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Good morning, Early Birds. We were saddened to hear that Bob Graham, the former Democratic governor and senator from Florida, died on Thursday at 87. Our condolences to his friend and family. Tips: <a href="mailto:earlytips@washpost.com?utm_campaign=wp_power_up&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;wpisrc=nl_powerup">earlytips@washpost.com</a>. Was this forwarded to you? <a href="https://s2.washingtonpost.com/38f3bdc/63d263741b79c61f87661669/5969896e9bbc0f6d71c1f555/12/59/63d263741b79c61f87661669?utm_campaign=wp_power_up&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;wpisrc=nl_powerup">Sign up here</a>. Thanks for waking up with us.

In today’s edition … &nbsp;Sheehy apologized and asked for leniency after alleged 2015 gun incident … Seven New Yorkers sworn in as jurors in Trump’s trial … but first …

Why Massie is key in effort to depose Johnson

J. Scott Applewhite

Never had the House ousted its speaker until Republicans deposed Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in October. Now, there’s a chance they’ll do it again — barely six months later.&nbsp;

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) effort to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) seemed silly and unlikely just days ago. Greene had fallen out of favor with the far-right House Freedom Caucus and doesn’t have many allies. On Friday, former president <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/donald-trump/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Donald Trump</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/12/donald-trump-mike-johnson-meeting/">stood next</a> to Johnson and said he supported him.&nbsp;

Many thought that event gave Johnson a lifeline.&nbsp;

But Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has upended that.&nbsp;

At Tuesday morning’s closed-door Republican conference meeting, Massie announced that he had signed on to Greene’s motion to vacate Johnson as House speaker after Johnson proposed funding aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with no border-security provisions.

Republicans are now taking Greene’s effort seriously.&nbsp;

On the one hand, Massie’s support moves Greene one vote closer to being able to vacate Johnson. She now only needs one more vote in their narrow two-seat majority unless Democrats come to his rescue. (They have said they will if Johnson puts a bill similar to the Senate-passed bill with funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on the floor for a vote.)&nbsp;

But Massie’s support is significant in another way, too.&nbsp;

Republicans mostly dismissed the motion to vacate because Trump, who is worried about GOP chaos six months before the election, stood with Johnson at Mar-a-Lago last week and said he supports the speaker.&nbsp;

Republicans were skeptical that Greene would cross Trump — and Republicans frustrated with Johnson didn’t want to cross Trump, either.&nbsp;

Massie is, in some ways, immune to pressure from Trump. He’s not particularly close with him. He cares little about what Trump thinks and the former president doesn’t influence his actions or his votes. So a call from Trump would probably do little to dissuade him from voting to oust Johnson.&nbsp;

As recently as last Congress, both Massie and Greene were outsiders looking in.

Massie, a libertarian who opposes nearly all government spending bills, is one of only a handful of Republicans who joined no conference or faction. He was a happy lone warrior warning his colleagues about the rising debt. Greene, a firebrand whose goal was to buck the establishment and promote Trump, was kicked off committees by Democrats and shunned by Republicans.

McCarthy knew he needed them both if he was going to survive as speaker and pass legislation. He successfully brought both of them into the fold, giving Massie a spot on the Rules Committee, a position of leadership allies, and using Greene as an informal adviser. His actions turned them into team players who defended McCarthy during his ouster.&nbsp;

Johnson, however, has failed to build a strong relationship with them. And now they could lead his political demise.&nbsp;

Massie says the motion to vacate “will happen” and has predicted that more than eight Republicans will support it, which would make it more popular than the effort by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to oust McCarthy. (Only Greene can trigger the motion, because she filed it.)

“This will get called and he will lose the vote,” Massie said.&nbsp;

If Democrats come to Johnson’s aid, Massie and other Republicans predict that Johnson will lose even more Republicans.

As one Republican aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to speak on the record, put it: Republicans can't go home in an election year and say they voted with Democrats to save the speaker.&nbsp;

But not all Republicans are happy with Massie.&nbsp;

“I like Marjorie, I like Tom Massie. I think it’s dead wrong. It’s not what motion to vacate was designed for,” Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) said. “It’s designed for if there’s a scandal, if there is some crime, something that clearly shows that person is not capable or doesn’t belong in that position. Not this. Not someone being so deliberative and working as hard as he can.”

As our colleague <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/16/mike-johnson-house-speaker-ukraine-israel-greene-massie/">Marianna Sotomayor writes with Leigh Ann</a>, “no one seems to have a clear idea of who could garner enough support to replace him. But the gamesmanship behind the scenes has begun among House members and their allies as people start to position themselves should the speaker’s chair become vacant.”

Rep. Troy E. Nehls (R-Tex.), a member of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, voiced the concern of many conservatives if Johnson is tossed aside: “If it’s not him, then who can manage this conference?”

