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By Mary Ellen McIntire and Daniela Altimari

Republican leaders have landed on a plan to end the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, but implementing it would likely involve passing a reconciliation bill to fund two immigration agencies in the coming weeks.

As GOP lawmakers showed last year, passing a reconciliation bill, which almost always occurs along party lines, is difficult. Doing so months before the midterm elections will further test them, just as the party hopes to bounce back from new polls showing most voters disapprove of the war with Iran and more blame Republicans for the DHS funding impasse. 

A CNN poll released Wednesday found approval of Donald Trump’s handling of the economy falling to 31 percent, a new low for the president. And 63 percent of respondents said higher gas prices had led to some financial hardship in their household in the wake of the Iran war.

Republicans remain hopeful that they can buck historical trends and keep control of Congress in this fall’s elections, though polling suggests that could be an uphill climb.

While Republicans — including Trump in his prime-time address Wednesday — have sought to emphasize the anticipated short-term nature of the Iran war, Democrats are seeking to tie GOP candidates to the conflict. 

VoteVets Action Fund announced a $250,000 ad campaign targeting Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden and urging him to oppose a supplemental funding package for the war. The group said it expects to roll out additional ads targeting other Republican veterans in Congress. 

Starting gate

Back on the trail: Former South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford is seeking a comeback, joining the crowded Republican field for the open Charleston-area seat he held for five full terms. The former Palmetto State governor gained national notoriety in 2009 following revelations that he had traveled to Argentina to meet a woman he’d been having an affair with after his office initially said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Graves retires: Rep. Sam Graves, the Missouri Republican who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is joining a growing list of lawmakers deciding not to seek reelection this year.

Spending panel shuffle: The powerful House Appropriations Committee is set for a major shake-up next year, with nearly a third of the panel’s Republican members either retiring, running for Senate or locked in tough reelection fights, our colleague Aidan Quigley reported.   

White House written record: The transcripts of Trump’s prime-time address on the Iran war can be found on Roll Call’s Factba.se, where you can also access transcripts of the president’s other public speaking appearances, as well as his social media posts, daily calendar, official White House press releases and more.

ICYMI

Off the map: A panel of judges in Wisconsin dismissed a lawsuit brought by Democratic voters seeking to redraw the state’s congressional map ahead of the November elections, saying the state Supreme Court should have say over the current district lines. It’s unclear whether the state Supreme Court, where liberals hold a majority, could rule in time to affect this year’s elections. 

Republican endorsements: The conservative Club for Growth PAC is backing insurance broker Jim Kingston in the Republican primary to succeed GOP Senate hopeful Earl L. “Buddy” Carter in Georgia’s 1st District. The PAC is also backing Republican state Sen. Rick Brattin in the race for Missouri’s Democrat-held 5th District, which state Republicans redrew last year to be safely red. A judge ruled last week that Missouri’s new congressional map is currently in effect, though the decision is expected to be appealed. In Nevada’s open 2nd District, Republican former state Sen. James Settelmeyer has picked up the support of Gov. Joe Lombardo and Rep. Mark Amodei, who is retiring from the seat.

Democratic endorsements: The progressive group Justice Democrats is backing Saikat Chakrabarti, former chief of staff to New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in the Democratic primary for former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco-anchored seat. The Bench, which backs what it describes as the “next generation” of Democratic leaders, is endorsing Bexar County Sheriff’s deputy Johnny Garcia in the May primary runoff for Texas’ redrawn 35th District. Garcia also picked up the support of BOLD PAC, the campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The group also rolled out endorsements of two other Texas Democrats: Tejano singer Bobby Pulido in the 15th District and former teacher Katy Padilla Stout in the 23rd.

#FL16: Former congressional staffer Sydney Gruters, the wife of RNC Chairman Joe Gruters, has launched a campaign to succeed her onetime boss, retiring GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan, in Florida’s 16th District. Gruters already had Trump’s backing in the race for the Tampa Bay area seat. 

Dropping out: Former congressional staffer James Leuschen has given up his bid for the Democratic nomination in Nebraska’s open 2nd District. Another Democrat, former White House trade official Dylan Hewitt, is ending his campaign for New York’s 21st District, citing fundraising challenges.

