Editor’s note: The Hill’s Morning Report is our daily newsletter that dives deep into Washington’s agenda. To subscribe, click here or fill out the box below.
In today’s issue:
- Trump mixes aviation tragedy with politics
- Gabbard confirmation in danger
- GOP senator “struggling” with RFK Jr. nomination
- Tariffs on Canada, Mexico to start Saturday
President Trump sought Thursday to command the aftermath of a national aviation tragedy with reassurance, but without the patience to turn a moment of silence for the victims and their families into a longer pause to make room for today’s ongoing investigation.
“We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas,” he said from the White House briefing room. “And I think we’ll probably state those opinions now because over the years I’ve watched as things like this happen and they say, ‘Well, we’re always investigating,’ and then the investigation, three years later, they announce it.”
▪ The Hill: Five takeaways from Trump’s press conference.
▪ The Hill’s The Memo by Niall Stanage: Washington flight disaster sparks political fights.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating what led an American Airlines regional plane and an Army Black Hawk helicopter with its crew of three to collide late Wednesday over the Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport.
The NTSB, working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Defense Department and others will eventually report why 67 people perished in midair just a few thousand feet from a clear runway near the nation’s capital.
Trump spoke with reporters twice Thursday, suggesting the fault might be embedded in FAA diversity hiring policies that he said were wrongly embraced by his two Democratic predecessors. He also suggested without offering evidence that air traffic controller errors might be to blame or perhaps issues with the Black Hawk crew. “You had a pilot problem from the standpoint of the helicopter, I mean, because it was visual,” Trump added. The president said he offered his “common sense,” not specific facts that had been verified by first responders and aviation experts from the scene hours after the crash.
▪ The Associated Press: Challenged to explain his assertions, here is how the president responded.
▪ The Hill: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) criticized Trump’s “idle speculation” about the crash: “It just turns your stomach.”
At the time Trump spoke, the identities of the victims had not been officially released, and relatives were still en route to Washington to be briefed.
The Washington Post: What to know about the passengers.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters a “mistake was made.” He did not add details but noted the Army helicopter had been conducting a training exercise.
The exchanges among air controllers, the plane and the helicopter are at the center of the investigation. A supervisor at National Airport determined that air traffic volume Wednesday was low enough to combine two tower positions — handling local arrivals into the airport and helicopter traffic — into one controller the night of the collision, which is not uncommon. Investigators will probe why the pilot of American Airlines flight 5342 was asked to change the plane’s approach from one of the main airport runways to another. And the elevation at which the helicopter flew will be probed.
Investigators are collecting audio and available video. The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were recovered Thursday and sent to the NTSB lab.
SMART TAKE with NewsNation’s BLAKE BURMAN:
The second full work week of the second Trump term is coming to an end, and there has been a ton of focus (rightfully so) on how Trump has started to implement his agenda.
I’ve also been keeping an eye on something else: How Democrats plan to adjust heading toward the next election.
For example, a new Quinnipiac University poll shows only 31 percent of registered voters, including just 22 percent of independents, view the Democratic Party favorably. (The GOP, by comparison, is viewed favorably by 43 percent and unfavorably by slightly more.)
A new Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair will be elected Saturday here in the D.C. area. That Quinnipiac poll has the unfavorable rating for the party at 57 percent, which shows just how big of a job the new DNC head will have before them.
Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.
3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:
▪ Trump said Thursday he expects the Supreme Court will side with him in the legal fight over ending citizenship for the children of immigrants in the country without legal authorization. Constitutional experts argue it has long been a right protected by the 14th Amendment.
▪ Here’s what to know so far about legal challenges to Trump’s executive actions.
▪ The Trump administration is weighing a halt to New York City’s congestion pricing, which began as a tolling program on Jan. 5 and attracted prominent critics, including the president and New Jersey’s Democratic governor.
LEADING THE DAY
© The Associated Press | John McDonnell
THREE OF TRUMP’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL Cabinet nominees faced Senate committee hearings on Thursday as lawmakers weigh whether to advance their nominations to the Senate floor.
First up: former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a onetime Democrat who Trump tapped to be director of national intelligence. The former Army lieutenant colonel has been considered among the toughest lifts of Trump’s nominees, and based on the public portion of Thursday’s hearing, Gabbard remains in a tough spot. She likely needs to win a majority of the 17 committee votes — which could be difficult in its own right — to reach a floor vote.
The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports Gabbard’s nomination is on shaky ground.
“People are holding their cards pretty close to the vest but that nomination is in trouble,” said one Republican senator, who requested anonymity to comment candidly on Gabbard’s chances.
A second Republican senator said there’s been “a lot of discussion” among GOP lawmakers over Gabbard’s fitness to lead the nation’s intelligence community.
“There’s been a lot of conversation on that,” the senator said.
