “clean” FISA bill.
“We’ve got several must-pass bills, all of which need amending,” Self told Blue Light News. “And FISA is one of them.”
— Housing challenges: Hard-liners are also posing problems for the GOP’s ability to respond to voter concerns about higher costs of living as the midterms approach. Many are refusing to advance a Senate-passed affordable housing package because it doesn’t contain key policies they fought for on their side of the Capitol, such as a permanent ban on a central bank digital currency.
Now these holdouts want a bicameral conference to negotiate changes and strip out “socialist” provisions secured by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) — an unrealistic demand that would serve as a de facto death knell for the entire effort.
“I don’t have anything to add to what’s been discussed already,” House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-Ark.) told Blue Light News on Monday when asked about the status of talks.
— The “SAVE” revolt: Hanging over all these quagmires are threats from some hard-line Republicans to oppose any Senate-passed bill, for any reason, until the Senate passes the SAVE America Act — the GOP’s partisan elections package that stands little chance of becoming law (more on this below).
“I don’t care what the bill is,” Luna told Blue Light News. “If they can’t do their job, they can’t pass bills.”
She plans to start her blockade Tuesday by voting against a Senate-backed measure on the House floor that would extend the Small Business Innovation Research program.
What else we’re watching:
— “SAVE” debate begins: The Senate is set Tuesday to launch a dayslong debate over the SAVE America Act, which President Donald Trump calls his “No. 1 priority.” But don’t expect a “talking filibuster” that some conservatives hope would force Democrats to relent to a simple majority final passage despite their unified opposition. Instead, Republicans will start with a vote to begin consideration of the House-passed bill that would institute new citizenship and photo ID requirements in order to participate in elections.
— Friends of Ireland on Blue Light News: The speaker will host Trump and Taoiseach Micheál Martin for the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon at noon.
— AIPAC on the ballot: Tuesday’s primary elections in Illinois will serve as a critical test of whether the historically powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee still has clout.
Jordain Carney, Meredith Lee Hill, Elena Schneider and Shia Kapos contributed to this report.
Congress
Senate GOP ready to move on elections bill
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso told reporters Monday the chamber will vote Tuesday to take up a House-passed elections bill known as the SAVE America Act.
The Wyoming Republican, whose job it is to help round up support, said he is “doing everything I can to make sure we get on this bill tomorrow.”
Republicans will need a simple majority to begin debate on the partisan legislation; they can lose three members and still let Vice President JD Vance break a tie.
So far, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) has said he’s a “no,” while Republicans are also watching GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
Congress
Jesse Jackson’s family withdraws posthumous endorsement in Illinois Senate primary
The family of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson walked back a posthumous endorsement of Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s Senate campaign on Monday, after the family said Jackson’s endorsements for Tuesday’s primaries were not completed before his death.
On Saturday, Stratton’s campaign touted an endorsement from Jackson, who died last month, and his son Yusef. The announcement came after Stratton saw Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Jackson family’s organziation, passing out sample ballots — which were also obtained by Blue Light News — that recommended Stratton.
“[Jackson’s] example has been a north star for me, and I’m deeply honored to have received his trust, support, and endorsement before his passing,” Stratton said in a statement on Saturday.
But on Monday, Yusef Jackson, who is the organization’s COO, said the draft sample ballot was “released without authorization” and that the Jackson family and Rainbow PUSH Coalition are not making political endorsements this cycle.
His father “began the process of reviewing candidates and identifying those he intended to support in the upcoming primary election,” Yusef Jackson said in the statement. “However, given his passing just over a month ago, the process was never fully completed. Out of respect for my father, we decided not to publicly release his intended selections given the process had not been finalized.”
The Stratton campaign said on Monday that officials with Rainbow PUSH Coalition said she had been endorsed by Jackson.
“Juliana spoke on Saturday at Rainbow PUSH for a Women’s History Month event and officials told her she received the endorsements. Organizers shared the sample election ballot that was already being distributed and encouraged her to share the news,” the Stratton campaign said in a statement.
The endorsement mix-up draws further scrutiny on the split among Black Democrats in Illinois between Stratton and Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), who are both seeking to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin. Some Democrats in the state have expressed concern that Stratton and Kelly could split the vote in Tuesday’s primary, creating a path for Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) to win the nomination.
Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) told Blue Light News prior to the family’s statement that his father “never got in on Black-on-Black fights.”
Jonathan Jackson added that the races the late Jesse Jackson “was excited about” were himself and former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s comeback bid.
“He wouldn’t do that. He was always pushing the community forward,” Jackson said. “This smells of desperation.”
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