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12:30 REPORT
Happy Tuesday. There’s a lot happening in politics today but let’s start with the best news of the day. It’s Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s! OK, and now onto the news:
- Jury selection continues today in former President Trump’s first criminal trial. Oh, and he may have dozed off during Monday’s trial proceedings…
- A second House Republican wants to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
- House Republicans are delivering the impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate today.
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.
💰 Trump’s Criminal Trial
Sleepy Joe, meet Snoozin’ Don:
It’s Day 2 of former President Trump’s criminal trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments to an adult film star in 2016.
What’s happening today?: Jury selection continues. This could take days.
Because there’s no camera in the room: Follow The Hill’s live blog to see live updates and highlights from today’s trial.
➤ TUESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
Trump started his day with a 1-star review: Trump took to social media to slam Judge Juan Merchan (not by name!) for the gag order restricting what Trump can say about witnesses. “This conflicted, Trump Hating Judge won’t let me respond to people that are on TV lying and spewing hate all day long,” Trump posted on Truth Social. Read Trump’s full post
Would you qualify as a juror? Jurors are taking a 42-question survey to determine if they are eligible to serve on the jury. Read the juror questionnaire (H/t to The Hill’s Zach Schonfeld)
➤ MONDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:
The biggest takeaway from Day 1: Jury selection will be difficult. Roughly half of the 96 potential jurors were dismissed Monday because they said they could not be impartial. Everyone in the world already has an opinion of Trump, so it makes sense that it will be hard. A dozen jurors and six alternates are needed.
The buzziest headline from Day 1: The New York Times’s Maggie Haberman noticed that Trump may have fallen asleep during Monday’s proceedings. “His head keeps dropping down and his mouth goes slack,” Haberman posted. She then said he “jolted back awake.” Read her observations
^Omg, I wish I could have seen this: The pool reporter noticed that when Trump exited, he glared at Haberman after she reported that he dozed off. Haberman noticed it, too, and described it on CNN as “a pretty specific stare” at her. 👀
Maybe he needs to up his Diet Coke intake from 12 to 13…
The biggest news from Day 1: The judge rejected Trump’s request to attend the Supreme Court’s oral arguments on his presidential immunity case on April 25.
Check out the courtroom sketches: Here’s one. And here’s another.
Tidbit — Speaking of it being hard to find impartial jurors: The Associated Press described a few of the potential jurors. (H/t to The Hill’s Niall Stanage)
The first: “[A] married Upper West Side resident with a master’s degree who has worked for the New York City government for 20 years, enjoys cooking and the arts, and gets news from The New York Times, CNN and Google.”
The second: “[A] married West Harlem resident who works in sales, has some college education, enjoys the outdoors, and has a news diet that includes The New York Times, Daily Mail, Fox News and some MSNBC.”
Read more from Day 1: ‘5 takeaways from the first day of Trump’s criminal trial’
➤ INTERESTING READS:
- ‘The reality of being a criminal defendant on trial finally dawned on Trump. He didn’t take it well.’: Politico
- ‘Melania Trump Avoids the Courtroom, but Is Said to Share Her Husband’s Anger’: The New York Times
- ‘Late Night Savors Day One of the Trump Trial’: Watch the late night segments, via The New York Times
- ‘Judge bench-slaps Trump lawyer 5 times on day one of hush-money trial’: Business Insider
🤺 In Congress
Maybe you shouldn’t order more business cards just yet. That’s all I’m saying…:
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) filed a motion to vacate Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) last month but has left that motion on the back burner.
Well, another Republican now wants to oust Johnson. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) announced this morning he will co-sponsor Greene’s resolution. Read Massie’s X post about Johnson
How Johnson took the news: He called the growing effort to fire him “absurd” and “not helpful.”
Think of this plan as the à la carte menu instead of the prefixed:
After months of thorny debates, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has a new plan for passing foreign aid package through the House: Split them up into four separate bills and vote on all of them this week. Then, lawmakers can choose which countries they want to support.
The four bills:
- Ukraine aid
- Israel aid
- Taiwan aid
- Other national security priorities (like seizing Russian assets to pay for Ukraine aid and maybe a TikTok ban)
Conservatives have had mixed reactions: Remember how some conservatives demanded that any Ukraine aid be paired with U.S.-Mexico border reforms? Well, immigration policies are not included in this plan. But some Republicans like that Johnson split up the countries into several bills.
Timing (though the plans are very much in flux): Johnson said the text of the bills will be released today to give lawmakers 72 hours to read the bills. The House would then vote on Friday.
Read more from The Hill’s Mychael Schnell and Mike Lillis: ‘Speaker Johnson unveils plan for Ukraine, Israel at closed-door GOP meeting’
🐝 Internet Buzz
🍳 Celebrate: Today is National Eggs Benny Day!
🐕 What an amazing idea!: Some high school athletes are running with shelter dogs for some extra motivation, reports The Washington Post.
💌 This sounds messy: The New York Times Magazine published an article on “how 20 polyamorous people navigate their intertwined relationships.”
🗓 On The Agenda
The House and Senate are in. President Biden is in Scranton, Pa. Vice President Harris in in Los Angeles, where she will attend a closed press campaign event. (all times Eastern)
This morning: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified before the House Homeland Security committee. 💻 Watch
Today: The Supreme Court hears a case related to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack. 💻 Livestream
1:30 p.m.: First House votes. Last votes are expected around 4 p.m. Today’s agenda
2 p.m.: Biden campaigns in Scranton. 💻 Livestream
2 p.m.: The House impeachment managers deliver Mayorkas’s impeachment articles to the Senate. 📆 Today’s agenda
5:40 p.m.: Biden holds another campaign event in Scranton. 💻 Livestream
Not happening today: Harris postponed tonight’s appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
👋 And Finally…
To leave you with something light, watch this puppy sunbathe.
Stay Engaged
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