The Dictatorship
The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe: ‘The SAVE Act is horrible legislation’
This is the March 18, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter.Subscribe hereto get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Trump promised to get the U.S. out of ‘stupid wars.’ But now he and John Bolton are on the brink of launching us into a very stupid and costly war with Iran.”
— Tulsi Gabbard, the current director of national intelligence, while running for president as a Democrat in 2019
JOE’S NOTE
David Drucker, writer for The Dispatch and an opinion columnist for Bloomberg News, joined us today to break down the voter dynamics among registered Democratic voters amid the results from Tuesday’s elections in Illinois.
JS: David, what did last night’s election results in Illinois say about the strength of moderate candidates in the Democratic Party?
DD: Well, a Democratic poll for Third Way, a centrist think tank, found that the typical Democratic primary voter is a white woman over 55 without a college degree. Most Democratic primary voters end up being white, female, older, and not college-educated.
JS: What was your takeaway?
DD: It confirms a familiar pattern. In both parties, the most pragmatic presidential candidate usually wins the nomination. Voters may like passion, but when it’s time to choose, they go with electability.
The poll also showed voters want a fighter willing to take on Republicans, but their own views aren’t far left.
JS: After rarely discussing faith on the campaign trail for years, Democrats seem more comfortable doing so now. Is this why?
DD: One surprise to me was that 57% of Democratic primary voters identify as Christian, many as evangelical or born-again. It’s a reminder that most Democratic voters resemble mainstream America. If you want to win in 2028, you need to appeal to that middle, not just the progressive fringe.
JS: I noticed the same divide during the 2020 Democratic debates — candidates focused on Twitter instead of voters. [Joe] Biden was the lone moderate, and he swept the primaries after South Carolina.
MB: Why do you think that happened when the energy seemed to be with other Democratic candidates?
JS: Younger voters are more left-leaning. But for now, the average Democrat is a 55-year-old white woman who makes up a centrist coalition with voters of color who tend to be moderate, especially Black women and many Hispanic voters. Despite the online noise, Democrats still win from the middle.
Elisabeth Bumiller: Exactly. Every Democratic president for decades — Biden, Obama, Clinton, Carter — has been a moderate. That could change, with younger progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani energizing the base. But for now, the center still defines the party.
It is striking, though, that the average primary voter isn’t college-educated, given Democrats’ reputation as the party of the educated class.
DD: Right. These are self-identified primary voters. The party’s base has become more college-educated overall, but this shows how the primary electorate differs. Democrats have moved somewhat left over time, but the average voter still sees themselves as center-left, pragmatic, and tolerant of disagreement. They want fighters who focus on priorities, not purity tests. Biden’s success in 2020 proves that dynamic still holds.
JS: And to be clear, no one’s saying Democrats are conservative — just that they may be less progressive as a whole than social media suggests.
CHART OF THE DAY

EYES WIDE SHUT

It happens to all of us: You snap awake in the middle of the night, the room still dark, your alarm hours away — and you just can’t get back to sleep.
About 1 in 5 Americans experiences this kind of middle-of-the-night insomnia, according to The Washington Post. If you’re one of them, a simple breathing trick may help.
Try the 4-7-8 method: Inhale for four seconds, hold for seven, then exhale slowly for eight. Repeat until your body starts to settle.
If that doesn’t work, you might try a cognitive shuffle or progressive muscle relaxation. And, of course, leave your phone alone.
ON THIS DATE

In 1990, thieves posing as police officers slipped into Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and made off with 13 works of art — among them paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer — valued at more than $500 million.
More than three decades later, it remains the largest unsolved art heist in history and is the subject of the Netflix docuseries “This Is a Robbery,” directed and co-produced by the Barnicle boys!

