The Dictatorship
US, Iran say they have agreed to a two-week ceasefire
Today’s live updates have ended. Follow more live coverage on the Iran war.
Major developments we’re following:
- The United States and Iran said Tuesday they have agreed to a two-week ceasefire in the war that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump initially had said Iran proposed a “workable” 10-point plan that could help end the war launched by the U.S. and Israel in February. But he later called it fraudulent, without elaborating. Neither Iran nor the United States said when the ceasefire would begin.
- Trump said he’s pulling back on his threats to widen attacks on Iran. Trump’s latest threat over the Iran war hit a new extreme earlier Tuesday when he warned, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” if Iran failed to make a deal that included reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz. Trump’s threat did not seem to account for the harm to civilians, prompting Democrats in Congress, some U.N. officials and scholars in military law to say such strikes would violate international law.
- The two-week ceasefire plan includes allowing both Iran and Oman to charge fees on ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, a regional official said Wednesday on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The strait is in the territorial waters of both Oman and Iran. The world had considered the passage an international waterway and never paid tolls before.
- Israel is still attacking Iranaccording to an Israeli military official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations Wednesday. Moments earlier, the White House said Israel had agreed to the terms of the two-week US-Iran ceasefire agreement. Iran also kept up fire on Israel.
Key bridge between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain reopens
The King Fahd Causeway, a key bridge linking Saudi Arabia and the island kingdom of Bahrain, reopened Wednesday morning after an hourslong closure over possible incoming fire from Iran.
The King Fahd Causeway Authority said in its announcement on X that vehicle traffic has resumed.
UN chief welcomes two-week ceasefire and urges end to hostilities
Secretary-General António Guterres calls on all parties “to abide by the terms of the ceasefire in order to pave the way towards a lasting and comprehensive peace in the region,” his spokesperson said.
Guterres also calls on the parties to comply with their obligations under international law, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement late Tuesday.
International law requires the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.
“The secretary-general underscores that an end to hostilities is urgently needed to protect civilian lives and alleviate human suffering,” Dujarric said.
Jean Arnault, the secretary-general’s personal envoy, is in the region “to support efforts toward lasting peace,” the spokesperson said.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq says it will halt operations for two weeks
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias, said in a statement early Wednesday that it will halt its operations in Iraq and the region for two weeks.
The announcement came hours after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire.
Iran-backed militias in Iraq have claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks on U.S. bases and other facilities in the country in solidarity with Tehran since the war began.
Israel says ceasefire with Iran doesn’t include war in Lebanon against Hezbollah
In a statement Wednesday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it supports Trump’s decision to suspend strikes against Iran for two weeks, but that it doesn’t include the war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
It said the ceasefire is subject to Iran immediately opening the Strait of Hormuz and stopping all attacks on the U.S., Israel and countries in the region.
The statement said Israel also supports U.S. efforts to ensure Iran no longer poses a nuclear or missile threat.
JUST IN: Netanyahu says Israel backs US ceasefire with Iran but that deal doesn’t cover fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon
Governments in Asia and the Pacific welcome ceasefire
The Australian government says it “welcomes the agreement by the United States, Israel and Iran to a two-week ceasefire to negotiate a resolution to the conflict in the Middle East.”
“The Australian government has been calling for de-escalation and an end to the conflict for some time now,” Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a joint statement Wednesday.
“Iran’s de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, coupled with its attacks on commercial vessels, civilian infrastructure, and oil and gas facilities, is causing unprecedented energy supply shocks and impacting oil and fuel prices,” they added.
They said Australia had been working with international partners in support of diplomatic efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz so critical supplies can flow to those who need it, including the most vulnerable.
In Japan Minoru Kihara, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, said his nation “welcomes the announcement as a positive development. We hope they reach an agreement.”
Winston Peters, New Zealand’s foreign minister, said on X, that his nation welcomed the effort to end the war.
“While this is encouraging news, there remains significant important work to be done in the coming days to secure a lasting ceasefire,” he wrote.
Australia says Trump’s threat to Iranian civilization was not appropriate
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Trump’s threat to the Iranian population was not appropriate.
Albanese referred to Trump’s threat that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” if Iran failed to make a peace deal that included reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to use language such as that from the President of the United States. And I think it will cause some concern,” Albanese told Sky News television on Wednesday.
“We’ve said very clearly that the conduct of any conflict must be within international law and that provides for making sure that civilians — who aren’t parties to the conflict — are given every protection possible,” Albanese added.
