Trump vows political retribution for lawmakers who vote against voter ID bill
Ahead of a lengthy Senate debate on the Save America act, Donald Trump took to social media to rally lawmakers to get the legislation passed.
A reminder that the president has threatened to not sign any further bills under the sweeping voter ID bill makes its way to his desk.
A short while ago Trump insisted that the Save America act is “one of the most IMPORTANT & CONSEQUENTIAL pieces of legislation in the history of Congress” in a post on Truth Social.
He has claimed, baselessly, that undocumented citizens are voting in droves in federal elections, which experts say is exceedingly rare. The president is also pushing for an amended version of the bill that includes, among other items, a ban on mail-in ballots and bans on transgender people participating in women’s sports and gender-affirming surgeries for minors. If this version were to pass in the Senate – which is unlikely – it would also have to go back to the House.
The current bill has already failed in the upper chamber, and is facing an uphill battle in the coming days that Senate majority leader John Thune must navigate in order to appease Trump.
“Only sick, demented, or deranged people in the House or Senate could vote against THE SAVE AMERICA ACT. If they do, each one of these points, separately, will be used against the user in his/her political campaign for office,” the president wrote. “A guaranteed loss!”
He ended his post with an all-caps promise: “I WILL NEVER (EVER!) ENDORSE ANYONE WHO VOTES AGAINST “SAVE AMERICA!!!”
Key events
Trump continues to slam Nato over resistance to get involved in war on Iran
Donald Trump continued to lambast Nato countries over the resistance to assist the US in the war on Iran. This comes after US allies in Europe and beyond ruled out sending warships to the strait of Hormuz, despite threats from the president that Nato faces “a very bad future” if members fail to help reopen the vital waterway.
“I am not surprised by their action,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street.”
He said that the member countries “will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need” before heralding the success of US forces degrading Iran’s military capabilities, naval forces, and air defenses.
“We no longer “need,” or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance – WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea,” Trump insisted on social media.
Top Senate intelligence Democrat agrees with Kent’s decision to resign
In response to Joe Kent’s decision to resign as the Trump administration’s top counter-terrorism official, the Senate’s top Democrat on the intelligence committee said that Kent is “right” about his decision to resign.
“There was no credible evidence of an imminent threat from Iran that would justify rushing the United States into another war of choice in the Middle East,” said Mark Warner, a lawmaker from Virginia.
Warner noted that Kent’s record is “deeply troubling”, and believes “he never should have been confirmed to lead the National Counterterrorism Center” to begin with, but agrees with Kent’s comments about the ongoing war on Iran.
“The United States cannot be led into conflict on the basis of politics, impulse, or a president’s desire for confrontation. We have seen where this road leads before,” Warner said in a statement.
Hugo Lowell
Joe Kent’s resignation from the office of the director of national intelligence (ODNI) is being met with derision inside the Trump administration this morning, making it unlikely that it will trigger internal splits or opposition to the war in Iran.
Several senior Trump advisers have long made clear that they have not cared about him or his views for some time, evidenced by the fact that Kent has played no role in any major operation or policy in Trump’s second term.
There does appear to be some anger towards Kent for making such a splashy resignation, however, including from his own former colleagues. DNI Tulsi Gabbard is set to face a bruising Worldwide Threats Hearing on Capitol Hill this week, where she is now certain to be asked about Kent’s resignation.
Top counter-terrorism official resigns over war on Iran: ‘We started this war due to pressure from Israel’
A top counter-terrorism official in the Trump administration has resigned over the ongoing war on Iran.
Joe Kent, who reported to director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, said that he “cannot in good conscience” support the joint conflict with Israel.
In a letter addressed to Donald Trump, Kent praised the president’s foreign policy achievements in his first administration. Noting that Trump was skilled at applying “military power without getting us drawn into never-ending wars”. This was exemplified by the “killing Qasam Solamani and by defeating ISIS,” Kent wrote.
However, things changed during Trump’s second term in office. “Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran,” said Kent, who served as director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
“This echo chamber was used to deceive you,” Kent wrote to the president, “into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory.”
