Day 1142: "Earn the votes."
1/ The House passed a $460 billion package of spending bills, setting up a Senate vote before Friday’s deadline to avert yet another partial government shutdown. The measure packages six of the 12 required appropriations bills and will extend funding through Sept. 30 for the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Energy, Interior, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, as well as the FDA, military construction, and other federal programs. Lawmakers are still negotiating the other six government spending bills, which must pass by March 22 to avert a lapse in funding. (Washington Post / ABC News / New York Times / Associated Press / Politico / NBC News)
2/ The Supreme Court will hear arguments April 25 about whether Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The case will be the last one argued in the court’s current calendar, but could take months for the justices to issue an opinion. The outcome will determine whether and how quickly Trump faces trial for allegedly trying to block Biden’s election victory. (Washington Post / CNBC / Bloomberg / CNN)
3/ Voting on Super Tuesday went as expected: Biden and Trump – facing 91 criminal charges – are all but certain to be headed for a rematch in 2024. Notably, while Biden lost North Carolina to Trump by about 75,000 votes in 2020, several exit polls indicated that 80% of Nikki Haley voters wouldn’t necessarily vote for the Republican nominee in November, and 66% said they didn’t believe Trump was physically or mentally fit to be president. Haley won about 249,651 of the Republican votes in North Carolina on Super Tuesday. The “uncommitted” protest against Biden continued in Minnesota, with nearly 19% of Democratic voters choosing “uncommitted” rather than for Biden. (Associated Press / Axios / Politico / NPR / New York Times / Washington Post)
4/ Nikki Haley suspended her presidential campaign, but stopped short of endorsing Trump. Instead, Haley said it’s up to Trump to “earn the votes of those in our party who did not support him.” Trump responded by saying “Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion.” His campaign then sent out a fundraising email asking Republicans “TO UNITE AS A PARTY AND DEFEAT JOE BIDEN!” Biden, meanwhile, reached out to Haley’s supporters, saying: “Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign. I know there is a lot we won’t agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.” (ABC News / NPR / NBC News / New York Times / Associated Press)
5/ Mitch McConnell endorsed Trump for president despite once denouncing Trump as “morally and practically responsible for provoking” the Jan. 6 insurrection in a “disgraceful dereliction of duty.” Nevertheless, McConnell said it was “abundantly clear” that Trump had “earned” the support of Republican voters and that “it should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support.” The two have not spoken since 2020 – when McConnell acknowledged Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. (Associated Press / Washington Post / Axios / Politico / NPR / New York Times / ABC News)