Albanese described the agreement reached by the United States, Israel and Iran to a two-week ceasefire to negotiate a resolution to the conflict as “positive news.”
Pro-government demonstrators take to the streets in Tehran
Pro-government demonstrators in the streets of Iran’s capital Wednesday morning after the ceasefire was announced screamed: “Death to America, death to Israel, death to compromisers!”
Organizers tried at one point to calm demonstrators, but they continued the chants.
They also burned American and Israeli flags in the street.
It shows the ongoing anger from hard-liners, who had been preparing for what many assumed would be an apocalyptical battle with the U.S.
JUST IN: Pro-government demonstrators in Iran’s capital scream: ‘Death to America, death to Israel, death to compromisers!’
Iran includes ‘acceptance of enrichment’ in Farsi version of its ceasefire plan
Iran in the Farsi-language version of its 10-point ceasefire plan included the phrase “acceptance of enrichment” for its nuclear program, something that was missing in English versions shared by Iranian diplomats to journalists.
It wasn’t immediately clear why that term was missing.
However, Trump had said ending Iran’s nuclear program entirely was a key point of the war.
Trump after Iran issued its 10-point plan had described it as fraudulent, without elaborating.
Iran’s mission to the U.N. declined to comment late Tuesday on discrepancies between English and Farsi versions of the ceasefire deal Tehran put out.
JUST IN: Iran includes ‘acceptance of enrichment’ in Farsi version of its ceasefire plan, something missing from English versions
Israel is still attacking Iran, says military official
The official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said early Wednesday morning that Israel was still attacking Iran.
Moments earlier, the White House said Israel had agreed to the terms of the two-week US-Iran ceasefire agreement.
Iran also kept up fire on Israel.
JUST IN: Israeli military official says the country is still attacking Iran, after White House said Israel agreed to ceasefire
Israeli strike kills at least eight people in southern Lebanese coastal city
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said another 22 people were wounded in the strike on Sidon.
The strike came without warning, and the Israeli military did not immediately specify who it was targeting.
At least 1,530 people have been killed in the latest war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.
Pakistan invites Iran and the US to talks in Islamabad on Friday
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he is inviting Iran and the United States to meet in Islamabad and have further discussions.
In a post on X, Sharif said that both parties have agreed on the ceasefire.
“I warmly welcome the sagacious gesture and extend deepest gratitude to the leadership of both the countries,” he said. “And invite their delegations to Islamabad on Friday, 10th April 2026, to further negotiate for a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes.”
There has been no public response from the U.S. or Iran to the invitation.
US confirms release of journalist kidnapped by Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia in Iraq
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed in a statement that American journalist Shelley Kittlesonwho was kidnapped last week in Iraq, has been released.
Kittleson was abducted by the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah from a street corner in Baghdad on March 31.
Rubio said in a statement posted on X, “We are relieved that this American is now freed and are working to support her safe departure from Iraq.”
He thanked Iraqi authorities, as well as the FBI and U.S. defense department and other U.S. agencies for their work toward securing Kittleson’s release.
Vance was involved in talks as deadline drew closer
As the clock inched closer to Trump’s proposed 8 p.m. deadline with no resolution in sight, U.S. Vice President JD Vance got roped into the conversation late Tuesday, according to an official from one of the mediating countries who was briefed on the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive diplomatic discussions.
Vance’s office did not immediately have a comment.
Vance is currently traveling in Hungary.
Neither Iran nor the United States has offered any time for the ceasefire to begin
But a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations, said American forces had halted offensive operations.
Iran continued to fire at Gulf Arab states and Israel, despite Pakistan saying the ceasefire had taken hold immediately.
JUST IN: Abu Dhabi officials say its Habshan gas-processing facility is ablaze after earlier reporting incoming Iranian fire
Chinese officials encouraged Iran to find path to ceasefire with US, AP sources say
China, which is Tehran’s biggest trade partner, spoke with the Iranians to get them on board, according to two officials who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Chinese officials were in touch with Iranian officials to encourage Tehran to find a path to a ceasefire deal as the negotiations were evolving, the officials said.
Beijing primarily had been working with intermediaries, including Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt, as it tried to use its influence, said one of the officials, who was not authorized to comment publicly on the diplomatic matter.
The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier Tuesday, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said, “All parties need to demonstrate sincerity and quickly end this war that should not have happened in the first place.” She said China was “deeply concerned” about the impact the conflict has on the world economy and energy security.