Kent – a former Green Beret who served in Iraq and later worked as a CIA operative – claimed the intelligence used to justify the strike on Iran “was a lie,” calling it “the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation thousands of our best men and women.”
He also referenced his late wife, cryptologist Shannon Smith, who was killed in a suicide bombing in northern Syria in 2019, as a victim of another “war manufactured by Israel”.
Kent was confirmed to his position in July last year, but his nomination was criticized for his proximity to white nationalist activists such as Nick Fuentes, and for the revolving cast of far-right activists his two failed congressional campaigns employed.
In his resignation letter to the president today, Kent urged the administration to “reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for”.
He added:
You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards.
Richard Luscombe
The Trump administration has agreed to take a financial loss in order to make it easier for Americans to walk away from their US citizenship.
In April, the cost to formally renounce citizenship will plunge from $2,350 to just $450, below the actual cost to the government of processing the requests – but fulfilling a years-long promise to reverse an unpopular fee adopted in 2015.
The number of people seeking a Certificate of Loss of Nationality (CLN) has soared in recent years, with 2024 recording the third highest annual total of 4,820, according to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) figures.
Analysts say political changes in the US are a driving factor in many cases – the start of Donald Trump’s first presidency in 2017 saw an immediate spike. But Americans overseas have also grown increasingly weary of complicated tax rules.
So-called “accidental Americans”, those who acquired citizenship through birth in the US or through parents, but who have lived most or all of their lives abroad, are required to file an IRS tax return annually, prompting many to seek a breakup.
An analysis by the Outbound Investment Group in May reported rising frustration at the outsized cost of a CLN, and a cumbersome application process that often lasts months to more than a year.
It said a global backlog for renunciation appointments exceeded 30,000, and that the government’s efforts to deal with the surge was like a game of Whack-a-Mole, with more applications arriving quicker than others are finalized.
Experts say the figure is also an undercount because the IRS “expatriation list” covers only CLN applicants whose net worth is above $2m.
The slashing of the fee by 80% was announced in a final rule published to the federal register on Friday – and which will take effect on 12 April.
Also on Capitol Hill this week, top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries announced that he will launch a discharge petition on Wednesday for a bill that would fund certain agencies within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that have been shutdown for a month – forcing many employees to work without pay. In order to force a vote on the House floor, Jeffries would need 218 signatures to proceed.
On Wednesday, the minority leader plans to force a vote on would be legislation to fund the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) and the Coast Guard.
While funding for the DHS remains at an impasse, as Democrats demand stronger guardrails on federal immigration enforcement in the wake of crackdowns across the country that have resulted in the fatal shootings of two US citizens. Republicans, for their part, have called many of the proposals from their colleagues non-starters. While the agencies that Jeffries seeks to fund have been affected by the shutdown, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been spared, thanks to a billion-dollar infusion from Donald Trump’s sweeping tax-policy bill signed into law last year.
Trump vows political retribution for lawmakers who vote against voter ID bill
Ahead of a lengthy Senate debate on the Save America act, Donald Trump took to social media to rally lawmakers to get the legislation passed.
A reminder that the president has threatened to not sign any further bills under the sweeping voter ID bill makes its way to his desk.
A short while ago Trump insisted that the Save America act is “one of the most IMPORTANT & CONSEQUENTIAL pieces of legislation in the history of Congress” in a post on Truth Social.
He has claimed, baselessly, that undocumented citizens are voting in droves in federal elections, which experts say is exceedingly rare. The president is also pushing for an amended version of the bill that includes, among other items, a ban on mail-in ballots and bans on transgender people participating in women’s sports and gender-affirming surgeries for minors. If this version were to pass in the Senate – which is unlikely – it would also have to go back to the House.
The current bill has already failed in the upper chamber, and is facing an uphill battle in the coming days that Senate majority leader John Thune must navigate in order to appease Trump.
“Only sick, demented, or deranged people in the House or Senate could vote against THE SAVE AMERICA ACT. If they do, each one of these points, separately, will be used against the user in his/her political campaign for office,” the president wrote. “A guaranteed loss!”