Lawsuit: Several Democratic campaign committees and party leaders filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s recent executive order that seeks to limit mail-in voting, arguing that the president lacks the authority to do so.

What we’re reading

Papa-paparazzi: NOTUS reports on how tabloid outlet TMZ has been following members of Congress around amid the partial government shutdown and finding some of them in politically embarrassing places, including a Las Vegas casino and Disney World. 

#MNSEN: Axios Twin Cities looks at how the response to federal immigration officials’ presence in Minneapolis has shaped the state’s Democratic primary for Senate between Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who seems to have the edge among delegates who will decide the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s endorsement next month.

Tax the rich: The New Republic looks at the growing movement in several blue states — and among Democrats in Congress — to support policies that would raise taxes on the wealthy.

Art for politics’ sake: There’s a “propaganda war” unfolding on the National Mall, according to NPR News. The Trump administration has placed signs and banners promoting the president on several federal buildings, while an anonymous group called the Secret Handshake has dotted the mall with satirical statues.

The count: 87 percent

That’s the share of the 1.2 million individual itemized contributions to Democratic congressional candidates in the 2026 cycle that came by way of digital fundraising platform ActBlue last year. Those contributions added up to $263.6 million, or two-thirds of the total raised collectively. 

The remaining approximately 159,000 itemized individual contributions came via old-fashioned checks and totaled $133.3 million.

ActBlue, which has processed nearly $19 billion in contributions to the Democratic Party and its candidates since its founding in 2004, is currently the subject of investigations by the Justice Department and congressional Republicans. The New York Times has more on the intense scrutiny the fundraising powerhouse faces.  

— By Roll Call’s Ryan Kelly

Key race: #PA03

Candidates: At least five Democrats are vying to succeed retiring Rep. Dwight Evans in a deep-blue district that includes much of Philadelphia. The top three contenders are state Rep. Chris Rabb, state Sen. Sharif Street and pediatric surgeon Ala Stanford. Other candidates include software engineer Cole Carter and attorney Shaun Griffith. No Republicans are running for the seat. 

Why it matters: The Democratic primary in the 3rd District will determine the next member of Congress for one of the most Democratic-leaning seats in the country. 

Cash dash: Street led the fundraising race at the end of 2025, having raised $701,000, with $527,00 on hand. Stanford had raised $467,000, including a $250,000 loan, and had $392,000 on hand, while Rabb had raised $384,000 and had $99,000 on hand at the end of December. Candidates must file by April 15 their fundraising reports for the quarter that closed Tuesday. Spending by outside groups hasn’t picked up ahead of the May 19 primary, except for the 314 Action Fund, a group that supports candidates with science backgrounds, which has poured $2 million into ads and direct mail supporting Stanford. 

Backers: Evans, who has represented the 3rd District since 2016, is backing Stanford, who also has the endorsement of former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and physician Dave Oxman, a former candidate for the seat. Meanwhile, Rabb has drawn support from the party’s progressive wing, including an endorsement earlier this week from Pennsylvania Rep. Summer Lee, as well as the Working Families Party and Justice Democrats. And Street, whose father is former Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street, is backed by the Philadelphia Democratic Party and several unions, as well as former Gov. Ed Rendell. 

What they’re saying: Stanford, a medical doctor who rose to prominence as the founder of the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, has focused her campaign on health care. Rabb is supporting a progressive agenda, including proposals such as “Medicare for All” and national grocery stores. Street has highlighted his work in the state legislature on issues such as health care and a criminal justice overhaul. Through a “red box” on his campaign website, Street’s campaign is urging supporters to make sure that voters know the state legislator “is the fighter who gets progressive things done and doesn’t just talk, he takes action.”

Terrain: The 3rd District includes parts of Philadelphia’s West, Northwest and Center City. Kamala Harris carried the district by 77 points in 2024, according to calculations by The Downballot, as Evans was winning a fifth full term unopposed. Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race Solid Democratic. 

Wild card: If elected, Street would be the first Muslim elected to Congress from Pennsylvania.

Coming up

Voters in Georgia’s 14th District will pick a successor to former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Tuesday’s special election runoff between Republican Clayton Fuller and Democrat Shawn Harris.

Photo finish

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