JUST IN: Chinese officials encouraged Iran to look for a path toward a ceasefire in war with the US, AP sources say
Iran, Oman to charge for Strait of Hormuz passage
The two-week ceasefire plan includes allowing both Iran and Oman to charge fees on ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, a regional official said Wednesday.
The official said Iran would use the money it raised for reconstruction. It wasn’t immediately clear what Oman would use its money for.
The strait is in the territorial waters of both Oman and Iran. The world had considered the passage an international waterway and never paid tolls before.
The official, who had been directly involved in the negotiations, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Pentagon press briefing set for Wednesday morning
The announcement of the press conference with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, comes after the president announced the ceasefire agreement.
JUST IN: Pakistan, which brokered ceasefire between US and Iran, says it extends to Israel and Hezbollah fighting in Lebanon
Israel has agreed to the terms of the two-week US-Iran ceasefire agreement, White House official says
The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
There are concerns in Israel about ceasefire agreement, says AP source
That’s according to a person familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media.
The person said Israel would like to achieve more in the war with Iran.
Leavitt says negotiations will continue
Asked for clarity on what Trump meant by the Iranian peace proposal being “workable,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “President Trump’s words speak for themselves: this is a workable basis to negotiate, and those negotiations will continue.”
“The truth is that President Trump and our powerful military got Iran to agree to reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and negotiations will continue,” Leavitt said in a statement.
Oil prices plunge after Trump pulls back on threats to widen attacks
Futures for U.S. crude oil sank 18% to around $92.60, while Brent crude oil futures fell about 6% to $103.40.
Both prices remain well above where they were at the start of the war.
Futures for the S&P 500 rose 2.4%.
US signaled to Israel that strikes were meant to show Iran what could come, official says
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Some Israeli officials had begun speculating as Trump neared his self-imposed deadline that he was edging towards finding an off-ramp even as he offered increasingly menacing rhetoric toward, according to person privy to internal deliberations.
The U.S. administration had signaled to Israelis that the strikes on military assets on Kharg Island earlier Tuesday and the targeting of Iran’s two main petrochemical hubs, Mahshahr and Assaluyeh, were sending a clear message to Tehran of what would come if Trump chose to further intensify the bombardment, according to the person who requested anonymity to discuss the matter.
Israeli officials were skeptical and believed the apparent breakthrough could unravel and lead to further escalation if the Iranians don’t make good on quickly opening the Strait of Hormuz, the person added.
US military has halted all offensive operations against Iran, US official says
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive military operations, noted that defensive measures and operations would still be in effect.
It comes after President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire agreement with the Islamic Republic.
JUST IN: US military has halted all offensive operations against Iran, US official says, but continues defensive actions
JUST IN: Oil prices plunge and US stock futures jump after Trump pulls back on Iran threats for 2 weeks, pending a ceasefire
White House doesn’t immediately clarify what Trump meant by ‘workable’ Iranian plan
President Donald Trump is seen on television monitors in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
President Donald Trump is seen on television monitors in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
The White House on Tuesday night did not answer messages on why the president described Iran’s 10-point peace plan as “workable.”
Among the points communicated by Tehran were an easing of U.S. sanctions on Iran and “the withdrawal of United States combat forces from all bases and points of deployment within the region.”
In his social media post announcing a postponement of his threatened bombing campaign, Trump wrote: “We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.”
The White House did not immediately clarify what Trump meant or provide details on what a “basis” for future negotiations might entail.
Alerts come despite Iran and US saying they’ve reach a cease-fire
Israel and the United Arab Emirates both sounded missile alerts early Wednesday, despite Iran and the United States saying they had reached a two-week ceasefire in the war.
It wasn’t immediately clear what was being targeted in the two countries, which bore the brunt of the missile and drone fire during the war.
Throughout the war, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has called the shots in all decisions. Individual commanders have made decisions on what to strike and when, with the nation’s political leadership sidelined.
Whether they agreed to stop shooting with the declared ceasefire and negotiations being planned in Islamabad remained in question.
However, many Mideast wars see combatants launch last-minute attacks to be able to claim victory with their populations.
JUST IN: Israel says it detects an incoming Iranian missile barrage despite US, Iran saying 2-week ceasefire reached
It isn’t clear what was targeted in the United Arab Emirates
The missile alert sounded early Wednesday morning after the United States and Iran said they reached a two-week ceasefire in the war.
It wasn’t clear what had been targeted, but it showed the chaos of the unfolding diplomatic moves.
JUST IN: Missile alert sounds in the United Arab Emirates after Iran, US say they’ve reached a two-week ceasefire
Also not clear: What Iran means in referencing ‘withdrawal’ of US combat forces
In question is another of the points messaged by the Iranians — “the withdrawal of United States combat forces from all bases and points of deployment within the region.”
