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Not So Fast
03.25.26 | 11:20 am

Following up on the question we posed yesterday — will right-wingers actually buy an attempt to “pass” “the SAVE America Act” through budget reconciliation? — we are beginning to have some indications that, no, they will not.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has been on a tweeting spree, campaigning against the idea by, for example, comparing the voter suppression legislation to a fine cut of beef, urging his colleagues not to “settle for cheap imitations” of the sort necessitated by budget reconciliation. It is perhaps an imperfect metaphor.

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Minnesota Sues Feds for Evidence in Operation Metro Surge Shootings
INSIDE: Renee Good ... Alex Pretti ... Pete Hegseth
03.25.26 | 9:47 am
Trump Votes by Mail But He Doesn’t Want You to Be Able To
This is your TPM evening briefing.
03.24.26 | 6:15 pm
Iran Has Trump Over a (Oil) Barrel. Sad. Prime Badge
03.24.26 | 3:33 pm

This post follows up on the previous two posts about President Trump’s weak hand in trying to end his Iran War with something short of a humiliating climb-down from his demands for “regime change” and “unconditional surrender.” Trump’s claim yesterday of “very, very strong talks” with Tehran turn out, predictably, to be third-party talks aimed at coaxing Tehran into talking at all. As Reuters reports in this new (paywalled) story, Iran is actually dramatically upping its demands since the start of the war. Those include guarantees of no future attacks, reparations for war damage and formal control of the Strait of Hormuz.

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Pam Bondi Finally Relents in US Attorney Fiasco
INSIDE: Alina Habba ... Stephanie Gallagher ... Margaret Ryan
03.24.26 | 10:30 am
Are Republicans Trying to Hoodwink Trump on the SAVE Act?
03.24.26 | 10:06 am

Emine Yücel has a report up this morning on a new “deal” being kicked around the Senate that would attempt to fix the airport situation. This proposal would fund most of DHS — including the TSA — without funding ICE enforcement operations.

Republicans would then seek to fund those operations later this year, in a reconciliation bill, which, under Senate rules, can pass with only 51 votes. That means Republicans won’t need Democrats to get it through.

The deal is similar to how one might have predicted this would end for weeks. But it includes one weird, emerging point: Republicans might also try to pass the SAVE America Act through reconciliation.

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Trump Takes the TSA Hostage in Gambit to Pass the SAVE Act
This is your TPM evening briefing.
03.23.26 | 5:40 pm