He ended his post with an all-caps promise: “I WILL NEVER (EVER!) ENDORSE ANYONE WHO VOTES AGAINST “SAVE AMERICA!!!”
A reminder that my colleagues are covering the latest developments out of the Middle East at our dedicated live blog.
Earlier they reported the news that Israel said it killed the Iranian national security chief, Ali Larijani, in overnight strikes. If their claim is confirmed it would make Larijanj the most senior Iranian figure to be assassinated since the former supreme leader Ali Khamenei was killed on the first day of the US-Israeli war.
Notably, Iran has not confirmed Larijani’s death. There are reports that he could only be injured. We’ll also be listening to hear what information Donald Trump has when we hear from him later.
Donald Trump is in Washington today. On St Patrick’s day, we’ll hear from the president when he welcomes the taoiseach of Ireland, Micheál Martin, to the White House for a bilateral meeting at 11am. Trump and Martin will then head to Capitol Hill at 12.10pm ET for annual Friends of Ireland luncheon.
After policy meetings, Trump will then greet the deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, Emma Little-Pengelly, at 5pm ET. Along with Martin, they’ll take part in the annual Shamrock Bowl presentation in the East Room, a tradition dating back more than 70 years. Of note, Norther Ireland’s other leader, first minister Michelle O’Neill is boycotting the day’s meeting and celebrations, to protest the Trump administration’s stance on the war in Gaza.
Trump relied on unverified intelligence to blame Iran for deadly school strike
Hugo Lowell
Donald Trump’s attempt to blame Iran for the deadly strike on an elementary school stemmed from an early US intelligence assessment that initially suggested the missile was Iranian but was almost immediately dismissed, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The CIA initially told the president that they did not believe the missile that struck the school was a munition used by the US because the fins appeared to be positioned too low for it to be a Tomahawk cruise missile.
Within 24 hours, the CIA realized that early assessment had been wrong after it became clear from additional videos, taken at other angles, that the missile was in fact a Tomahawk, the people said on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations.
But Trump had already settled on the explanation that Iran was responsible for the strike before he raised it to reporters on Air Force One last Saturday, even as the defense secretary Pete Hegseth was more cautious and said only the matter was under investigation.
Trump repeated his position at a news conference the following day. While he appeared to accept the missile that hit the school was a Tomahawk – a missile used only by the US and a handful of allies including the UK, Japan and Australia – he suggested it belonged to Iran.
It was not clear when Trump was briefed about the updated intelligence findings but former intelligence officials faulted both Trump and the briefers.
Illinois heads to elect next senator and five congressional district candidates
Rachel Leingang
Illinois voters on Tuesday will decide between a crowded field of Democratic candidates vying to be the state’s next senator as the midwestern state also nominates candidates for five open congressional seats.
Longtime Illinois senator Dick Durbin’s retirement leaves a competitive race that includes two US representatives and the lieutenant governor vying to replace him, with massive infusions of money coming to the candidates from outside groups, including donors affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), that are spending millions to sway voters.
The representatives running for Senate are leaving open contests for their seats, and other sitting Democratic representatives decided not to run for reelection. Among the contenders are seasoned politicians, former lawmakers seeking comebacks and progressive upstarts.
The open Senate and House seats in Democratic-leaning districts mean the primaries will likely decide who wins in the November general election. And because the state is reliably blue, the winners could be in office for long careers, like Durbin has been for over 29 years.
State-level races, including the governorship, are also on Tuesday’s ballot, with JB Pritzker running unopposed for a third term.
What does Trump’s restrictive voting bill include – and does it have a chance of becoming law?
Rachel Leingang
Donald Trump has vowed that he will not sign any other legislation until Republicans’ massive voting bill, the Save America act, is passed. The bill would upend voting for all Americans in the middle of a federal midterm election year and create costly, chaotic changes for elections workers.
The Senate is set to consider the legislation next week, though Senate leaders say they don’t have the votes to get over the filibuster hurdle, essentially dooming the bill for failure.