The U.S. has maintained a network of military bases through the Persian Gulf for decades after the 1991 Gulf War with Iraq.
The bases have served as the region’s chief security guarantor and provided protection for the energy-rich Gulf Arab states.
Iran did not define, however, what it meant by “combat forces,” potentially giving wiggle room for those bases to remain.
But any step-down in troop levels in the region likely would anger the Gulf Arab states that have suffered through weeks of war.
It isn’t clear if Iran will loosen its chokehold on the waterway that’s crucial to global energy supplies
A cameraman films the Indian flagged LPG carrier Jag Vasant transporting liquefied petroleum gas, at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, after it arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, Wednesday, April 1, 2026.(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A cameraman films the Indian flagged LPG carrier Jag Vasant transporting liquefied petroleum gas, at the Mumbai Port in Mumbai, India, after it arrived clearing the Strait of Hormuz, Wednesday, April 1, 2026.(AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Iran’s foreign minister says that ships would be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, over the next two weeks under coordination from Iran’s military.
About a fifth of the world’s oil transits the strait in peacetime.
Araghchi wrote in a statement that: “For a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible via coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations.”
Before the war, there were no “technical limitations.” Over 100 ships a day passed through the water in Iranian and Omani territorial waters in a decades-old traffic system.
The statement did not say whether Iran would seek to charge ships as it had been doing during the war.
JUST IN: Iran’s foreign minister says passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be allowed for next 2 weeks under Iranian military management
Iran’s explanation of its 10-point plan says Strait of Hormuz would be subject to ‘regulated passage’
Iran’s explanation of the 10-point plan included its claimed that the Strait of Hormuz would be subject to “regulated passage … under the coordination of the Armed Forces of Iran.”
It added that would be “thereby conferring upon Iran a unique economic and geopolitical standing.” It also would receive full sanctions relief.
These terms would represent an extraordinary step down by the U.S. after 47 years of hostilities with Iran, starting from the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran says its acceptance of a ceasefire doesn’t mean an end to the war
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Wednesday it had accepted a two-week ceasefire in the war.
Its statement said it would negotiate with the United States in Islamabad beginning Friday.
“It is emphasized that this does not signify the termination of the war,” the statement said. “Our hands remain upon the trigger, and should the slightest error be committed by the enemy, it shall be met with full force.”
JUST IN: Iran’s Supreme National Security Council says it has accepted a two-week ceasefire in the war
Trump says talks with Pakistani officials helped lead to his decision to delay bombing campaign
In his social media post, Trump said he came to the decision to delay an expansion of U.S. strikes “based on conversations” with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan’s powerful army chief.
Sharif, in a post on X earlier Tuesday, urged Trump to extend his deadline by two weeks to allow diplomacy to advance. Pakistan has been leading negotiations.
Sharif used the same post to ask Iran to open the Hormuz Strait for two weeks.
Trump’s second term has largely been defined by his eagerness to make intimidating threats
And then to retreat if a backlash ensues — a phenomenon his critics have derided as “Trump Always Chickens Out,” or TACO.
The president backed off many of the sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs he first announced in April 2025 after they caused the financial markets to go haywire.
He also largely dropped threats to impose high levies on many imported products from China, Mexico, the European Union and Canada — among other trade partners.
Perhaps the most spectacular example came during a January meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Trump insisted that he wanted the U.S. to get Greenland “including right, title and ownership” only to switch course and abandon his threat to impose widespread tariffs on Europe to press his case.
Trump says Iran has proposed a ‘workable’ 10-point peace plan that could help end war
The president added in his social media post that Iran has presented “a workable basis on which to negotiate.”
“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated,” Trump said in the post.
Trump says he’s pulling back on his threats to widen attacks
The president says that includes an array of bridges, power plants and other civilian targets — subject to Iran being ready for a two week ceasefire and to reopen Strait of Hormuz.
In a post on his social media site on Tuesday evening, Trump said Iran could agree “to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz” and said that he’d then “suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.”
Since the war began in February, Trump has set a series of deadlines threatening escalation of the conflict, only to backoff just before they expire.
JUST IN: Trump says Iran has proposed a “workable” 10-point peace plan that could help end war
JUST IN: Trump pulls back on his Iran threats for two weeks, subject to Iran agreeing to ceasefire and to reopen Strait of Hormuz
Iran threatens to cut US and its allies off from the region’s oil and gas ‘for years’
Iran’s joint military command spokesperson made the warning in a statement responding to U.S.-Israeli attacks.