A CONVERSATION WITH SEN. MARK KELLY
was. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona joined “Morning Joe” ahead of the briefing to discuss his views on the conflict — and the answers he says the American people deserve.
JS: Senator, you know what it’s like to go into combat. What’s on your mind today when you think about those serving in the U.S. military?
MK: We’ve got the most incredible men and women serving this country, and I think it’s fair to say their family members are serving as well. It’s challenging to live that life. They deserve to have a government that’s looking out for their best interests, and I’m not sure that’s the case right now.
JS: What would you tell loved ones watching the news, nervous about their sons or daughters being deployed in the Middle East?
MK: It’s challenging, because the president entered this war without a strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline.
I tell them I’ve got their backs — I’ll keep pushing this administration to make better decisions and hold them accountable when they don’t.
JS: You’re heading today into a major intelligence briefing. What’s the key question you need answered?
MK: I want to know how these decisions are actually making Americans safer — because right now, it doesn’t look that way. The president is surrounded by people who won’t challenge him, and that’s dangerous, especially on matters of national security.
When I was in charge of the space shuttle, I used to tell my crew members that they were required to question my decisions, especially when it came to safety or mission success.
JL: There are now real questions about whether Iran was an imminent threat. How do you plan to address that today?
MK: I want clarity on what intelligence was presented to the president — and whether anyone raised concerns about the risks, including in the Strait of Hormuz.
The president doesn’t seem to fully understand the military’s capabilities or how it operates.
JS: Senator, let’s talk about the SAVE Act. People on social media keep pushing the lie that it’s the only way to save America. What’s really going on here?
MK: This goes far beyond voter ID. People would have to re-register, and many wouldn’t even be able to use a military ID. It puts real barriers in front of working people and seniors who may not have the documents required.
We’re going to do everything we can to stop this. The SAVE Act is horrible legislation that would take our country back decades.
This conversation has been condensed and edited for brevity and clarity.
EXTRA HOT TEA
1 IN 9.2 QUINTILLION
— The mathematical odds of successfully predicting an entire March Madness bracket
ONE MORE SHOT

Willie Nelson performs in concert during the 11th Annual Luck Potluck at Luck Ranch last night in Spicewood, Texas.
CATCH UP ON MORNING JOE



The Dictatorship
Federal court rules against new global tariffs Trump imposed
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal court ruled Thursday against the new global tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed after a stinging loss at the Supreme Court.
A split three-judge panel of the Court of International Trade in New York found the 10% global tariffs were illegal after small businesses sued.
The court ruled 2-1 that Trump overstepped the tariff power that Congress had allowed the president under the law. The tariffs are “invalid″ and “unauthorized by law,” the majority wrote.
The third judge on the panel found the law allows the president more leeway on tariffs.
If the administration appeals Thursday’s decision, as expected, it would first turn to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, based in Washington, and then, potentially, the Supreme Court.
At issue are temporary 10% worldwide tariffs the Trump administration imposed after the Supreme Court in February struck down even broader double-digit tariffs the president had imposed last year on almost every country on Earth. The new tariffs, invoked under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, were set to expire July 24.
The court’s decision directly blocked the collection of tariffs from three plaintiffs — the state of Washington and two businesses, spice company Burlap & Barrel and toy company Basic Fun! “It’s not clear’’ whether other businesses would have to continue to pay the tariffs, said Jeffrey Schwab, director of litigation at the libertarian Liberty Justice Center, which represented the two companies.
“We fought back today and we won, and we’re extremely excited,” Jay Foreman, CEO of Basic Fun!, told reporters Thursday.
The ruling marked another legal setback for the Trump administration, which has attempted to shield the U.S. economy behind a wall of import taxes. Last year, Trump invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to declare the nation’s longstanding trade deficit a national emergency, justifying sweeping global tariffs.
The Supreme Court ruled Feb. 28 that IEEPA did not authorize the tariffs. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to establish taxes, including tariffs, though lawmakers can delegate tariff power to the president.
Dave Townsend, a trade lawyer at Dorsey & Whitney, said the ruling will open the door for more companies to request that the tariffs be thrown out and that any payments they’ve made be refunded.
“Other importers likely will now ask for a broader remedy that applies to more companies,” Townsend said, though he cautioned the case could also reach the Supreme Court.
Trump is already taking steps to replace the tariffs that were struck down by the Supreme Court in January. The administration is conducting two investigations that could end in more tariffs.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is looking into whether 16 U.S. trading partners — including China, the European Union and Japan — are overproducing goods, driving down prices and putting U.S. manufacturers at a disadvantage. It is also investigating whether 60 economies — from Nigeria to Norway and accounting for 99% of U.S. imports — do enough to prohibit the trade in products created by forced labor.
The Dictatorship
Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve trade deal
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said in a Thursday social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year’s trade framework by July 4.
The announcement appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25% tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a “great call” with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the U.S. president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
“A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!” Trump posted. “I agreed to give her until our Country’s 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels.”
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the U.S. would charge a 15% tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10% tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
The Dictatorship
In the wake of the Virginia ruling, where does the national redistricting arms race stand?
In Virginia, a majority of the House of Delegates voted to approve a new congressional district map that was designed to help Democrats add as many as four seats in the U.S. House. A majority of the state Senate agreed, as did the commonwealth’s popularly elected governor. The issue then went to the people of Virginia, and a majority of voters backed the redistricting initiative, too.
A majority of the Virginia Supreme Court, however, rejected the plan anyway. MS NOW reported:
The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday struck down a voter-approved congressional redistricting plan, ruling that Democrats violated constitutional procedures when placing the referendum on the ballot for last month’s special election. […]
In its 4-3 decision, the court on Friday found that the process used to place the amendment on the ballot did not comply with Virginia’s constitutional rules governing how such proposals must be approved by the legislature before being presented to voters. As a result, the justices upheld a lower court ruling that blocks the amendment from being certified and implemented.
For Democratic efforts on the national level, the ruling is an unexpected gut punch, especially given the fact that after Virginia voters approved the overhauled map last month, it appeared that Democrats would be able to keep pace with the GOP as part of the broader redistricting fight.
What’s more, the state Supreme Court ruling comes on the heels of a similarly brutal blow after Republican-appointed U.S. Supreme Court justices gutted the Voting Rights Act, which opened the door even further to an intensified Republican effort to erase majority-Black congressional districts in the South.
Given all of this, it’s easy to imagine many Americans responding to the head-spinning developments with a simple question: “So where do things stand now?”
Before we dig in on that, it’s worth pausing to acknowledge the absurdity of the circumstances. For generations, states redrew congressional district lines after the decennial census. There were limited exceptions, but in nearly all of those instances, mid-decade redistricting only happened when courts told states that their maps were unlawful and needed to be redone.
The idea that politicians would simply choose to start redrawing maps, in the middle of a decade, in pursuit of partisan advantages, was practically unheard of.
Last year, however, Donald Trump, fearing the results of the 2026 midterm elections and the possible accountability that would result from Democratic victories, decided that the American model needed to be discarded. It was time, the president said, to pursue what one White House official described as a campaign of “maximum warfare” in which Republican officials in key states would embrace gerrymandering without regard for fairness, norms, traditions or propriety.
The goal was simple: Deliver Republican victories in congressional races long before Americans had a chance to cast their ballots.
The result was an arms race that’s still going on — and here’s where things stand.

