Happy Friday. And Happy TTPD Day for all those who celebrate!! If you haven’t listened to Taylor Swift’s new album yet, you can listen to it here. Here’s what else is happening today:
- Jury selection continues today in former President Trump’s trial. Five alternate jurors left to pick!
- Trump vented his frustrations this morning about the gag order.
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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) may actually pull it off?! Lawmakers are close to passing aid to Ukraine and Israel.
- A circus elephant escaped and went for a stroll in Montana. The video is incredible.
I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@thehill.com. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: I’m taking a few days off next week. The Hill’s Lauren Sforza and Julia Mueller will be authoring the 12:30 Report while I’m out. You’re in good hands!
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After a fierce — and I mean FIERCE — battle within his own caucus, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) may have a path to successfully passing a foreign aid package. The House just advanced legislation to send aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan — as well as other national security priorities, such as banning TikTok. The strategy requires Johnson to heavily lean on Democrats to help it through the finish line.
Dems have already helped: Last night, the House Rules Committee advanced the foreign aid bills, but only with help from Democrats. The Hill’s Mychael Schnell pointed out just how rare this move was.
The plan: “For now, the plan is to have the House vote on the legislation Saturday. The Senate is then likely to create one piece of legislation out of the aid-related bills that are expected to pass out of the House. Then, the overall package would go to Biden for his signature.”
Read Niall Stanage’s column: ‘Johnson set for a tough victory’
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➤ ANOTHER REPUBLICAN GAVE ‘THE NOD’:
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A third House Republican wants to oust Mike Johnson as House Speaker. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) just announced that he will cosponsor Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) resolution to remove Johnson.
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➤ WILL JOHNSON RAISE THE BAR TO OUST HIM?:
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No, Johnson announced Thursday that he *won’t* raise the threshold to force a vote to boot the Speaker. That means that any one House member can force the vote. (The Hill)
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The House Freedom Caucus is launching a “Flood Action Response Team” to take shifts on the House floor to watch for “unsavory” resolutions, reports Politico’s Olivia Beavers. Yes, that is “FART” for short. As you can imagine, X users have had a lot of fun with this acronym.
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➤ TRIAL UPDATES AND TIDBITS:
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Trump vented a bit this morning: When entering the courthouse this morning, Trump vented frustrations over the gag order. “The gag order has to come off. People are allowed to speak about me, and I have a gag order,” Trump told reporter. “They’ve taken away my constitutional rights to speak, and that includes speaking to you. I have a lot to say to you. And I’m not allowed to say it and I’m the only one.”
How Trump has spent his morning: The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld noticed: “Trump has been working on writing something for about 15 minutes. It’s unclear what it is, though he was handed a stack of papers when he entered the courtroom. Trump has occasionally looked over to prospective jurors as they answer the questionnaires, and Trump attorney Todd Blanche has also passed his client a few notes. Earlier, Trump closed his eyes for a few minutes at a time, his head occasionally drooping. He also put something in his mouth and began chewing it, perhaps gum.”
The judge effectively put a gag order on the press: The judge directed journalists covering the trial not to publish the prospective jurors’ employers or physical characteristics. This was in response to a juror being excused for fears of being publicly identified. (The Hill)
Can you imagine this being your first jury duty summons?: MSNBC’s Yasmin Vossoughian spoke with a dismissed potential juror, who said she recently became an American citizen. She said Trump “looked less orange” in person. Lol. 📽️ Watch her describe jury duty
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‘Trump spent the day listening to strangers insult him. And he couldn’t say a single thing back.’: Politico
‘Twisted truths and a fundraising boost: How Trump tried to control his first week in court’: NBC News
‘Trump on Trial vs. Biden on the Trail: An Unusual 2024 Stretch Begins’: Analysis in The New York Times
‘How Donald Trump’s hush money trial team is using social media to weed out New York jurors’: USA Today
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The U.S.’s warrantless surveillance program (called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or FISA) expires at midnight, unless senators can pass a bill to reup it.
Where the FISA bill stands: The House has already passed the bill. A group of Republican and Democratic senators are holding it up, demanding dramatic changes.
What happens if the deadline passes?: Intelligence and law enforcement agencies will lose the powerful ability to surveil.
^ Yes, but: The New York Times pointed out that “the Friday deadline is soft: The program can continue operating until April 2025 because the FISA court granted a government request authorizing it for another year. Under the law, surveillance activity can continue so long as there are active court orders allowing it, even if the underlying statute expires. Even so, the intelligence community has urged Congress to reauthorize the program before it enters that sort of legal limbo.”
Some of the senators who oppose the bill: Republican Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.), Mike Lee (Utah) and Josh Hawley (Mo.). Plus: Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Dick Durbin (Ill.)
Why this could take a while: “The Senate voted 67-37 to advance the House-passed FISA reauthorization bill Thursday, but senators still need to take at least two more procedural votes just to set up a vote on final passage, something that could take days unless all 100 senators agree to speed up the process.” (The Hill)
Read more from The Hill’s Alexander Bolton: ‘Schumer has only hours left to avoid FISA warrantless surveillance shutdown’
The worry about letting it lapse: “Republican senators are warning that the nation’s spy program is about to go ‘dark’ and that much of the intelligence that goes into President Biden’s daily briefing could be lost, putting the nation at risk for surprise attacks.” (The Hill)
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FISA sets the rules for U.S. surveillance and searches.
The controversial part: “The FISA debate on Capitol Hill largely centers around Section 702, which allows the U.S. government to collect electronic communications of non-Americans located outside the country without a warrant. But it sometimes results in the collection of data on Americans who are in contact with those surveilled individuals, making it controversial.” (ABC News)
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🧄 Celebrate: Today is National Garlic Day!
🐘 Sometimes, the news just really delivers: An escaped circus elephant ran loose through Butte, Mont., stopping traffic. 📽️ The video is incredible
🍗 A lil’ Shake Shack & Chick-fil-A drama: Shake Shack is offering free chicken sandwiches every Sunday with a $10 purchase. The announcement appears to throw some shade at competitor Chick-fil-A for not being open on Sundays. “Here at Shake Shack, we pride ourselves on our Chicken Shack which is available 7 days a week,” the company wrote on its website. Details
^Do you think the cows are behind this? 🤔
🔎 Shoutout to the costume and makeup departments!: A little girl couldn’t find her mother and mistook a “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” actress for a real police officer. Mariska Hargitay, who plays Olivia Benson on the show, paused filming and helped the lost girl find her mom. 📽️ Watch the clip
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The House and Senate are in. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C. (all times Eastern)
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- Noon: Biden speaks at the IBEW Construction and Maintenance Conference. 💻 Livestream
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1:30 p.m.: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre briefs reporters. 💻 Livestream
- 5:10 p.m.: Biden leaves for Wilmington, Del.
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