As for an alternative, Massie insists there are “a dozen [people] who think they’re great for the job.” (He didn’t name names.)&nbsp;

“My standards have lowered,” he said.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, the House is in a waiting game.&nbsp;

Johnson spent the evening huddling with at least a handful of Republicans who want to pass the national security bill, searching for a way to craft a bill that would gain the support of all Republicans. But they haven’t come to any solution and the text of his four-part plan, which Johnson said would be released Tuesday, is in limbo.&nbsp;

Thanks to our fabulous colleague Marianna Sotomayor for her help reporting.&nbsp;

The Senate will begin the impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas at 1 p.m. today. All senators have to be at their desks to begin the proceedings.&nbsp;

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) will swear in President Pro Tempore Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.). Murray will then administer the oath to all senators, then four at a time they will sign the oath book.&nbsp;

The sergeant-at-arms will proclaim: “Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! All persons are commanded to keep silence on pain of imprisonment, while the House of Representatives is exhibiting to the Senate of the United States the article of impeachment against Alejandro N. Mayorkas, secretary of Homeland Security.”

A group of Republicans led by Sen. Mike Lee (Utah) are expected to raise multiple points of order to delay the proceedings and draw attention to the challenges at the border.&nbsp;

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is expected today to dispense with the process before the substance of the trial truly begins either by moving to a vote to table or one to dismiss. (Tabling would mean there is no debate on the measure and dismiss would allow debate.)&nbsp;

We are watching to see the how many Republicans — if any — vote to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/16/impeachment-mayorkas-senate-trial-house/">end the proceedings before a trial begins</a> in earnest.&nbsp;

Columbia University leaders will <a href="https://edworkforce.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=410264">face</a> intense grilling from lawmakers today over the university’s response to campus antisemitism in the wake of the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/israel-hamas-war/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Israel-Gaza war</a>.&nbsp;

The hearing comes months after the presidents of MIT, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/12/05/colleges-antisemitism-house-hearing-israel/">testified</a> in December before the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce on antisemitism on college campuses. One of the presidents who testified — <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/12/09/penn-president-magill-antisemitism-harvard-mit/">Penn President Liz Magill</a> — resigned from her post in the days following the contentious congressional hearing and another, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/01/02/claudine-gay-resigns-harvard/">Harvard President Claudine Gay</a>, resigned earlier this year following plagiarism charges.

Sheehy apologized and asked for leniency after alleged 2015 gun incident

Matthew Brown

NEW: “GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy apologized and asked for leniency in 2015 after he said a gun he kept in his vehicle for bear protection fell and discharged, striking him in his right forearm in Glacier National Park, according to new National Park Service documents released through a Freedom of Information Act request,” our colleague <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/17/sheehy-gunshot-montana-senate/">Liz Goodwin reports.</a>

“The new documents, which provide additional detail about an incident first reported by The Washington Post earlier this month, include a detailed written statement from Sheehy to a law enforcement officer regarding accidentally shooting himself on Oct. 18, 2015 — an account that he now says was a lie.”

“As a highly trained and combat experienced wounded veteran, I can assure you this was an unfortunate accident and we are grateful no other persons or property were damaged,” Sheehy, an ex-Navy SEAL who is favored to the win the GOP nomination to take on vulnerable Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), said in the 2015 statement apologizing for illegally discharging his weapon in the park. “Due to my ongoing security clearance and involvement with national defense related contracts, I request leniency with any charges related to this unfortunate accident.”

“Sheehy, who has told voters he has a bullet in his arm from his time serving in Afghanistan, says he made up the 2015 accidental gunshot story on that October day to cover up a wound he says he received in a 2012 firefight in Afghanistan,” Liz writes.&nbsp;

“A National Park Service summary of the incident, which was also included in the newly released documents, says an unidentified park visitor reported an accidental gun discharge in Logan Pass. That differs from Sheehy’s account that law enforcement was first contacted by personnel at a hospital that treated him for wounds that he now says he received from falling on a hike. The summary does not identify the park visitor who made the report of a gun discharge.”

“A lawyer for Sheehy, Daniel Watkins, called into question the existence of the park visitor, stating in a letter that the ranger never indicated that he interviewed that person as part of his report. Watkins posited that hospital staff, not a park visitor, notified park dispatch that Sheehy had shot himself at Logan Pass — after he lied to them — and that park dispatch later ‘clarified’ to the ranger that the person was already at the hospital.”

