Hello readers and welcome back to On Politics. Zach Schermele here, USA TODAY's congressional reporter. It's Wednesday, and Congress has been even more dysfunctional than usual.
|
Farm bill delayed amid GOP infighting
|
Speaker Mike Johnson started this week hoping to pass a farm bill, renew a key spying program and end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown in a matter of days. It's been anything but easy. GOP infighting prompted him and other members of the House Republican leadership team to scramble on the floor today, strong-arming lawmakers into moving the legislation forward. This afternoon, consideration of the farm bill was ultimately delayed, frustrating rural-state Republicans. Yet the rest of the legislative priorities inched forward, in a partial win for the speaker. "Mike's having a tough time," said Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana. "He's good, but he can't work miracles."
|
House Speaker Mike Johnson arrives for Britain's King Charles III speech to a joint meeting of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol on April 28, 2026.
KYLIE COOPER, POOL/AFP via Getty Images
|
Supreme Court sides against Black voters
|
The Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out a congressional map in Louisiana that had been drawn to protect the voting power of Black residents, a decision that limits a landmark civil rights law. An ideologically divided court sided 6-3 with the Trump administration and with the non-Black voters who challenged the map as relying too heavily on race to sort voters – and it did so just three years after upholding the 1965 Voting Rights Act’s vote dilution protections for racial minorities. Writing for the conservative majority, Justice Samuel Alito called the map an "unconstitutional gerrymander" that violates the constitutional rights of the non-Black voters who challenged it.
|
Read more here from USA TODAY's Bart Jansen about how some experts say it might not affect the midterm elections as much as you'd think.
|
An up-close look at the king's speech
|
I was inside the House chamber yesterday for King Charles III's rare visit to Congress. It was only the second time in American history that a British monarch had given such a speech (the first was his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1991). The mood inside the room was quite jovial, and his many jokes landed well with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
|
Attendees stand and applaud as Britain's King Charles III, flanked by Queen Camilla, House Speaker Mike Johnson and US Vice President JD Vance, addresses a Joint Meeting of Congress in the House Chamber at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on April 28, 2026.
SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
|
The moment that struck me most? Democrats were quick to their feet, hooting and hollering, when he said that one of the foundations of American democracy is "the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances." Republicans clapped and gave a standing ovation, too. But the GOP response to that idea was far more tepid. After that, there were obvious murmurs of agreement from Democrats when the king wrapped up his speech with the line: "America’s words carry weight and meaning."
|
|
Trump has been hinting at military action in Cuba, prompting anxiety among Democrats, who tried to block him with a war powers vote.
|
|
Supreme Court overturning Louisiana's congressional map shouldn't mean redrawing maps in other states this year because primaries have already passed.
|
|
|
|
President Donald Trump lost another appeal in his ongoing battle against paying New York writer E. Jean Carroll an $83.3 million defamation judgment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sign up for the news you want
|
Exclusive newsletters are part of your subscription, don’t miss out! We’re always working to add benefits for subscribers like you.
|
|
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment