Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to members of the media during a news conference on Capitol Hill on March 4, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The House failed to adopt a war powers resolution that attempted to curtail President Donald Trump’s military actions in Iran.
It failed by a vote of 212-219. Republican Reps. Thomas Massie and Warren Davidson bucked GOP leaders by voting in favor; four Democrats voted against the resolution, including Reps. Greg Landsman, Henry Cuellar and Jared Golden.
The resolution, which only expresses the sentiment of Congress, called on the president to terminate the use of U.S. armed forces in hostilities against Iran or any part of the Iranian government or military unless a declaration of war or authorization to use military force is enacted.
The measure was non-binding and not subject to the president’s signature or veto.
Speaker Mike Johnson argued Wednesday that the United States is “not at war” but only engaged in a “defensive operation” in Iran.
“We’re not at war right now,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol. “We’re in — four days into a very specific, clear mission and operation.”
Later on Wednesday, Trump contradicted Johnson, repeatedly referring to the conflict in Iran as a “war” hours after Johnson said it wasn’t.
Sitting next to Johnson during a roundtable on energy prices, Trump said “we’re doing very well on — on the war front, to put it mildly.”
Johnson had said that the “passage of a war powers resolution right now would be a terrible, dangerous idea.”
“It would empower our enemies. It would kneecap our own forces, and it would take the ability of the U.S. military and the commander in chief away from completing this critical mission to keep everybody safe,” he said Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Senate Democrats failed to meet a 51-vote threshold on an alternate Iran war powers resolution sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican Sen. Rand Paul. The resolution failed behind a 47-53 tally.
(NEW YORK) — New Jersey Democratic Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill criticized President Donald Trump on Sunday for pursuing the acquisition of Greenland while the cost of living remains a top issue in the United States.
“There is not one person in New Jersey that wakes up in the morning and says, ‘Gee, I hope today’s the day that the president dumps billions of dollars into buying Greenland while my grocery store costs continue to go up,'” Sherrill told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl.
Two days before her inauguration, Sherrill talked with Karl in an exclusive interview and pledged to lower costs as governor without going into specific policies she would pursue.
Sherrill said that tariffs Trump has imposed during his first term are raising costs for Americans.
“Right now, the doors to opportunity are being shut down at every level. We see a president who constantly is running this tariff regime, putting more money in his own pocket and raising costs on everybody else,” Sherrill said. “So we are fighting against that.”
Sherrill was elected in November by a double-digit margin, outperforming former Vice President Kamala Harris’ margin in the presidential race in the Garden State. Asked by Karl what lessons the Democratic Party should take away from her victory, Sherrill said Democrats should “listen to people.”
“Get on the street and listen to your constituents or would-be constituents,” Sherrill said. “But the best thing I can do now for the Democratic Party is to govern effectively, to deliver on the promises I made, because, as I’ve mentioned, there’s an affordability crisis.”
Sherrill has previously said she will declare a state of emergency on utility costs, thereby freezing existing rates, on Day 1 in office.
Karl also asked Sherrill about the ongoing immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis, where protesters clashed with federal agents over the weekend.
“[ICE is] assaulting people on the street. They’re busting through windows in cars … people are getting shot and killed by these out of control proto-military agents,” Sherrill said. “I think the president’s trying to incite the protesters so that he can take America’s eyes off the fact that his militia that he’s building around this country is actually attacking American citizens.”
Karl asked Sherrill, a Naval Academy graduate who flew helicopters in the Navy, “You’re a military veteran … what would it mean if he actually goes through with the threat to invoke the Insurrection Act and send those active duty troops that are now on standby into Minneapolis?”
“[Trump] seems to be trying to incite an insurrection so he can then put troops on the street for the insurrection,” Sherrill said. “This is something that every single American should be concerned about.”
Trump administration officials have said there are no plans to pull federal agents out of Minneapolis, and have defended the conduct of ICE agents following multiple shootings. The fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7 by ICE agent Jonathan Ross sparked backlash from Democrats and some residents of the city.
After threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act, Trump told reporters on Friday that he didn’t think he needed to invoke it now.
“If I needed it, I’d use it. I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I’d use it. It’s very powerful,” Trump said.
Immigration enforcement operations also took place in Sherrill’s home state of New Jersey last week, with one raid in Princeton on Thursday leading to two arrests.
Sherrill previously said that she supports her state’s Immigrant Trust Directive, which orders New Jersey police officers not to comply with ICE operations, but opposes it being signed into law, citing concerns about the law being blocked in court.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, March 23, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump, after postponing U.S. strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure citing new negotiations with Tehran, said on Monday that talks will continue and that there are “major points of agreement.”
“They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon, that’s number one,” Trump told reporters in Florida.
“That’s number one, two and three. They will never have a nuclear weapon,” the president said. “They’ve agreed to that,” he added.
According to Iranian state media, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Qalibaf said “no talks with the U.S. have taken place; reports claiming otherwise are fake news aimed at influencing financial and oil markets and distracting from the challenges facing the U.S. and Israel.”
Iran has previously committed not to build a nuclear weapon as part of negotiations with the West, yet continued to enrich nuclear material to levels nearing weapons grade.
Iran’s intent to build a nuclear weapon, according to Trump, was a central justification for the war.
This was despite the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon in the wake of last summer’s Operation Midnight Hammer, which Trump said “obliterated” the country’s nuclear weapons program.
When asked on Monday how the U.S. would get Iran’s enriched uranium if these talks go well, Trump suggested Americans would go in to seize it. Experts previously told ABC News that a large American force on the ground would likely be needed to take the nuclear material, which is believed to be buried deep underground at facilities bombed by the U.S. last year.
“Very easy, if we have a deal with them, we’re going down and we’ll take it,” Trump said.
