Dear Friend,

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Stew, WORLD’s political roundup.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., gave a marathon 25-hour speech on the Senate floor earlier this week. It was not a filibuster in the technical sense because it did not block or delay any pending legislation. But it did break the late Sen. Strom Thurmond’s 1957 record, set when he held the floor for 24 hours to oppose the Civil Rights Act.

Filibustering lawmakers often read from recipe books or works of fiction (á la Ted Cruz and the Green Eggs and Ham recitation of 2013), but Booker filled his time by criticizing the Trump administration and reading from comments constituents sent. After 25 hours, he said he only got through half of his material.

And yes, reporters asked all the pertinent questions when Booker finally left the floor on Tuesday night. He started fasting on Friday and stopped drinking water on Monday so as not to have to answer the calls of nature. He also removed everything from his pockets that might grow heavy after several hours such as his wallet and phone. But he left a handwritten Bible verse in his pocket: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

The stunt did not change Senate procedure for the week, other than delaying a few votes, but it energized Democratic senators and voters. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., prayed for Booker before he launched his talk-a-thon. Warnock told me the party is looking into how to keep up the momentum, but not necessarily by requiring all the members to perform the same feat.

Here’s what is stirring in D.C. …

The Heritage Foundation quietly released a report last year titled Project Esther. The strategy details ways a presidential administration should address anti-Semitism and what the authors described as “Hamas Support Networks.” It specifically suggests deporting agitators and threatening federal university funding. The Trump administration has followed the recommendations so far. Read my report on what’s in Project Esther and how it could be influencing the State, Justice, and Education departments in their crackdowns on anti-Semitism.

Plus …

• Attempting to keep control of his party, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., sparked a rebellion. Johnson didn’t want a bill to come to the floor that would allow proxy voting for pregnant women and new parents. Enough Republicans did—and partnered with Democrats to circumvent the speaker. Leo Briceno reports on the power struggle at play between the conference and its leader.
• Trump lashed out at Russian President Vladimir Putin this week for adding demands to a deal that negotiators thought they had brokered in Saudi Arabia last week. On the Washington Wednesday segment of The World and Everything in It, I report on the latest negotiations and why some are worried about the White House talking to the Kremlin.
• While Trump levies more tariffs, the Senate is looking at ways to rein in his power to do so. This week, I explain which tariffs Trump enacted on “Liberation Day” and a Republican-supported resolution and bill in the Senate that would return tariff-making authority to the legislative branch.
• Two special elections in Florida have filled a pair of vacant House seats left behind by Trump’s cabinet nominations. While they both ended up in Republican hands, Leo reports on why Democrats see a glimmer of hope in the results.
• Pro-life advocates are urging House Republicans to use their governing trifecta to cut Planned Parenthood’s federal Medicaid funding. In theory, it’s an idea conservatives on Capitol Hill can easily get behind. But, as Leo reported last week, not everyone is ready to sign on just yet.

More Stewings

“Magic math:” Senate Republicans released a new budget framework yesterday that aims to make the 2017 tax cuts permanent. It calls for a $5 trillion debt limit increase, a $150 billion increase in military spending, and $175 billion for immigration enforcement. Republicans say it paves the way for $1.7 trillion in tax cuts and will not cause an increase in spending over the current tax policy. But Democrats, citing an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office, say the plan represents a $4.6 billion spending increase because the 2017 tax cuts were supposed to expire in 2025. They want the Senate parliamentarian to review the GOP budget framework and declare that it doesn’t meet the zero-sum requirements for the budget reconciliation process, which would allow it to pass in the Senate with just a simple majority vote.

Who killed JFK? Documentary filmmaker Oliver Stone called on the House to open a new investigation into the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Stone’s Oscar-winning film in 1991 portrayed the murder as a government conspiracy, likely the work of the CIA. Now, the House Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets is working on Trump’s executive order to declassify the JFK files. In a hearing on Tuesday, Stone told members that he thinks there was more than one gunman. Although the National Archives released thousands of pages of documents in compliance with Trump’s declassification order, some information is still redacted. Witnesses said that the recently unredacted files show the CIA monitored gunman Lee Harvey Oswald for years before the shooting, but they do not explain why.

Blocked: Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., announced he will hold up confirmation votes for all nominees to the Department of Veterans Affairs to protest the Trump administration’s planned cuts to the agency. Senate procedure does not allow a permanent block on nominations, but the chamber must spend hours of debate on a single candidate if a one senator refuses to consent to approving a batch of nominations. (Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., used the same method in 2023 to stall Pentagon promotions in protest of the agency’s reimbursement of travel expenses for abortions.) Gallego’s hold means that at least five top-level positions could be indefinitely stalled. The Senate has already confirmed former Rep. Doug Collins as the Veterans Affairs secretary. The White House has ordered the department to cut roughly 80,000 employees, which would return it to 2019 staffing levels. But Gallego says the cuts are unfair to veterans in need of agency support and employees who are veterans.

Under the wire: The United States is scheduled to ban TikTok on Saturday unless a U.S. bidder finally completes a purchase. Although most Republican lawmakers oppose TikTok due to security risks with the platform’s owner, Bytedance, a Chinese company. A law passed last year outlawed the app unless Chinese-owned companies divested it. Trump said he was willing to save the app and extended the ban’s deadline from January to April. Earlier this week, he said some American buyers have lined up. Amazon submitted a bid yesterday, and the private equity firm Blackstone is reportedly seeking a stake. Tim Stokley, founder of the pornography website OnlyFans, has also filed a bid.

Mixed bag: Liberal candidate Susan Crawford defeated conservative Brad Schimel by 10 percentage points in Tuesday’s Wisconsin state Supreme Court election. Her victory maintains a one-seat liberal majority on the court. While Republicans met their ballot goals across the state, Democrats picked up gains in every county. More than 2 million voters cast ballots, a record for an off-cycle election. Elon Musk stumped for Schimel in the days leading up to the election, again offering checks to people who registered to vote. Wisconsin voters also voted in favor of a constitutional amendment to require voter identification, a win for the GOP. The voter ID law was already in effect but will now be enshrined in the state’s constitution. The amendment passed by 25 points.

And the kitchen sink

• The Pentagon inspector general has opened an investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the messaging app Signal.
• Former Health Secretary Xavier Becerra announces his 2026 campaign for California governor.
• After another airplane near-miss at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration says air traffic controllers will be offered crisis counseling and extra supervision.
• New York City Mayor Eric Adams announces he will not run in the Democratic primary but will seek reelection as an independent instead.

WORLD-WIDE REPORTS

• In Vitals, Leah Savas reports on arguments before the Supreme Court this week over defunding Planned Parenthood. Josh Schumacher interviewed protesters outside the court for The World and Everything in It podcast.
• In the latest issue of WORLD Magazine, Bekah McCallum reports on birthright citizenship and an interpretation of the 14th Amendment that is now in dispute.
• WORLD Opinions contributor Hunter Baker discusses why an Illinois county is removing pro-life Sen. Henry Hyde’s name from buildings. Listen on The World and Everything in It.

That’s all for this week! As always, thank you for reading The Stew. If you enjoy this weekly newsletter, forward it to your friends! Or tell them to sign up here.

Until next week,