DAY AHEAD - My Daily Editorial Note
April 14, 2026
Good morning from Capitol Hill.
As the day begins, it’s worth watching how Trump tries to stop the spread of the political toxin he’s been spraying over the past 36 hours.
Monday’s photo-op with a door dash worker didn’t turn the tide. Nor did his claim that he thought the A.I.-generated “religious” image of himself was intended to be a depiction of a “Red Cross” doctor.
The Iran blockade hasn’t noticeably shifted public opinion. Nor has the early effort this week to shift the topic to tax cuts…… the Door Dash delivery woman was supposed to champion the “no tax on tips” initiative, but might be best remembered for dunking on Trump’s question about transgender athletes.
Where are the statements of support from fellow Republicans (Governors and Members of Congress) to Trump’s criticisms of Pope Leo? Didn’t see any yesterday. Haven’t seen any this morning. Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) instead posted a statement of support.. on behalf of the Pope.
Here is an early list of news items and possible threads in the day ahead. Which of these – if any – appears likely to improve the news cycle and the politics for Trump?
1) Eric Swalwell’s career in Congress has ended. The clerk of the US House will take over administering (oversight) of the services of the office representing that California Congressional district, until a new Representative is elected. Oh by the way, Swalwell’s landmark civil case against Trump – seeking damages for Jan 6 – continues in the federal court here in Washington. A federal judge recently allowed that case to continue https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2021cv0400-219
2) Rep. Tony Gonzales says he’ll file for his retirement today. His statement doesn’t say precisely when the retirement takes effect. Today? Next month? November? So we’ll wanna track that throughout the day:
3) At 3pm, the Senate Intelligence Committee meets behind-closed-doors to look at pressing intel matters. We’ll be staked out by the exits, to see if any Senator wants to give us insight (unclassified insight) into what is awaiting us in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran.
4) At 4pm, the House Rules Committee meets on this week’s bills. The most unspectacular of the proposals is a resolution to formally “express support” Trump’s tax policies. Take a look: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119hres1156ih/pdf/BILLS-119hres1156ih.pdf
Amid surging costs at the grocery store and gas pumps, it’s a challenging time to argue for “we’re putting more money in your pockets.”
What’s more, the resolution is just a non-binding “statement” – and doesn’t impact our taxes whatsoever. It doesn’t actually do anything.
5) Democratic state attorneys general convene here in DC today for meetings. They’ll likely seek out media opportunities to champion their efforts to challenge Trump in court. They’ve succeeded in many of their suits – including against Trump funding cuts to communities, immigration policies and tariffs. And they’re fighting Trump’s election restriction efforts. Per the state attorneys general, they’ve filed 100 cases so far. Emphasis on: “So far”
https://stateline.org/2026/04/01/democratic-ags-file-100th-lawsuit-against-trump/
6) The Senate is still navigating amendments on the SAVE Act, which is the GOP plan to tighten voting rules. They can keep working on it, but it still ain’t gonna happen. As they say in the movie “Mean Girls” – they’re not going to make “fetch” a thing.
7) Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) is blasting the Trump Admin this morning for denying disaster declarations for a series of counties impacted recently by fires and floods. Polis said, “This is incredibly disappointing for Coloradans. Colorado communities have done everything right — responding quickly, documenting the damage, and working in good faith with federal partners — only for the Trump administration to deny funding to help Colorado communities recover.” Colorado has competitive races in November. This type of thing cuts through the noise.
8) In Kansas, the state is passing a law to make it a criminal offense to disrupt a religious assembly. Yeah.. that’s an issue that’s emerged politically after the arrests in Minneapolis, including the controversial probe against Don Lemon. https://kansasreflector.com/2026/04/13/kelly-vetoes-sports-tourism-program-allows-religious-freedom-bill-to-move-forward/
9) The Justice Department is releasing an 882-page report alleging the Biden Administration “weaponized” the Justice Dept during Biden’s term.
The Trump Admin. is going to be accused of “projection” for approving this report, in the wake of mass pardons of Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol, clemency for Trump allies, attempts to prosecuted Trump’s critics (James Comey/Letitia James/Jerome Powell/ etc) and the general political sycophancy of Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche.
TLDR on the 882-page report: It alleges the Biden Administration weaponized a federal law that makes it unlawful to block access to reproductive health facilities. (Trump pardoned a group who were successfully prosecuted in 2021 for doing so in DC)
https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1436006/dl?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Here’s the response from the watchdog group Democracy Forward: The Trump Admin report is a “partisan effort to discredit career prosecutors and civil servants who have spent decades enforcing the nation’s criminal civil rights laws. Among its falsehoods, the report targets the civil servants who faithfully carried out prosecutions for violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994.”
See you on SUBSTACK live at 10am with Kurt Bardella , author of the Watchdog Report on Substack, which helps monitor for abuses by the Trump Admin.
The most telling part of the Swallwell case is that his staffers abandoned him immediately. That’s what you do when you believe the accusations and/or it’s not a good person to work for. If there were no credibility to the claims, people would be out there vouching for his character. It’s what people feel compelled to do when they believe in innocence.
Interesting differences in how the narrative is formed by Democrat vs Republican. Swalwell is resigning, Gonzales is retiring. Swalwell's resignation is immediate, Gonzales - ???? Swalwell somewhat takes responsibility for his acts, Gonzales takes little if no responsibility, and instead says it was God's plan.