While the fate of the legislation remains unclear, the damage may already be done. If it doesn’t pass, the talking points surrounding it will play into false election narratives for Trump and his allies, giving fodder for ongoing conspiracies about stolen elections.
The Save America act is a rebranded and expanded version of last year’s Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (Save) act, which passed in the US House but didn’t get a vote in the Senate. This year’s version includes expansive documentary proof of citizenship requirements and criminal liability for election officials from the initial Save act, in addition to a very strict voter ID requirement for casting a ballot and a provision that requires states to regularly turn their voter rolls over to the Department of Homeland Security.
Every voter would be affected by the Save America act, said Xavier Persad, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, “regardless of political affiliation, all across the country”. It could disenfranchise potentially tens of millions of valid US voters, he said, as people would face more barriers to voting at every step of the process.
“It is a sweeping effort to solve a problem that doesn’t exist that would require a vast, expensive new bureaucracy to be built in a short few months before a major election,” said David Becker, director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research. “It’s a recipe for disaster.”
Changing the rules in the middle of the midterms, with primary elections already passed or underway in many states, would cause “absolute chaos”, said Gréta Bedekovics, director of democracy policy at the Center for American Progress.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that this would disenfranchise people,” she said.
Here’s what the bill includes, and its prospects for passage:
Controversial voter ID bill to be taken up by Senate after Trump threats
Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog.
The voter ID bill, would require proof of US citizenship for new voters, could be taken up by the Senate as early as today.
The Save America act is a rebranded name for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility act, or the Save act, a bill that has been circulating through Congress in some version for more than two years.
The US House passed the bill earlier this year, but it faces steep odds in the Senate, where it will need 60 votes to move forward because of the filibuster rule. Republican senators face heavy lobbying to lift the filibuster to advance the act.
Democrats are uniformly opposed to the legislation and expected to block its passage through the Senate. They say the legislation would disenfranchise millions of American voters who don’t have birth certificates or other documents readily available – both Republicans and Democrats who would be newly registering to vote.
The bill would require voters to provide proof of citizenship when they register and to present approved identification when they go to the polls, among other new rules that Trump and his most loyal supporters are pushing as part of an effort to assert more federal control over elections.
Federal law already requires that voters in national elections be US citizens. But the legislation would lay out strict new requirements for voters to prove their status. Last week, Trump threatened not to sign any bills until Congress approves the legislation.
“All voters must show proof of citizenship in order to vote,” the US president said during remarks on Monday at a Republican event in Miami. “No mail-in ballots, except for illness, disability, military or travel.”
The bill also directs states to turn voter rolls over to the Department of Homeland Security for citizenship verification. The justice department has sought access to voter rolls in many states, including filing lawsuits in some.
Voting rights advocates have said the bill would effectively prevent millions of Americans from voting – only about half of people have a valid US passport, and other documents, such as birth certificates, may not match up with people’s names. They have called attention to impacts on married women who changed their names whose documents may not be updated, saying the act could cause additional hurdles to voting for them.
In other developments:
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Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, denied that he is in talks with Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s real-estate pal turned chief diplomat, and accused the US of leaking false claims that the two are in direct contact to calm panicked markets.
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After Trump claimed that he had spoken to a former US president who told him that he approved of his attack on Iran, all four living former presidents denied having spoken with Trump about Iran.
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Trump publicly revealed details about a Republican congressman’s “terminal” diagnosis that could have left him “dead by June”, prompting Mike Johnson, speaker of the House, to say: “That wasn’t public.”
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The appointment of a controversial slate of vaccine advisers by Robert F Kennedy Jr likely violated federal law, a federal judge ruled, and all votes taken by the committee over the past year have been stayed.
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Gregory Bovino, the US border patrol chief and frequent Fox News guest who was the face of the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts until the killing of two protesters in Minneapolis by federal agents, said he will retire within weeks.
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Trump, who once mocked the gestures of a New York Times reporter with a congenital condition that limits his ability to move his joints, claimed that the governor of California’s dyslexia means that he is “dumb”.