Texas: Republicans in the Lone Star State got the ball rolling last summer, acting at Trump’s behest and approving a map designed to give Republicans five additional U.S. House seats. It touched off the national arms race.
California: Responding to Texas, Democratic officials in the Golden State, as well as the state’s voters, approved a map of their own designed to give Democrats five additional U.S. House seats.
Missouri: In September, state Republicans approved a map designed to give the GOP one additional seat.
North Carolina: In October, state Republicans approved a map designed to give Republicans one additional seat.
Ohio: While the redistricting effort in the Buckeye State wasn’t as brazen as it was elsewhere, Ohio’s new map diluted two Democratic-held districts, creating GOP pickup opportunities.
Utah: A state court approved a new map that will likely give Democrats one additional seat.
Florida: Just this week, Republicans completed the process on a new map designed to give Republicans as many as four additional seats.
Tennessee: Also this week, Republicans approved a new map designed to give Republicans one additional seat, taking advantage of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling.
Louisiana: While the newly redrawn map in the Pelican State hasn’t been formally unveiled, it will reportedly add one additional Republican seat.
Alabama: Republicans are currently moving forward with plans for a map that would give Republicans two more seats.
It’s important to emphasize that some of these maps are currently facing legal challenges, while others are still taking shape. Most of these maps would take effect during this year’s election cycle, but there’s still some uncertainty surrounding the implementation date in some states.
Nevertheless, the Virginia map that enjoyed popular public support was prepared to help mitigate an unprecedented Republican abuse. The state Supreme Court in the commonwealth appears to have removed that option.
After Virginia voters had their say, many GOP officials questioned whether the entire gerrymandering gambit had been a waste of time and effort. In the aftermath of two highly controversial court rulings, Republicans are suddenly feeling a lot better about the whole scheme.
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