Ebrahim Zolfaghari said Iran will intensify its attacks on military, security, and economic infrastructure in Israel and on “centers related to” the U.S. in the region.
Zolfaghari said Iran’s continued attacks on the infrastructure of the U.S. and its allies aim to deprive them of the region’s oil and gas supplies “for many years” and “force them to leave” the Middle East.
Establishment Democrats have been panicking that an uptick in democratic socialist candidates within their party could make it easier for Republicans to win by painting the entire party as extreme. But a new poll showing that MAGA ideology is less popular than democratic socialism should help allay fears that the Democrats’ left wing is a toxic liability in the upcoming midterm elections.
According to the CNBC All-America Economic Survey released Friday, which polled 1,000 registered voters from July 8 to 12, American voters are more likely to support a democratic socialist candidate than a candidate who identifies as part of the MAGA movement or is endorsed by President Donald Trump.
Democratic socialism isn’t particularly popular in mainstream America, but it is less unpopular than MAGA politics. The survey found that if a candidate self identifies as a democratic socialist, 32% of voters say they are more likely to vote for that candidate, while 50% are less likely. If a candidate is endorsed by Trump, 29% of voters are more likely to vote for them, and 52% are less likely. And if a candidate self-describes as MAGA, then 27% of voters are more likely to vote for them, while 57% are less likely to vote for them.
The far left is somewhat more acceptable to a broader swath of the public than Trump and his movement.
Taken together, the results suggest the far left is somewhat more acceptable to a broader swath of the public than Trump and his movement. Neither side commands a majority. But democratic socialists appear to excite roughly a third of the electorate, while MAGA affiliation excites closer to a quarter. Both sides to some extent repel a big chunk of the electorate, but democratic socialism deters half of voters, while MAGA puts off a significant majority of them.
This finding might be a function of the growing popularity of the concept of socialism. CNBC’s poll found that 28% respondents rated socialism positively — 10 points higher than in 2024. And a larger proportion of voters appear to be comfortable with at least some socialist policies being enacted: 40% of respondents said some form of socialism would be a good thing, while 44% of voters said it would be a bad thing, and 14% had no opinion.
Moreover, the asymmetry between the socialist movement and the MAGA movement also bodes well for the left’s electoral prospects. Trump and the MAGA movement dominate their party, whereas democratic socialists remain at its fringe, even if they are growing in numbers. The poll doesn’t ask respondents to rank, say, centrist Democrats compared to these other camps, but it’s striking that the Democrats’ leftmost extreme — the part that the party leadership is most worried about — is more appealing than the heart of the GOP.
These numbers should be sobering for centrist Democratic leaders who treat democratic socialism as an albatross. First of all, the overwhelming majority of Democratic candidates up for election in November will not run on socialist platforms, and most voters will understand that. Moderate Democrats in the Rust Belt aren’t going to be running on Medicare for All or an aggressive billionaire wealth tax, and their more restrained calls for change are often legible to midterms voters. But to the extent that in some races Republicans will try to suggest that even moderate Democratic candidates could be a stalking horse for creeping socialism, the association isn’t necessarily lethal, and in some cases will excite some segment of the Democratic electorate.
Trump (wrongly) claims democratic socialists are no different than 20th century communists and treats them as an obvious liability for the Democrats, but some Republicans are not so convinced that leftists are necessarily an easy target — and believe they could even be a political danger to MAGA. Meghan McCain, the conservative daughter of the late Republican Sen. John McCain, wrote on X on Monday that she sees New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, as a true threat to the right after viewing his recent interview with The New York Times.
“What he is saying is absolutely brilliant in his attacks against the right,” McCain wrote. “The tone of what he is saying is brilliant. It is part folksy everyman, Republicans have abandoned the working class and are a bunch of elites, without being harsh or conspiratorial.”
She added, “Despite my abject fear and repulsion of socialism, it is really impactful. If Democrats are smart they will nominate someone with his tenor and tone on economics and national policy.”
McCain’s concern brings in another element of the dynamics on the left that the poll doesn’t measure. Even if many Americans have no inclination to say they currently actively desire the U.S. to be more socialist, that doesn’t mean that socialists won’t be able to leverage a uniquely trenchant critique of the right. There is plenty of space for persuasion as the center of American politics is getting chipped away at from all sides. Democrats need to spend less time punching left and think more about why leftists are stacking wins.