The Hill’s Al Weaver breaks down key moments from Gabbard’s hearing. At one point, she tried to quell concerns about her stance on Russia and the ongoing war in Ukraine, brushing off accusations that she is a “puppet” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Washington Post: Gabbard said, under oath, that she did not know “until today” that a prominent cleric she met in Syria threatened to unleash suicide bombers in the U.S. Documents and emails from 2017 indicate she was told then about the threats.
Meanwhile, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said Thursday he was “surprised” that Gabbard refused to call former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden a “traitor” after being repeatedly pressed on the question. Gabbard co-authored legislation supporting a pardon for him and supported a bill that would have given increased whistleblower protections for individuals accused of violating the Espionage Act — both of which were anathema to members on the Intelligence panel.
“I felt that was a pretty easy question, actually, to be able to come through and just say, ‘This is universally accepted when you steal a million pages of top-secret documents and you hand them to the Russians, that’s a traitorous act,’” Lankford told reporters after the open session. “That did catch me off guard.”
Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), meanwhile, announced Thursday during a Fox & Friends interview that he supports Gabbard’s nomination.
Day 2: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, faced an intense three hours of questioning in his second day of hearings, with his chances of being confirmed appearing less certain by the end. Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee once again hammered Kennedy for promoting misinformation about vaccines, and his refusal to back down from those positions seemed to bother even some Republicans on the panel.
HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a physician, made it clear he had “reservations” about Kennedy’s beliefs on vaccines causing autism — which has been widely disproven — and his long-documented skepticism of their efficacy.
“There’s a 70-year-old man, 71-year-old man, who spent decades criticizing vaccines and was financially vested in finding fault with vaccines,” Cassidy said. “Can he change his attitudes and approach now that he’ll have the most important position influencing vaccine policy in the United States?”
“Disruptor”: Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI, was met with intense grilling from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee about his past comments and allegiance to Trump. To Republicans, Patel — a vocal Trump loyalist who has vowed to take aim at the president’s political enemies — represents a chance to reform the FBI, but Democrats argue he is an unqualified figure at risk of abusing power.
“Mr. Patel would have us believe that all of these public servants, all Republicans, all from the first Trump administration, and apparently anyone else who is critical of him, are nothing but government gangsters and ‘deep state’ members, many of them have made his list of enemies,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the top Democrat on the panel. “Our nation needs an FBI director who understands the gravity of this mission and is ready on day one, not someone who is consumed by his own personal political grievances.”
The New York Times: Top FBI officials have been told to retire or be fired in the coming days, fueling fear within an agency that has been a target of Trump and Patel.
Boycott: Senate Republicans unanimously advanced the nomination of Russell Vought to lead the White House budget office as Democrats boycotted the meeting to protest the administration’s recent efforts to freeze large swaths of federal funding. Senate Democrats said ahead of the committee vote that they would not attend the meeting, calling Vought “clearly unfit for office.”
Democrats have been sounding the alarm over a since-rescinded memo the Office of Management and Budget issued this week directing agencies to temporarily pause disbursement of loans, grants and other financial assistance to determine if spending is in line with the president’s agenda.
▪ The Hill: In three separate letters, the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards, the Project On Government Oversight, and EDF Action, which describes itself as an “Advocacy partner of the Environmental Defense Fund,” pushed senators to oppose Vought’s nomination.
▪ The Hill: The Senate confirmed former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as Interior secretary Thursday in a 79-18 vote, with the majority of Senate Democrats joining every Republican in the chamber.
▪ The Hill: Senate Democrats are starting to revolt against Trump’s agenda on Capitol Hill amid fallout from an initial freeze on all foreign assistance, warning Republicans that failure to work together will incur consequences.
▪ The Wall Street Journal: Here’s how senators are voting on Trump’s Cabinet picks.
WHERE AND WHEN
- The House convenes for a pro forma session at 10 a.m.
- The Senate meets on Monday at 3 p.m. On Sunday, Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), former GOP leader, will be interviewed on “60 Minutes.”
- The president will sign executive orders at 3 p.m. Trump will depart Washington at 5 p.m. for Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
- The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 1 p.m.
ZOOM IN
© The Associated Press | Mark Schiefelbein
More on the aviation aftermath: Trump on Thursday named Chris Rocheleau as acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He held various positions in the FAA for 20 years, worked for the National Business Aviation Association and was an officer and special agent with the U.S. Air Force and US Air Force Reserve. The agency had been without leadership since former Administrator Michael Whitaker stepped down before Trump took office.
Reagan National Airport is considered by the FAA to be “capacity constrained.” It has reported nine near-midair collisions in the past 20 years.
Trump also directed the FAA and Transportation secretary to assess U.S. aviation safety and “any deterioration in hiring standards and aviation safety standards and protocols during the Biden administration.”
News accounts, social media and official announcements provided identities and information about some of the deceased passengers and crew aboard the American Airlines flight.
The helicopter involved in Wednesday’s collision at National Airport had been on a military training flight, according to Heather Chairez, a spokesperson for the U.S. military’s Joint Task Force-National Capital Region. It was operating out of Davison Army Airfield in Fort Belvoir, Va., south of Washington. The Pentagon and the Army launched an investigation, the Defense secretary said on social media.
