Cabot Phillips (2:38)

The showdown on Capitol Hill over DHS funding is now having a dramatic impact on Americans across the country, ratcheting up pressure on lawmakers to come to terms.

John Bickley (2:48)

Joining us now to discuss that and more is our D.C. bureau chief, Tim Rice. Great to have you back on the show as always.

Tim Rice (2:54)

Thanks for having me, John.

John Bickley (2:55)

So let's start with the airports. Americans are still waiting hours in security lines all over the country. The video keeps streaming in. How is that playing in Washington?

Tim Rice (3:05)

Yeah, I mean, the pressure is absolutely on and it's on for everybody. Right. So let's start by talking about the Democrats. They at first seemed like they were going to be the easy winners of this whole showdown, Right? Because they're blaming President Donald Trump who said that he would oppose any funding deal that would restart TSA services unless Congress passes the SAVE act, the Save America act, which is that sort of doomed voting rights, voting integrity legislation that we've talked about before. So the President setting ultimatums, not necessarily the best look. And of course, the Republicans are in power. They hold majorities, narrow majorities in both houses of Congress. So it's always easy when you're the party out of power to lay the blame on the people who hold the power. Republicans, of course, are pushing back on this narrative, saying that it's Democrats fault for keeping TSA defunded by refusing to vote to fund the remainder of the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, Americans face up to four hour waits at airports across the country. Our colleague Jenny Tarre walked the TSA line at George Bush International Airport in Houston. Houston, and it was a lot, right?

John Bickley (4:05)

As her footage shows, the lines really extend for hours and hours, as you said. Now, who stands to lose the most the longer this drags on?

Tim Rice (4:14)

Conventional wisdom here in D.C. for a little bit was that it would be Republicans. Throw in the fact that Mark Wayne Mullen just started as the new DHS secretary yesterday, coming on the heels of another DHS scandal, and it kind of looks like a perfect disaster for Republicans. But things are actually starting to shift in Republicans favor. The President deployed ICE agents to airports to assist with TSA this week. And we keep seeing footage of grateful passengers thanking ICE agents for their service, thanking them for helping out. We see ICE agents handing out bottles of water in these long TSA lines. So that's obviously a win for the president. And over on Capitol Hill, it seems like lawmakers are close to reaching a deal that would fund everything about DHS except for the one part of ICE that handles deportations. So that might seem like a win for Democrats, but it's actually way closer to what Republicans have been pushing for. Our colleague Cameron Arcand has been covering this legislative batt weeks now. We talked to him today about the latest developments and negotiations.

Tom Holman (5:10)

White House borders are Tom Holman has been part of those talks. And from what I heard from sources, some moderate Democrats who voted to end the shutdown last fall, they could be pivotal here in these next few days. Now, another element of this I heard from another GOP source is that the Democrats might even be open to making some concessions, like not using judicial warrants or, or pushing for the end of masking for agents. In exchange, they would not fund ICE through the next round of appropriations. Instead, the Senate would go through a more partisan reconciliation process. And that's something that Republicans would be okay with because keep in mind, ICE has already largely been funded through the one big beautiful bill act last year.

John Bickley (5:55)

Switching gears now, the Senate yesterday held a hearing on Arctic Frost. Tell us about what we heard in that hearing.

Tim Rice (6:02)

So just a reminder, Arctic Frost was a Biden Justice Department investigation which began as a probe into President Trump and eventually grew to encompass over 400 Republican lawmakers and affiliate groups. So yesterday, a Senate subcommittee chaired by Senator Ted Cruz held a hearing on Arctic Frost, which Senate Republicans are now calling a modern day Watergate. The committee released a host of new records, including one that found special counsel Jack Smith had gotten Verizon to release two years worth of FBI Director Kash Patel's phone records. Of course, notable because that was before he was the FBI director. So this is definitely still a work in progress. Yesterday's hearing was not as splashy as the first one, but this is absolutely not the last. We'll hear about this from Congressional Republicans. And I think this is going to continue to weigh on Democrats as we head into the midterms.