Zeeshan Aleem is a writer and editor for MS NOW. He primarily writes about politics and foreign policy.
President Donald Trump knows that if Democrats manage to win back control of the House in November, his third impeachment likely will not be far behind. And yet, despite racking up a laundry list of potentially impeachable offenses primed for investigation, the president might not be the most vulnerable person in his administration. Democrats would be wise instead to set their sights not on the White House itself, but next door in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where Russell Vought has spent the last year and a half willfully breaking the law.
As head of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Vought has a hand in how practically every tiny bud on the executive branch operates. With the possible exception of deputy chief of staff Stephen MillerVought arguably has the firmest grip on the levers of power in Washington. While Trump’s focus is trained on a handful of obsessions, Vought has the knowledge and skill set to turn his Christian nationalist ideology into policy — and transform those policies into reality.
As head of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Vought has a hand in how practically every tiny bud on the executive branch operates
For years, Vought has advocated for massive, draconian cuts to federal spending, during both his previous stint atop the OMB in the waning days of the first Trump administration and as part of a pro-MAGA think tank in the interregnum period. The OMB acted as overseer for the Department of Government Efficiency project last yearproviding an aegis for the quasilegal agency to initiate mass firings and unilateral spending cuts. While that effort failed to deliver on its promised savingsit gave Vought the ability to stress test his vision for a reduced role for Congress over spending.
Constitutionally, it’s Congress that controls the power of the purse. The president is required to submit a budget request to lawmakers each year, but he and all the executive departments and agencies under him rely on congressional appropriations to fund their activities. While Republicans control both the House and Senate, lawmakers yet again rejected the suggested cuts in Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget in favor of their own preferred spending levels.
Vought claims though that the figures in appropriations laws are a ceiling for how much can be spent, not an order of what must be spent. Accordingly, Trump’s OMB director has insisted that the president is allowed to hold back, or “impound,” funds that he doesn’t want to spend despite the 1974 Impoundment Control Act and Supreme Court precedent saying otherwise.
After one successful effort to get Congress to legally rescind unspent funds last year, Vought shifted tactics, using another tool at his disposal to make whatever spending reductions he sees fit. Once Congress has appropriated funds, it then falls to the OMB to apportion that money to agencies, telling them when to spend it and under what circumstances. According to a tracker from Protect Democracya nonprofit group dedicated to anti-authoritarianism, Vought has used the “apportionment” process to hold up millions of dollars in funds that Congress has allocated.
A recent opinion essay published in The Hill from Cerin Lindgrensavage, a counsel with Project Democracy, and David A. Super, a law professor at Georgetown Law, detailed some of these budget cuts via apportionment, why they are illegal, and the overreach they represent:
Trump proposed cutting funds for the Smithsonian by more than $60 million. Congress rejected that cut and increased Smithsonian funding to account for inflation. Vought’s office then unlawfully forbade the Smithsonian from spending any money Congress appropriated beyond the president’s budget request…
Congress has made clear that this is not allowed. For more than a decade, annual appropriations bills have required, government-wide, that no funds “may be used to increase, eliminate, or reduce funding for a program, project, or activity as proposed in the President’s budget request for a fiscal year until such proposed change is subsequently enacted in an appropriation act,” unless the administration follows congressional procedures to reprogram appropriated funds.
The two also argued that in withholding those funds, Vought and Trump have violated not just the Impoundment Control Act, which has no legal penalties, but also the Anti-Deficiency Actwhich does: “When a president delays, withholds or impounds funds to impose a cut proposed rejected by Congress, he is blatantly disregarding the appropriations laws: the funds appropriated for the salary of the Office of Management and Budget officials imposing those cuts is being spent in direct violation of that legal prohibition.”
Lindgrensavage and Super go on to suggest that a potential referral to the Justice Department for violating the ADA could be on the table for Vought.
But impeachment is a tool readily available for Congress. It is well within the legislative branch’s ability to bring articles of impeachment against Vought as, unlike Miller, he holds a Senate-confirmed position and clearly counts as among the “civil Officers of the United States” who shall be removed from office for “high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
It is precisely because Vought is not Trump that a winning case can more easily be made against him.
The Government Accountability Office has already found multiple instances where OMB has clearly violated the law. But impeachment is a political process, one where the same standard doesn’t apply as in the courts. Even if Democrats manage to reclaim the Senate as well as the House, it will be difficult to reach the two-thirds vote needed to remove Vought from office, as many Republicans will likely be hesitant about removing a key member of Trump’s Cabinet.
