DAY AHEAD - My Daily Editorial Note
April 9, 2026
Watch out today for a renewed push for Congress to finally AUTHORIZE the military action in Iran. Ceasefire or not – Trump’s threats against “civilization” have added an injection of urgency to the matter. You’ll see a lot of that today, even though Congress is not in session.
A group of Senate Democrats – including military veteran Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) – have issued a statement saying “Absent immediate steps by Republican leadership to stand up to Trump’s increasingly erratic behavior, we will once again force a vote on a War Powers Resolution to finally end this dangerous war in the Middle East. The American people do not want and have not authorized it, but nonetheless keep paying the price.”
Watch for Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who has joined the above statement. Kaine has been a champion and leader war powers authorizations ever since he first won election to the Senate. He’s viewed as a uniquely strong messenger in these debates.
House Democrats are gonna press the issue today too, which is further indication that they think most of the public is also keen on Congress reasserting its authority. I’ll be watching the brief pro forma session on the House floor midday.
Trump’s war in Iran remains a distinctively “political” wedge issue. Quite a thing to write about a war.
Trump has ZERO public appearances today, which raises the prospect that it’ll instead be a day of unmoored social media posts. Probably about Iran. (I’m old enough to remember the days we didn’t have to think about a President authoring randomly timed social media posts about war strategy and making grave threats) Maybe we’ll find out why he was dunking on NATO again last night.
Vice President Vance returned from Budapest to Joint Base Andrews overnight. He departed the plane out of sight of the press pool. No access for reporters. No ability to ask Vance any questions about Iran.
Other threads today:
1) Some members of the House Oversight Committee are preparing an attempt to find Pam Bondi in contempt of Congress, if she doesn’t show up Tuesday for her scheduled deposition. They won’t move anything today… but I’d expect we’ll hear a bunch of them make the cable news rounds to talk about it. The fight over Bondi’s testimony – or non-testimony – appears to be a no-win situation for the Trump Administration. The fight itself appears likely to reinflame a chronic controversy for the President.
2) Still a ways off. But the House Appropriations Committee has announced a public hearing on… drumroll.. I.C.E.’s budget for one week from today. (Oh, by the way, we’re still mired in a shutdown of the Dept of Homeland Security)
Speaking of which, some Department of Homeland Security employees will finally be getting paychecks today. After having spent nearly two months dipping into their savings accounts. Others will have to wait another week. Per Gov Exec: https://www.govexec.com/pay-benefits/2026/04/dhs-employees-begin-receiving-paychecks-week/412706/?oref=ge-home-top-story
The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents some Homeland Security employees says it bluntly this morning: “it is unclear where the administration would draw funds from for the payments.”
https://www.nteu.org/blog/2026/04/08/president-signs-memo
Trump sure is taking ownership of future shutdowns and shutdown pain…. If he can wave his White House wand and somehow unilaterally paid federal workers.
3) The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has been fighting in court against Trump’s ballroom project, has filed another motion with the court. The group is opposing Trump’s request for “emergency” court order to allow construction to proceed
The filing argues, “The purported ‘emergency’ remains unclear.. Defendants appear to contend that being prevented from illegally constructing a massive ballroom constitutes a national security emergency. It plainly does not”
Here’s the 35-page filing: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cadc.42993/gov.uscourts.cadc.42993.01208838415.0.pdf
4) Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger (the winner of the 2025 landslide election) signs a new law focusing on data centers, which are a particularly large and controversial industry in Virginia. The law sets stricter emissions standards for data center generators to reduce air pollution. Some state leaders across the country (from both parties) are running toward – not away – from the emergent issue of data centers.
5) Speaking of controversial facilities. Local and federal leaders are still grappling with what to do about those new Trump Administration I.C.E. detention warehouses. Maryland officials have pushed back *hard* in court against the facility planned for Hagerstown. (if you drive past it …. you notice that it looks like a big ginormous Amazon distribution center. But it’s very much not that. It’s for holding mass numbers of immigrant detainees)
Late this morning in California, Rep. Dave Min will have a community roundtable to get community reaction to a proposed I.C.E. lease at a facility in the city of Irvine. Min is a first-term Congressman from Orange County, Ca.
6) Candidates and elected officials are promising to campaign and govern on “food prices” and “affordability.” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) is providing a model for others to potentially follow. At lunchtime today, Kelley is part of a “roundtable” organized by a family-run food truck in Phoenix. Kelly’s team says he’ll “hear firsthand how rising costs of fuel, food, and supplies are squeezing Arizona small businesses and working families.”
7) Speaking of costs: A new report today from Congress’s Joint Economic Committee is putting a price tag on the initial costs of Trump’s war. This nugget caught my eye: “Families in New England are paying at least $200 more to heat their homes with oil since President Trump launched his war with Iran.”
My goodness, what a thorough and thoughtful source for this fast-breaking news cycle. Thank you for including the links for a deeper dive after breakfast.
Thank you for these updates. It appears to me that you are tracking stories that are important yet under the radar 😉. Much appreciated.