Trump also said he wanted to see a “very serious form of regime change” in Iran.
Over the weekend, Trump had issued an ultimatum to Iran to reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours or face major attacks on its power plants and other energy sites.
Trump changed course on Monday morning, announcing on social media that he ordered the Defense Department to postpone the strikes for five days following what he described as productive conversations about ending the war.
Iran’s foreign ministry denied talks with the U.S., Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency reported.
Trump told reporters that the U.S. is talking with a “top person” in Iran, but not the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.
The president did not offer specifics on who exactly the U.S. is negotiating with, only saying he is “a man who I believe is the most respected.” Just on Friday, Trump had said there was “nobody to talk to” after U.S. and Israeli strikes killed much of the Iranian leadership.
Steve Witkoff, White House special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, led the talks for the U.S., Trump said. The president added that the talks went “perfectly” and would continue by phone on Monday. He said that a meeting would take place “soon.”
“We’re doing a five-day period. We’ll see how that goes, and if it goes well, we’re going to end up with settling this, otherwise we just keep bombing our little hearts out,” Trump added.
Trump said there is a “very serious chance of making a deal,” but that he is not “guaranteeing anything.”
“All I’m saying is we are in the throes of a real possibility of making a deal,” he said. “And I think, if I were a betting man, I’d bet for it. But again, I’m not guaranteeing anything.”
Trump, when asked whether he believed Israel would abide by any peace deal, said that Israel would be “very happy.”
Trump’s pause on attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure prompted a positive reaction in the stock and oil markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared on Monday, and the price of oil dropped about 10% to about $90 a barrel.
Still, Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz remains in place.
When asked who will be in control of the strait after the conflict, Trump said it would be “jointly controlled.”
“Maybe me, me and the next ayatollah, whoever that is,” the president said.
Meanwhile, thousands more U.S. Marines and several Navy ships are heading to the Middle East, and the Pentagon is seeking $200 billion in supplemental funding.
When asked whether the administration would still request that $200 billion if these talks end the war, Trump replied, “It would be nice to have.”
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith (C) arrives to testify during a closed-door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on December 17, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) —President Donald Trump broke the law, former counsel Jack Smith told committee members Thursday at an appearance before the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee.
“President Trump was charged because the evidence established that he willfully broke the law, the very laws he took an oath to uphold,” Smith said. “Grand juries in two separate districts reached this conclusion based on his actions as alleged in the indictments they returned.”
Regarding the 2020 election, Smith said that Trump “engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results and prevent the lawful transfer of power.”
He also said the president illegally kept classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
“After leaving office in January of ’21, President Trump illegally kept classified documents at his Merrill Lago Social Club and repeatedly tried to obstruct justice to conceal his continued retention of those documents. Highly sensitive national security information withheld in a ballroom and a bathroom,” Smith said.
Smith also said that the facts and the law supported a prosecution, and that he made decisions not based on politics, but the facts and the law.
“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity. If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Democrat or a Republican,” he said.
“No one, no one should be above the law in this country, and the law required that he be held to account. So that is what I did,” Smith said. “To have done otherwise on the facts of these cases, would have been to shirk my duties as a prosecutor and as a public servant, of which I had no intention of doing.”
He also criticized what he said was the retribution carried out by the president and his allies against agents and prosecutors who investigated the cases.
“My fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in our country for so long that many of us have come to take it for granted,” he said. “The rule of law is not self-executing. It depends on our collective commitment to apply it. It requires dedicated service on behalf of others, especially when that service is difficult and comes with costs. Our willingness to pay those costs is what test and defines our commitment to the rule of law and to this wonderful country.”
In his opening statement, Committee Chairman Jim Jordan blasted Smith for what he called a partisan investigation into President Donald Trump and other Republicans.
“Democrats have been going after President Trump for ten years, for a decade, and the country should never, ever forget what they did,” Jordan said.
Jamie Raskin, the committee’s ranking Democrat, said that Smith proved that Trump “engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power.”
“Special Counsel Smith, you pursued the facts. You followed every applicable law, ethics rule and DOJ regulation. Your decisions were reviewed by the public Integrity section. You acted based solely on the facts. The opposite of Donald Trump, who now is purporting to take over,” Raskin said.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in both cases, before both cases were dropped following Trump’s reelection due to the Justice Department’s long-standing policy barring the prosecution of a sitting president.
His Thursday appearance marks Smith’s second time before the committee, after he appeared behind closed doors last month. It is customary for former special counsels to appear before Congress publicly to discuss their findings.
In his closed-door testimony, Smith defended his decision to twice bring charges against Trump — telling lawmakers his team “had proof beyond reasonable doubt in both cases” that Trump was guilty of the charges in the 2020 election interference and classified documents cases, according to a transcript of the hearing.
And Smith fervently denied that there was any political influence behind his decision — contrary to allegations of Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, who requested the testimony — such as pressure from then-President Joe Biden or then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, the transcripts shows.
“No,” Smith responded continuously to those allegations, according to the transcript.
Just over an hour before his testimony on Dec. 17, the Department of Justice sent an email to Smith’s lawyers preventing him from discussing the classified documents case, according to the 255-page transcript of the deposition, released last year by the Judiciary Committee along with a video of the hearing.
This meant Smith was unable to answer most questions on that case and the deposition — intended to ask questions about the alleged weaponization of the DOJ against Trump and his allies — mainly focused on the 2020 election case instead.
His team also said Smith will comply with Judge Aileen Cannon’s order that blocked the release of the second volume of his report.
Smith’s counsel said the DOJ also refused to send a lawyer to advise Smith on whether his statements were in line with their determination of what he could or could not say regarding the cases, according to the deposition. Smith did say, however, that Trump “tried to obstruct justice” in the classified documents investigation “to conceal his continued retention of those documents.
