What does the Senate contempt vote mean for Fauci?
The Hill · C · trust 40/100
Senate Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to hold former chief White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress.
Why? : For refusing to answer their questions at last week’s hearing on the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment rights 111 times and refused to answer a single question.
Fauci argued he was advised to do this because Paul was setting traps to trick him into saying something incriminating.
The vote : Led by Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), Republicans passed 8-7 along party lines. No Democrat voted to hold Fauci in contempt.
Democrats on the committee repeatedly tried to stop the resolution from moving forward but ultimately lost to the Republican majority.
What happens now? : Contempt referrals usually go to the full Senate for a vote, but Paul could instead choose to send it to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Paul has suggested he would skip the full Senate vote , which would need Democrats’ support, and go directly to the DOJ to ask for a prosecution. The DOJ would ultimately decide how to proceed.
“Many people, including Trump administration officials, and even the president himself, have invoked the Fifth Amendment. But the case is unique, legal scholars say, because of the tension between the reach of a presidential pardon and that of the Fifth Amendment. The potential consequences could be grave for Dr. Fauci ,” The New York Times’s Jan Hoffman reports.
Three Republican state attorneys general subpoenaed Fauci on Wednesday to investigate how the pandemic was handled.
Which GOP states’ attorneys general? : Florida, West Virginia and Louisiana. Read more
Several news outlets have reported this week that the U.S. has nearly exhausted its supply of long-range missiles and interceptors in the past five months of the war in Iran.
Specifically, CNN reports that nearly 80 percent of interceptors for a critical defense system have been depleted.
And Reuters reports the Army has used “virtually all” of its long-range precision missiles, which cost more than $1 million each.
What Trump is mad about — who leaked this information : The president dismissed the reports of the U.S. being low on munitions and instead fumed about the leak . “The ‘leakers’ of these treasonous statements are being hunted down ,” Trump said, noting he will seek “Long term jail sentences.”
💡 Keep in mind : The Trump administration has been furious about leaks and has threatened jailtime. Last month, the DOJ subpoenaed four New York Times reporters in hopes of sussing out who leaked information about the new Air Force One.
A deal between Iran and Oman that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz may be coming together. The deal would give the two countries joint control over the waterway’s traffic.
Why this is big : “If agreed to, the deal would fly in the face of repeated assertions by Trump administration officials that Iran cannot control access to the vital shipping lane. But President Trump, seeking an off-ramp to a deeply unpopular conflict that is in its sixth month, appears anxious to use momentum from the Iran-Oman talks to advance negotiations with Tehran on a broader nuclear deal.” Read more
President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth got into an argument at Camp David over the weekend over the munition shortages.
What happened? : On the sidelines of the Camp David summit, Trump reportedly demanded answers from Hegseth on why he had been “misled” about the weapons’ stockpile. Trump was frustrated because he thought the depletion issue “had been fixed.”
This affects Trump’s Iran strategy : “The shortages, particularly in long-range guided missiles and air-defense interceptors, have been part of the reason Trump has pulled back from launching additional massive strikes against Iran in recent days, one of the sources said.”
Read The Washington Post’s reporting: ‘Trump, Hegseth clashed at Camp David over Iran missile depletion concerns’
Related reporting, via NBC News: ‘Pentagon holds crisis meeting on weapons shortfall after angry Trump call, sources say’
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) late Wednesday approved the U.S.’s first mRNA flu vaccine!
The FDA approved the Moderna vaccine for people age 50 and older, which Moderna says is 27 percent more effective than a standard dose of the flu vaccine.
Will it be ready for this upcoming flu season? : Moderna says yes! From the time the seasonal strain is discovered, mRNA vaccines take two to three months to roll out the vaccine — that’s half the time of the traditional flu shot.
Oh, and mRNA vaccines can easily be updated later in the season if a new strain is found.
OK, so what happens now? : The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine panel needs to formally recommend it. (Though, that panel has been blocked by a federal judge, so it can’t meet now). The vaccine can still be prescribed without the formal recommendation but insurers may not cover it.
The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel wrote a helpful explainer on this new mRNA vaccine . It’s worth reading.
— A CNN investigation found that Taylor Farms has been linked to at least five cyclospora and E. coli outbreaks in roughly the past decade but downplayed it.
— Jeffrey Epstein ’s former girlfriend, a 37-year-old dentist, could inherit as much as $100 million from the convicted sex offender..
The Wall Street Journal : Airlines Push Back Against ICE Enforcement at Airports: Federal agents are using flight manifests to arrest travelers with lapsed visas, drawing objections over safety and protocol
The House is out. The Senate is in . President Trump is in Washington. (All times EDT)
Today: Tennessee holds its primary election. 👌 3 races to…
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