Shutdown Hits Travelers & Trump Deploys Diplomacy | 3.25.26

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Passengers pay the price with long airport lines as lawmakers work to nail down a deal

to end the DHS shutdown.

We would open up everything at DHS except ICE, including TSA, which the Democrats have

already agreed to.

I'm daily wire executive editor John Bickley with Georgia Howell.

It's Wednesday, March 25th.

This is Morning Wire.

President Trump sends an elite paratrooper force to the Middle East as negotiators try

to hammer out the terms for a peace deal.

Because they're going to make a deal, they're going to make a deal.

And as the president continues to push for election integrity through the Save Act, the

Supreme Court weighs a case that could reshape voting nationwide.

Independence Day, birthday, and election day, and they're all particular days.

Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.

Stay tuned.

We have the news you need to know.

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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.

Joining us now to discuss that and more is our DC bureau chief Tim Rice.

Great to have you back on the show as always.

Thanks for having me, John.

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?

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 seem 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 is setting ultimatums not necessarily the best look and of course 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 Tehr walked the TSA line at George Bush International Airport in Houston

and it was a lot right 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 strikes on conventional wisdom here in

DC for a little bit was that it would be Republicans throwing 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 Arcanne has been covering this legislative battle for weeks now.

We talked to him today about the latest developments in negotiations.

White House borders are a town home and 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 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 bit beautiful bill act last year.

Switching gears now to Senate yesterday held a hearing on Arctic Frost.

Tell us about what we heard in that hearing.

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 Cash 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 a little going to continue to weigh on Democrats as we head into the

midterms.

Meanwhile, the DHS shut down.

We will see today if there's more movement on that front.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Thanks for having me, guys.

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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.

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 build up in

the region.

What's the latest there?

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 street 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 street from both mines and rocket attacks.

So at least some European allies appear to finally be answering Trump's call for aid.

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

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, all of whom are passing messages between the two

governments. Pakistan appears to be taking 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 Woodcoff 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.

And what is each side looking for with that deal?

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 Nicolas Maduro was replaced not by the country's opposition leader, but by Delce Rodriguez,

who worked closely with Maduro, but has been much more willing to cooperate with the US,

Trump acknowledged as much this week.

And maybe one of them will be exactly what we're looking for. Look at Venezuela, how well that's

worked, you know. It's interesting. The Trump administration is reportedly now eyeing Mohammed

Galibov, that speaker of Iran's parliament as a potential peace partner. Galibov is hardly a

moderate by Western standards, but has in the past expressed a desire to build relationships

with Europe and the US. 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 Adelso 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. Well, an extremely complicated context within which to make a deal. Yeah.

Cabot, thanks for reporting. Absolutely.

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in the credit karma app. As President Trump has hammered the importance of election integrity

efforts through his focus on the Save Act. The Supreme Court this week heard a male in ballot case

that could have sweeping implications for the midterms. Joining us now to discuss is Alliance

Defending Freedom President and CEO Kristen Wagner. Kristen, good to have you back on.

Thanks for having me. 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 male in ballot case in the

high court. This is Watson versus RNC. First, what exactly is that issue in this case?

The case is about whether states can count male 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 DC 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 day.

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 outcomes going to hinge on

what two words in federal law mean and those two words are election day. So that's for reading

the tea leaves, looking at how the justices responded to these arguments. Which way do you see the

court leaning? 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 seems to resonate with justices

Gorsuch, Thomas, and Alito. 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 at just at the phrase election day, what would we take from that?

I think you've been saying 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. 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. I feel like I've heard that one before. Yes, again and again. So what are the pros and cons

of the court ruling for either side? 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'm 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 seemed concerned about was fraud and establish 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. So would that affect necessarily the elections in November?

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.

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. Thank you. Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're listening

to the show, now you can watch for free on Daily Wire Plus. We'll be back later this evening

with more news you need to know.

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