Good evening everyone. I have some exclusive news tonight. Republicans are privately growing frustrated as the war in Iran drags on, more U.S. troops are injured, and Iran becomes increasingly defiant. That is what Senator Elizabeth Warren told me in our interview this evening.
Meanwhile, the SAVE Act is quietly collapsing in the Senate as support evaporates behind the scenes. There are also new allegations that a member of the DOGE unit took sensitive Social Security data to a new private-sector job, a potential major violation of privacy and security laws.
Tomorrow I will be speaking with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. If you have questions you want me to ask him, send them my way. Questions from paid subscribers will be prioritized.
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Here’s the news:
- Iran is growing increasingly defiant in the face of ongoing U.S.–Israeli military attacks and is rejecting ceasefire overtures, with Iranian leaders dismissing messages from President Donald Trump’s envoy seeking to halt the fighting and signaling the conflict could continue even if the U.S. stopped its strikes. Iranian officials say any ceasefire would require firm guarantees that the United States will not attack Iran again, arguing that a temporary pause without such commitments would be meaningless and would only allow future attacks to occur.
- Senator Elizabeth Warren confirmed that some Republicans are privately expressing frustration with Donald Trump over the ongoing war in Iran, saying GOP lawmakers are raising concerns behind the scenes as the conflict continues and political pressure builds in Washington. Warren’s comments suggest that, despite public support from many Republican leaders, unease about the war and its trajectory may be growing privately within the party.
- Iran may be preparing to deploy naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz using small boats capable of carrying several mines, according to CBS News citing U.S. officials, raising concerns about potential disruption to one of the world’s most important energy shipping lanes, through which roughly 20% of global oil supply passes. President Trump warned that if Iran has placed mines and does not remove them immediately, the U.S. could respond with unprecedented military consequences.
- White House says the U.S. Navy has not escorted any oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, correcting a now-deleted tweet from Energy Secretary Chris Wright, while noting the military is prepared to do so if the president deems it necessary. Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf pushed back:
- About 140 U.S. service members have been wounded during the first 10 days of the war with Iran, according to the Pentagon, with most injuries described as minor and 108 troops already returned to duty, while eight remain severely injured and are receiving the highest level of medical care.
- White House says President Trump is not ruling out any options, including potential boots on the ground in Iran, though officials declined to confirm claims from Sen. Richard Blumenthal about the president’s plans.
- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended President Trump’s claim that Iran may have Tomahawk missiles, saying the president has the right to share his views publicly and pushing back on reporting from The New York Times, which she accused of publishing unverified claims and pressuring the administration to conclude its investigation.
- Senate Minority Leader John Thune said the Senate currently lacks the votes to move forward with the SAVE America Act, stating there are not enough senators to proceed to debate, force a talking filibuster, or sustain one if it began.
- The Social Security Administration inspector general is investigating a whistleblower complaint alleging that a former engineer from the U.S. DOGE Service accessed two highly sensitive agency databases and took Social Security data on a thumb drive to a new private-sector job, raising concerns about a potential major security breach affecting information tied to more than 70 million Americans, according to reporting by The Washington Post.
- Ed Martin is facing disciplinary proceedings from the D.C. Bar over allegations he threatened Georgetown University Law Center and improperly contacted a judge while serving as interim U.S. attorney, with the complaint stating his actions may have violated the First and Fifth Amendments; the Justice Department dismissed the case as a “partisan” effort to target officials serving Donald Trump. Here is part of the complaint:
- Donald Trump appointed Erika Kirk—the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk—to serve on the U.S. Air Force Academy Board of Visitors, according to the academy’s website. Kirk, who leads Turning Point USA, will help oversee the academy’s morale, discipline, curriculum, and operations; her late husband had also been appointed to the board by Trump before he was killed in September.
- According to NBC News, Donald Trump has questioned aides about whether longtime adviser Corey Lewandowski personally profited from a $220 million U.S. Department of Homeland Security advertising campaign featuring former Secretary Kristi Noem, according to NBC News sources, as scrutiny over the ads helped fuel congressional hearings and contributed to Trump’s decision to remove Noem from the role; Lewandowski denies receiving any money from the contracts.
- Ben Yoho, the husband of DHS communications official Tricia McLaughlin, appears to be under investigation following scrutiny over a $143 million Department of Homeland Security contract awarded to produce advertising campaigns.
- A 1,300-pound NASA spacecraft, the Van Allen Probe A, is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere today after nearly 14 years in space, with most of the probe likely to burn up on reentry and only a very small chance of debris causing harm, according to CBS News.
- YouTube is rolling out a free deepfake detection tool for politicians, journalists, and political candidates, allowing them to identify and request removal of AI-generated videos that mimic their likeness, as the platform aims to combat deceptive AI content while protecting users central to political discourse.
- A federal judge in Ohio ruled that sports-related prediction markets run by Kalshi amount to sports gambling and must follow state betting laws, rejecting the company’s claim that its contracts are federally regulated financial “swaps” and siding with state regulators seeking to treat the platform as an unlicensed sportsbook.
- According to Politico, House Republican leaders, including Steve Scalise and Rick Crawford, plan to advance an 18-month extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ahead of its April 20 expiration, with backing from Donald Trump and a potential House vote as soon as the week of April 13; GOP leaders are also considering attaching the renewal to the party’s election overhaul proposal, the SAVE America Act, though the move could face resistance from some conservatives.
See you in the morning.
— Aaron
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