Biden calls for tripling tariffs on steel industry as election looms

Happening today: “Biden plans to unveil on Wednesday a series of new protections for the U.S. steel industry, as he moves to combat what the White House calls ‘unfair’ Chinese competition and shore up his political fortunes in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Ohio,” our colleague <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/04/17/biden-steel-china-tariff-election/">David J. Lynch reports.</a>

Seven New Yorkers sworn in as jurors in Trump’s trial

Jabin Botsford

Seven New Yorkers were <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/16/trump-new-york-criminal-trial-hush-money/">sworn in</a> as jurors Tuesday in the historic criminal trial of former president Donald Trump. They make up more than a third of the total number of people needed to hold a trial with a full jury and six alternates. Prosecutors and defense attorneys will need to seat 11 more panelists — but that won’t happen today. Court is adjourned until Thursday.&nbsp;

New York Supreme Court Justice <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/03/31/trump-judge-merchan-indictment/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Juan Merchan</a> said opening statements could begin as soon as Monday.

Here’s what else you need to know:&nbsp;

The trial has upended Trump’s relationship with New York: “To Trump, according to people who know him, the city he once aspired to inhabit now seems to be conspiring against him, culminating in something of a tabloid-style divorce — not dissimilar to the Page Six spectacle of the 1990 end of his marriage to his first wife, Ivana,” our colleagues <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/04/17/questions-answers-trump-hush-money-trial/?itid=lk_inline_manual_90">Josh Dawsey and Ashley Parker write.</a>

The seated jurors showed a range of knowledge about Trump and the news: Juror #B400, an Irish immigrant who lives in West Harlem, gets his news from the New York Times, the Daily Mail, as well as “some” Fox News and MSNBC, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/16/jury-trump-hush-money-trial/?itid=lk_inline_manual_91">per our colleagues Patrick Svitek and Maegan Vazquez</a>. Juror #B280 is an oncology nurse who said that “no one is above the law.” Juror #B381 is a “young to middle-aged” man who works as a corporate lawyer and enjoyed watching “The Apprentice” in middle school. Juror #B89 finds Trump “fascinating and mysterious.” <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/16/jury-trump-hush-money-trial/?itid=lk_inline_manual_91">Read about the rest of the jurors here</a>.

More hush money reads from our colleagues:&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/04/16/trump-trials-tracker-latest-news/?itid=lk_inline_manual_94">Key takeaways from Trump trial Day 2: The 7 jurors, Trump’s demeanor</a>. By Perry Stein and Devlin Barrett.

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/04/17/maryland-senate-hogan-ad/?itid=lk_inline_manual_99">Hogan and GOP cast his Senate candidacy as 'a voice of common sense.’</a> By Erin Cox and Katie Shepherd.

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/04/17/trump-wind-power-oil-executives/?itid=lk_inline_manual_100">Trump rails against wind energy in fundraising pitch to oil executives.</a> By Maxine Joselow and Josh Dawsey.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/catherine-belton/?itid=lk_inline_manual_101">Secret Russian foreign policy document urges action to weaken the U.S. </a>By Catherine Belton.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/17/philippines-balikatan-joint-military-exercise/?itid=lk_inline_manual_102">Philippines plans ambitious exercise with U.S. as concerns over China grow.</a> By Rebecca Tan and Regine Cabato.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/04/16/bob-menendez-wife-unsealed-brief/?itid=lk_inline_manual_103">Menendez’s legal strategy may include blaming his wife, unsealed document says</a>. By Maegan Vazquez.

<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/16/supreme-court-obstruction-trump-jan-6/?itid=lk_inline_manual_104">Supreme Court divided over key charge against Jan. 6 rioters and Trump</a>. By Ann E. Marimow.

From across the web:&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/16/us/politics/trump-foreign-leaders.html">Trump holds series of meetings with foreign leaders</a>. By the New York Times’s Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman and Michael Crowley.

A plot twist so shocking, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1104036/">Jesse Armstrong</a> had to have written it

Thanks for reading. You can also follow us on X: <a href="https://twitter.com/LACaldwellDC">@LACaldwellDC</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/theodoricmeyer">@theodoricmeyer</a>.

Joan Shorenstein Barone Award for Excellence in Congressional Reporting in 2018

Radio Television Digital News First Amendment Clarity Award in 2019

New York Press Club Award for feature writing on Donald Trump in 2016

North Carolina State University, BA in Communications

Leigh Ann Caldwell is co-author of The Washington Post’s Early 202 and focuses on Congress and politics. She is also an anchor for Washington Post Live, conducting high-impact newsmaking interviews. Before joining The Post in 2022, Caldwell was a correspondent at NBC News, most recently as a member of its congressional unit. 

Leigh Ann Caldwell

Deadline Club Award for Newspaper or Digital Local News Reporting, 2014

McGill University

Columbia University

Theodoric Meyer is a national political reporter for The Washington Post and a co-author of the Early 202 newsletter.

Theodoric Meyer

Rutgers University, BA in Biological Sciences

American University, MA in Journalism and Public Affairs

Tobi Raji is a researcher for The Early 202, a pre-dawn newsletter about the nation’s major power centers, including the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court.

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