And yet it is precisely because Vought is not Trump that a winning case can more easily be made against him. While the president has a power base of his own among lawmakers to protect him, Vought has repeatedly shown nothing but contempt for Congress’ role in governing. When sitting in hearings, he’s been savvy enough to be evasive under questioning while never acknowledging that he lacks the authority to override legislators’ orders with his own. Even the most zealot deficit hawks would be forced to defend giving away their own power to someone that has never received a single vote in their life.
It would be fully in keeping with the founders’ vision for the balance of powers that lawmakers jealously protect their prerogatives. Absent his willingness to accept congressional supremacy on this front, Vought could — and should — serve as an example for what happens to bureaucrats who try to place themselves above elected lawmakers.
Hayes Brown is a writer and editor for MS NOW. He focuses on policymaking at the federal level, including Congress and the White House.
The Dictatorship
‘I’m worried about the work of this agency’: Another Democrat commissioner expects to be fired by Trump
In the hours following the landmark Supreme Court decision that gave the president the power to fire independent agency heads, the woman who brought the action to the high court — former Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter — told MS NOW the U.S. had crossed a dangerous line.
“These government agencies that Congress set up to be economic watchdogs will turn into lap dogs,” she said.
And as that transition now unfolds, leaders at other independent agencies are on edge, waiting to see if and when their pink slips will come from the office of the president.
One sitting Democratic commissioner spoke exclusively to MS NOW as they prepare for what they say feels like an inevitable end to their tenure at one of these independent agencies. This person spoke openly yet anonymously to MS NOW, fearing that being identified would only hasten their firing — and noting that they still have work at that agency they would like to see through.
“I’m not worried about me or whether I have a job,” they said. “I’m worried about the work of this agency and other agencies.”
The Slaughter ruling has made this person more reticent. “We obviously have to think every time we’re about to make a public statement,” the commissioner said. “I have to weigh every time whether speaking out is worth getting fired by the president.”
Morale at this independent agency — which MS NOW is not naming as it could identify this commissioner — has dropped since Trump returned to office and fired commissioners at this agency and others, according to the person. They said career staff believe the agency has been politically weaponized by the administration and that it is “walking away from its mission.”
The Supreme Court gave President Donald Trump the green light to fire these leaders last month, when it expanded Trump’s executive authority over around two dozen independent agencies. In a 6-3 ruling that ran along ideological lines, the court found Trump’s firing of Slaughter without cause was lawful. In doing so, the Court overturned not only statutory protections set by Congress but also its own 91-year-old precedent that prevented members of independent agencies from being fired by the president at will.
The independent federal agency model was created by Congress in 1887 and has grown to add offices that protect workers and consumers, ensure the economy remains competitive and assist states with the administration of elections, among other missions. They are overseen by bipartisan boards of commissioners who are appointed by the president and it is not uncommon for commissioners to serve under presidents of both parties. The agencies have long touted that the work done there supersedes alliances to a particular party.
The commissioner who spoke with MS NOW says the Slaughter decision undermined the independent and bipartisan nature of the agencies — and with that, undermined their work.
“It makes these agencies arms of the president to go after the president’s enemies and to prioritize certain groups over other groups,” the commissioner said. “That’s obviously not what Congress intended and not in the spirit of this country.”
Trump has already exercised this power to fundamentally shape the agencies. About a week after the court ruled, Trump fired the two Democratic commissioners on the Election Assistance Commission, a bipartisan agency that supports elections officials. A Republican also resigned, leaving the agency with no remaining commissioners, just 100 days ahead of the midterm elections.
A different, former independent agency commissioner, who served during Trump’s second term, agrees with his actions. In their view, the firings are justified and well within presidential power. “There [are] three branches of government and there’s only one executive branch,” this commissioner told MS NOW. “There’s not an executive branch plus.”
But, this former commissioner concedes that the process of getting rid of the leaders is not perfect, noting that they watched the president fire their colleagues. “On a personal level, it was very difficult,” this person said. “It was stressful.”
Constitutionally, the agencies in question belong to the executive branch. The president has always appointed individuals to lead them, but until now he could only fire them under limited circumstances. Congress included a statutory protection, only allowing the president to fire agency leaders for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”
Many of these agencies are not fully staffed following Trump’s firings. And many who remain are aligned with his vision and are actively promoting his policies. In fundamentally reshaping these agencies — and due to the nature of their missions — Trump’s decisions about who leads them have the power to directly affect the lives of millions of Americans.
The Federal Trade Commission only has two Republicans serving on what is supposed to be a five-person bipartisan commission after Trump fired Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya in March 2025. Another commissioner resigned to become the U.S. attorney in Utah.