The three soldiers aboard the helicopter, including a female pilot, instructor Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves and the crew chief, Ryan O’Hara, 29, were described as “very experienced.”
“Both pilots had flown this specific route before, at night. This wasn’t something new to either one of them,” said Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff for Army aviation. “Even the crew chief in the back had been in the unit for a very long time, very familiar with the area, very familiar with the routing structure.”
Koziol confirmed to reporters that the male instructor pilot had more than 1,000 hours of flight time, the female pilot who was commanding the flight at the time had more than 500 hours of flight time, and the crew chief was also said to have hundreds of hours of flight time.
The NTSB, which said it briefed the White House and lawmakers Thursday, explains an aviation investigation can take 12 to 24 months, depending on the complexity of the accident and the amount of data analyzed. The board tries to issue a preliminary report where possible within 30 days.
ELSEWHERE
© The Associated Press | Gregory Bull
TARIFFS: Trump on Thursday said he plans to follow through Saturday on his threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada.
“We’ll be announcing the tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a number of reasons,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He cited the influx of migrants at the southern border, the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. and the trade deficit the U.S. has with its neighbors. Still unclear: whether or not the tariffs will affect oil.
“Look, Mexico and Canada have never been good to us on trade,” he continued. “They’ve treated us very unfairly on trade, and we will be able to make that up very quickly because we don’t need the products that they have.”
Mexico and Canada are two of the top trading partners with the United States, and experts have warned that tariffs could lead to increased prices for American consumers for certain goods. But experts have also said that their economies would likely suffer more in the long term from an extended trade war.
▪ The Washington Post: Canadian officials hope diplomacy can stave off the tariffs, while also planning retaliation.
▪ The Wall Street Journal: Trump’s plan to carry out the biggest mass deportation in U.S. history is squeezing Mexico like no other country.
▪ Mother Jones: Trump signed an executive order “to combat anti-Semitism” that allows for a broad crackdown on pro-Palestine speech, including deporting demonstrators on student visas. The order does not explicitly require schools to deport anyone — nor does it immediately cancel visas. Instead, it puts the ball in the universities’ court.
A legacy bipartisan initiative to combat HIV and AIDS in Africa is collateral damage from Trump’s directive to halt all U.S. foreign assistance, despite efforts to exempt humanitarian assistance and life-saving medication from being caught up in the funding freeze. The stop-work order on global health funding has frozen activities at health clinics across Africa that rely on the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), throwing aid organizations into chaos and raising immediate fears of a rapid spread of HIV around the continent. The $6.5 billion PEPFAR is considered to be one of America’s most consequential programs in Africa. The Hill’s Laura Kelly and Nathaniel Weixel report experts and organizations on the ground are sounding the alarm over the sudden halt.
An Israeli law banning the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) from operating in Israeli territory took effect Thursday. The law brings uncertainty for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who rely on the organization for basic services in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.
“Curtailing our operations now — outside a political process, and when trust in the international community is so low — will undermine the ceasefire,” UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday. Officials vowed Thursday that UNRWA would continue to deliver its services in the occupied Palestinian territories for as long as possible.
▪ Axios: White House envoy Steve Witkoff said at the end of his trip to the Middle East that rebuilding Gaza could take between 10 and 15 years.
▪ The New York Times: What we know about Ahmed al-Shara, Syria’s interim president. The rebel chief who led the overthrow of the Assad regime has been declared the head of government for a transitional period.
▪ The Washington Post: The front-runner to become Germany’s next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has prompted fierce backlash after relying on far-right votes to push a motion through Parliament — breaking a longtime taboo.
▪ The Hill: A European Parliament member from Slovenia says he nominated tech giant Elon Musk for a Nobel Peace Prize for his free speech advocacy.
OPINION
■ Whole-Hog Politics: Setting a baseline for Trump and the GOP, by Chris Stirewalt, columnist, The Hill.
■ What Cruz’s Panama Canal hearing actually revealed, by Nivia Rossana Castrellón, opinion contributor, The Hill.
THE CLOSER
© The Associated Press | John Locher
And finally … 👏👏👏 Bravo to winners of this week’s Morning Report Quiz! With Trump’s forest of new edicts in mind, we posed some questions about the history of executive orders.
Here are the savvy puzzlers who went 4/4: Jess A. Elger, Pam Manges, Harry Strulovici, Amanda Fisher, William D. Moore, Brian Hogan, Terry Pflaumer, Mark Roeddiger, Linda L. Field, Carmine Petracca and Savannah Petracca.
The Constitution does not explicitly define a president’s right to issue executive orders. Instead, the power derives from Article II, Section 1, Clause 1, which states: “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.”
Jimmy Carter, among former presidents on our list, signed the most executive orders in one term — 320.
Former President William Henry Harrison, who served for just a month, did not issue any executive orders.
The Federal Register Act of 1936 standardized the documentation of executive orders.
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