John Bickley (6:49)

Meanwhile, the DHS shut down. We will see today if there's more movement on that front. Thank you so much for joining us.

Tim Rice (6:56)

Thanks for having me. Guys.

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John Bickley (8:01)

As President Trump seeks a diplomatic off ramp to the war in Iran, the Pentagon is deploying thousands of troops to the region in a new show of force.

Cabot Phillips (8:09)

Wired in live host Cabot Phillips is here with the latest. So, Cabot, tensions sky high in Iran. We know President Trump wants to make a deal, but we are seeing some military buildup in the region. What's the latest there?

Cabot Phillips (8:22)

Yeah, as we speak, more US Troops are heading to the Middle East. On Tuesday, the Pentagon reportedly ordered the deployment of roughly 3,000 paratroopers from the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Infantry Division. These are forces capable of parachuting in to hostile territory at a moment's notice. They're often referred to as a rapid response force because of their ability to fully deploy within 24 hours. Now, the Trump administration has not yet said where exactly they are going, and Trump has still refused to commit to boots on the ground. But this deployment no doubt puts extra weight behind his demand for Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, the UK And France are reportedly close to finalizing plans to deploy naval vessels to protect commercial ships in the Strait from both mines and rocket attacks. So at least some European allies appear to finally be answering Trump's call for aid.

Cabot Phillips (9:13)

Now, where do things stand with regards to the negotiations between Trump and Tehran?

Cabot Phillips (9:17)

Yeah, it's still unclear if direct negotiations have actually taken place yet or are even on the books to take place. At the moment, it appears the process has gone through mainly third party intermediaries. That includes Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan. Pakistan, all of whom are passing messages between the two governments. Pakistan appears to be taking the lead. Their prime minister issued a statement yesterday saying his country, quote, stands ready and honored to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict. And Middle east envoy Steve Witkoff is reportedly prepared to travel to Pakistan for those talks. But not everyone in the region is pushing for a swift end to this war. According to numerous reports, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has repeatedly urged President Trump to continue on with the war, arguing that it offers a historic opportunity to, in his words, quote, remake the Middle East. He says that Iran will continue to pose a threat to stability in the region until the regime is completely toppled. For his part, though, President Trump said Tuesday that in light of the US Military advantage, the Iranians are now, quote, talking sense and, quote, would like to make a deal.

Cabot Phillips (10:23)

And what is each side looking for with that deal?

Cabot Phillips (10:25)

Well, the Iranians reportedly want guarantees that the US And Israel will not launch further strikes in the future and also compensation for damages incurred during the war. That's going to be tough to get from Trump, though. The White House is reportedly offering a list of demands very similar to what they were giving before the war. They want the full dismantlement of Iran's nuclear program, a suspension of their ballistic missile program, and a severing of support to violent militias and terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. But zooming out here, any potential negotiations are obviously complicated by the fact that much of Iran's top ruling class has been killed. So there is a lot of confusion about who is actually in charge to make a deal. According to numerous reports, the White House is losing confidence that the regime in Tehran is going to collapse, and they're now looking for a more pragmatic, moderate insider to cut a deal with and potentially back as the country's leader in the future. That would be very similar to the roadmap employed in Venezuela, where Nicholas Maduro was replaced not by the country's opposition leader, but by D. Rodriguez, who worked closely with Maduro, but has been much more willing to cooperate with the U.S. trump acknowledged as much this week.

John Bickley (11:31)

We're dealing with some people that I find to be very reasonable, very solid. The people within know who they are. They're very respectful, and maybe one of them will be exactly what we're looking for.

Tim Rice (11:46)

Look at Venezuela, how well that's working.

Cabot Phillips (11:48)

It's interesting. The Trump administration is reportedly now eyeing Mohammed Gallobaoff, that speaker of Iran's parliament, as a potential peace partner. Galoba is hardly a moderate by Western standards, but has in the past expressed its desire to build relationships with Europe and the U.S. and in his words in 2008, quote, advance issues through dialogue. The White House says that they're in the process of, quote, testing potential partners as they look for the best option for making a deal. As one official put it to Politico, quote, it's all about installing someone like a Delia Rodriguez in Venezuela that we say we're going to keep you there, we're going to not take you out. You're going to work with us, you're going to give us a good deal

Cabot Phillips (12:27)

while an extremely complicated context within which to make a deal. Cabot, thanks for reporting.

