Today in one sentence: The House will vote on three individual bills to fund Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan; a second Republican agreed to co-sponsor an effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson from his job, less than 24 hours after Johnson outlined a plan to send aid to Ukraine and Israel; House Republicans sent articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate; the Supreme Court allowed Idaho to temporarily enforce a strict statewide ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender teenagers; the Supreme Court heard a challenge to the federal obstruction law that the Justice Department used to charge more than 350 pro-Trump rioters involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol; and on the second day of jury selection in Trump’s election interference case involving falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment late in the 2016 campaign, prosecutors moved to hold Trump in contempt for allegedly violating his gag order.

1/ The House will vote on three individual bills to fund Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. A fourth bill would wrap several Republican foreign policy proposals into one, including the seizure of Russian assets, and a House-approved bill that could ban TikTok in the U.S. In total, the legislative package roughly resembles the $95 billion aid bill the Senate passed two months ago. House Speaker Mike Johnson, however, doesn’t necessarily have the votes to bring the bills to the House floor and the House Freedom Caucus has threatened to oust him from the speakership if he moved forward with funding for Ukraine. Notably absent from the bills are any measures to address border security, which Republicans have demanded for months as a condition of approving aid to foreign countries. Further, it’s unclear if Johnson has the Senate’s support, given the chamber already passed bipartisan foreign aid legislation back in February, which has been sitting in the House ever since. (CNBC / Politico / New York Times / Washington Post / NPR)

2/ A second Republican agreed to co-sponsor an effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson from his job, less than 24 hours after Johnson outlined a plan to send aid to Ukraine and Israel. Rep. Thomas Massie, joining Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attempt to end Johnson’s speakership, stood up during a closed-door Republican conference meeting and told Johnson to resign, saying “you’re not going to be the speaker much longer.” Johnson, meanwhile, dismissed the effort to remove him as speaker as “absurd,” saying: “I am not resigning.” Without Democratic support, Republicans would need a simple majority to oust their second speaker in six months. One Republican called the situation “a clusterfuck,” and another said: “We are screwed.” (Politico / CNN / Washington Post / The Hill / Axios / Wall Street Journal)

3/ House Republicans sent articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate. In February, House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas, citing his alleged failure to enforce border laws, reduce migrant crossings, and secure the southern border. Their first attempt to impeach Mayorkas failed when four Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the impeachment, but they were successful on their second try by a single vote. House Republicans have demanded a full trial, while the Democratic-controlled Senate is expected to dismiss the charges without a trial or conduct a speedy trial that ends without a conviction. At least one Republican Senator — Mitt Romney — has already said he’ll vote against a full trial. (NBC News / Washington Post / CNN / ABC News)

4/ The Supreme Court allowed Idaho to temporarily enforce a strict statewide ban on gender-affirming health care for transgender teenagers. The law makes it a felony to provide medical treatment, such as puberty-blocking drugs, hormone therapy, and surgical procedures, to transgender minors. Doctors could face up to 10 years in prison for providing gender-affirming care. The court did not address the merits of the issue, but whether the law could take effect as an appeal moves forward. (Washington Post / NBC News / CNN / NPR / Politico / ABC News / New York Times)

5/ The Supreme Court heard a challenge to the federal obstruction law that the Justice Department used to charge more than 350 pro-Trump rioters involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The statute, which criminalizes efforts to obstruct, influence or impede any official proceeding, is also the basis for one of the four obstruction counts brought against Trump in a separate criminal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith. Conviction can result in a prison sentence of up to 20 years. The court appeared divided on the issue, with the conservative majority expressing concern with the Justice Department’s application of the law. The three liberals, meanwhile, seemed to agree that the federal obstruction law is broad enough to encompass the rioters who stormed the Capitol and disrupted Congress’ certification of Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory over Trump. A decision is expected by late June. (Associated Press / NPR / New York Times / Politico / NBC News / Bloomberg / Washington Post / CNN)

6/ On the second day of jury selection in Trump’s election interference case involving falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment late in the 2016 campaign, prosecutors moved to hold Trump in contempt for allegedly violating his gag order. The request to sanction Trump for violating his gag order by commenting on likely witnesses came on the second day of jury selection in the first-ever criminal trial of a U.S. president. “He is a criminal defendant, and like all criminal defendants, he is subject to court supervision,” assistant District Attorney Chris Conroy told Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan. The prosecutor asked Merchan to impose a $1,000 sanction for each of Trump’s three social media posts, order Trump to delete them, and to warn Trump that another violation could result in jail time. Merchan said he would hold a hearing on the request on April 24. Meanwhile, the first seven jurors were seated. Five more jurors and another six alternates still need to be picked. At one point, Merchan scolded Trump for muttering and gesturing while a prospective juror was being questioned, saying: “I won’t tolerate that. I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. I want to make this crystal clear.” (NBC News / CNN / CNBC / Politico / Associated Press / Washington Post / New York Times / Axios / Bloomberg)

  • Why Trump’s “hush money” case is bigger than hush money. “The allegations are in substance, that Donald Trump falsified business records to conceal an agreement with others to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election.” (Washington Post)

poll/ 35% of Americans believe Trump did something illegal with regard to the hush money allegations, while 31% think he did something unethical without breaking the law, and 14% think he did nothing wrong at all. (Associated Press)