Under this leadership structure, the FTC has targeted diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as “anti-competitive collusion.” Earlier this year, the FTC began investigating Diversity Lab LLC. The DEI-focused company created a program that used data analysis to promote inclusive hiring at law firms across the country. The FTC’s investigation forced the company to cease operations. In a statementDiversity Lab’s founder wrote, “We’re closing not because we broke the law, but because we ran out of options and funds to defend ourselves against the FTC’s false accusations.”
The FTC chair applauded the closure.
“Colluding with your competitors to set race-based quotas for hiring is not only immoral, but it also may violate antitrust laws,” Andrew Ferguson said in a statement. “The FTC will not tolerate agreements rigging the labor markets.”
Trump has not fired anyone at the FTC. That decision is likely driven by the FCC’s statutory requirement to maintain a quorum, meaning the agency needs at least three of its five commissioners to conduct business.
Trump fired two Democratic commissioners from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in January 2025. The agency now has three members: two Republicans and one Democrat. The agency, which was designed to enforce laws that make discrimination illegal in the workplace, has been aggressively targeting DEI initiatives.
EEOC Chair Andrea Lucas, who was appointed by Trump, issued an open request for white men to file discrimination claims. In a video posted on X in December, Lucas said, “The EEOC is committed to identifying, attacking and eliminating all forms of race and sex discrimination — including against all white male employees and applicants.” Trump has repeatedly opposed DEI initiatives and has pushed a theory of “reverse discrimination” against white people.
At the same time, the EEOC has removed itself from several lawsuits the agency filed challenging discrimination in the workplace at Trump’s direction. In early 2025, the EEOC moved to dismiss some cases challenging alleged gender discrimination, citing Trump’s day-one executive order that blocks the federal government from recognizing nonbinary gender identities. In a court filingthe EEOC wrote, “The EEOC’s continued litigation of the claims in this action may be inconsistent with the Order and the OPM Guidance.”
The FCC currently has three members: two Republicans and a Democrat. The agency is chaired by Brendan Carr, a Trump loyalist who has targeted media organizations that are often critical of the president.
Last Fall, Carr called on individual, licensed local ABC stations to remove Jimmy Kimmel from the air after a monologue the late-night host delivered about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Carr suggested to the stations that the FCC could investigate them if they continued to broadcast the program. ABC briefly suspended Kimmel’s show following Carr’s comments. Ironically, Justice Neil Gorsuch referenced this incident as an example of agency overreach in his concurring opinion in the Slaughter case.
This spring, Carr threatened broadcasters’ licenses over negative coverage of the war in Iran, which was initiated by Trump. “Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions — also known as the fake news — have a chance now to course correct before their license renewals come up,” he wrote in a post on X.
Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the commission, spoke out against Carr’s attack on the media. “This FCC has attacked the media as part of a years-long campaign by this Administration and its allies to discredit factual, independent coverage while blaming the press for growing public distrust,” she wrote in a statement. “Meanwhile, it’s the FCC’s own credibility and public trust that are rapidly eroding.”
The sitting Democratic commissioner has similar concerns about their agency’s credibility. “When the agency is weaponized, that means the agency is no longer enforcing the law in the way that it’s supposed to do, and that’s a disservice to the public,” they said.
Independent federal agencies
Nearly every independent agency whose leaders were protected from at-will removal is affected by the Supreme Court’s ruling. Some of those include:
- Federal Trade Commission: enforces antitrust laws and reviews mergers
- Federal Communications Commission: regulates radio, television, broadband and telecommunications
- Securities and Exchange Commission: regulates securities markets, public companies and investment advisers
- National Labor Relations Board: protects private sector workers’ right to organize and resolves labor disputes
- Consumer Product Safety Commission: protects consumers from dangerous products
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: enforces laws that prohibit workplace discrimination
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: regulates interstate electricity, natural gas pipelines and hydropower licensing
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission: licenses and regulates commercial nuclear reactors and other nuclear materials
- National Transportation Safety Board: investigates transportation accidents and issues safety recommendations
- Election Assistance Commission: assists states with election administration
- Merit Systems Protection Board: hears appeals from federal employees and protects merit-based civil service
- Federal Labor Relations Authority: protects federal workers’ right to organize and resolves labor disputes
- National Mediation Board: governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries
- Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission: interprets the Occupational Safety and Health Act in contested enforcement cases
- Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission: interprets the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act
Fallon Gallagher is a legal affairs reporter for MS NOW.
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