Cabot Phillips (12:32)

Absolutely.

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Cabot Phillips (13:06)

has hammered the importance of election integrity efforts through his focus on the SAVE Act. The Supreme Court this week heard a mail in ballot case that could have sweeping implications for the midterms.

John Bickley (13:16)

Joining us now to discuss is Alliance Defending Freedom President and CEO Kristen Wagoner. Kristen, good to have you back on.

Kristen Wagoner (13:23)

Thanks for having me.

John Bickley (13:24)

So most Americans are familiar with the SAVE act by now, but many have not been following what could end up being a really consequential mail in ballot case in the high court. This is Watson versus rnc. First, what exactly is that issue in this case?

Kristen Wagoner (13:39)

The case is about whether states can count mail in ballots that are postmarked before or on election day if they don't actually receive them until after election day. There are about 14 states and D.C. that have these kinds of laws. And a number of states altered their election laws during COVID Mississippi was one of them. And Mississippi's law here requires officials to receive ballots within five days of election day. But other states don't have any clear cutoff date. So the Republican National Committee, among other parties, challenged the law. And the U.S. supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case this Monday. The outcome's going to hinge on what two words in federal law mean. And those two words are election day.

John Bickley (14:21)

So as for, you know, reading the tea leaves, looking at how the justices responded to these arguments, which way do you see the court leaning?

Kristen Wagoner (14:31)

I think it's a close call. Most people are taking bets on the majority holding that ballots have to be received by Election Day. That's a view that is seems to resonate with Justices Gorsuch Thomas and Alito,

Georgia Howe (14:43)

maybe it's inevitable that some sort of line drawing decisions like these have to be made. Unless the rule is anything goes, you know, states can do anything they want in this area. We don't have a whole lot to go on here. We have the phrase election day and we have history. If we looked just at the phrase election day, what would we take from that? I think you've been saying, and we're moving in this direction. We don't have election day anymore. We have election month or we have election months. I mean, the early voting can start a month before the election. The ballots can be received a month after the election.

Kristen Wagoner (15:31)

It also tends to the courts focusing more and more on statutory text and historical practice. On the other hand, we know from the argument, Justices Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson, they all seemed far more sympathetic to Mississippi's argument. So that leaves us with the remaining three Justices, Barrett, Kavanaugh and the chief. And it was a little bit hard to get a read on just exactly how they might vote in the case.

John Bickley (15:53)

I feel like I've heard that one before.

Kristen Wagoner (15:54)

Yes, again and again.

John Bickley (15:56)

So what are the pros and cons of the court ruling for either side?

Kristen Wagoner (16:00)

If Mississippi wins, it would give voters more flexibility. It would give them more time in which to cast their ballots. And that's especially helpful for people that live in rural areas. It also reinforces the idea that states have the right and the room to manage their election procedures. On the other hand, if the RNC and its allies win, it will likely be seen as a win for advocates of election integrity. I am quite sure that members of Congress way back when didn't foresee the world in which we live with all the technology. But what they did foresee and seem concerned about was fraud and establishing a clear rule to prevent it. In terms of the timing of all this, though, we probably won't get a decision until June or even early July.

John Bickley (16:40)

So would that affect necessarily the elections in November?

Kristen Wagoner (16:45)

It potentially could, yes. One way or the other, this decision is going to change the election landscape, including possibly the rules that the November midterms will be subject to.

John Bickley (16:57)

Well, as we said, yet another major court case to keep an eye on this summer. Kristen, thank you so much for lending us your expertise.

Kristen Wagoner (17:04)

Thank you.

Cabot Phillips (17:06)

Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're listening to the show now, you can watch for free on Daily Wire. Plus plus, we'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know.

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