Thank you to all who attended our All Hands meeting on March 29. We talked about the races that TSB will be participating in this coming year, our strategy for picking those races, and the campaigns we are going to run. We had special guest Representative Suhas Subramanyam from Virginial talk to us about how the Democrats are fighting back against the illegal and inhumane actions of the Trump administration. 

Congratulations to Arun Pookote for winning the raffle! Arun, please get in touch by replying to this email so we can give you your gift! 

IRAN UPDATES

No sign of war winding down in Mideast: There was little sign Friday of the war in the Mideast winding down as Israel said it faced incoming fire from Iran, Kuwait and Bahrain reported being under attack, and Iran said eight people were killed while celebrating the close of Persian new year near a major bridge hit by a U.S. strike. AP

Niece, grand-niece of slain Iranian Gen. Soleimani arrested by immigration agents: The State Department said the niece and grand-niece of former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike near the Baghdad airport in 2020, had been arrested late Friday by immigration agents after Rubio revoked their green cards. “Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” the statement said. (I guess we are taking hostages now?) NBC

2 US aircraft shot down as war in Iran escalates. At least 1 crew member is missing: Iran shot down two U.S. military planes in separate attacks Friday, with one service member rescued and at least one missing, in a dramatic escalation since the war began nearly five weeks ago. It came just two days after President Donald Trump said in a national address that the U.S. has “beaten and completely decimated Iran” and was “going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast.” AP

Hegseth asks US Army's top general to step down: George’s removal adds to recent upheaval at all levels of leadership at the Pentagon, including the firing last year of the previous chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, as well as the chief of naval operations and Air Force vice chief of staff. CNBC

NATIONAL

Trump budget seeks $1.5T in defense spending alongside cuts in domestic programs: President Donald Trump has proposed boosting defense spending to $1.5 trillion in his 2027 budget released Friday, the largest such request in decades, reflecting his emphasis on U.S. military investments over domestic programs. AP

Trump fires Pam Bondi as attorney general: Trump had been frustrated with Bondi on multiple fronts, sources said, including her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and that she had not investigated or prosecuted enough of his political opponents. She is the second Cabinet secretary to be ousted in recent weeks; last month, Trump removed Kristi Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. CNN

DOJ Admits ‘Unprecedented’ National Security Staffing Challenges: The Justice Department acknowledged facing “unprecedented” national security workforce constraints due to high turnover compounded by rising overseas threats and new responsibilities. BLOOMBERG LAW

FBI declares suspected Chinese hack of US surveillance system a ‘major cyber incident’: The determination suggests the hackers successfully compromised swathes of sensitive data stored directly on FBI systems, likely marking a major counterintelligence coup for China. FISMA requires agencies to tell lawmakers within seven days about any digital intrusion it has determined is “likely to result in demonstrable harm” to U.S. national security. POLITICO

Hegseth has intervened in military promotions for more than a dozen senior officers: The defense secretary’s efforts to block or delay promotions to general or admiral for some officers has raised concerns that he may be targeting them because of race, gender or affiliation with the Biden administration, sources say. NBC

Trump says it's 'not possible' for the U.S. to pay for Medicaid, Medicare and day care: 'We’re fighting wars': President Donald Trump on Wednesday said it’s “not possible” for the federal government to fund Medicare, Medicaid and child care costs, arguing that it should be up to the states to “take care” of those programs while the federal government focuses on military spending. NBC

Gas prices continue steady climb past $4 as upward trend continues nationwide:On Saturday, the national average for a gallon of gas was $4.104, according to AAA. That’s up from Friday’s average of $4.091 and continues a steady upward trend after prices first crossed $4 earlier this week for the first time since 2022. WFAA

Trump signs order directing creation of a national voter list, a move already facing lawsuit threats: President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order to create a nationwide list of verified eligible voters and to restrict mail-in voting, a move that swiftly drew legal threats from state Democratic officials ahead of this year’s midterm elections. The order, which voting law experts say violates the Constitution by attempting to seize states’ power to run elections, is the latest in a torrent of efforts from Trump to interfere with the way Americans vote based on his false allegations of fraud. AP

IMMIGRATION

Trump’s Justice Department Dropped 23,000 Criminal Investigations in Shift to Immigration: In total, the DOJ quietly closed more than 23,000 criminal cases in the first six months of President Donald Trump’s administration, abandoning hundreds of investigations into terrorism, white-collar crime, drugs and other offenses as it shifted resources to pursue immigration cases PRO PUBLICA

ICE agents will be stationed outside Marine Corps graduation events in South Carolina: ICE agents will be stationed outside graduation events for the nation’s newest Marines to identify whether any of their family members are undocumented, according to the Marine Corps. NBC

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND SAFETY?

Trump's VA killed a home loan program. Vets are now losing their homes because of it: More than 10,000 veterans lost their homes to foreclosure since May of last year, when the Trump administration shut down a key safety net in the VA home loan program, according to the latest industry data. That is the highest pace of foreclosures for VA loans in a decade. Another 90,000 vets are heading toward foreclosure. NPR

Trump Administration Orders Dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service: The headquarters is going to Utah. Every regional office is being shuttered. The research program is being destroyed. HATCH

C.D.C. Pauses Testing for Rabies and Pox Viruses: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has paused its diagnostic testing for a host of infectious diseases, including rabies. The CDC on Monday posted a list of 27 tests that it either discontinued or made temporarily unavailable.Since HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took office in February 2025, the CDC has downsized significantly. THE HILL

The Trump EPA Official in Charge of Methane Regulations Helped Write Oil Industry Argument Against Those Rules: Before becoming a top official at the Environmental Protection Agency, Aaron Szabo was a lobbyist for the oil and gas industry. Metadata shows he helped draft a trade group’s 2022 letter to the EPA objecting to controls on methane emissions. PRO PUBLICA

CORRUPTION ALERT

Company backed by Trump sons looks to sell drone interceptors to Gulf states being attacked by Iran: A drone maker backed by President Donald Trump's two oldest sons is trying to sell to Gulf countries while they are under attack by Iran and dependent on the U.S. military led by their father. PBS

Pete Hegseth’s broker looked to buy defence fund before Iran attack: A broker for U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attempted to make a ​big investment in major defense companies in the weeks ‌leading up to the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, the Financial Times reported on Monday, REUTERS

GOOD NEWS

U.S. launches first crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years: During the approximately 10-day mission, NASA will test how the spacecraft’s systems operate as designed with crew aboard in the deep space environment. Using AROW, anyone with internet access can track where Orion and the crew are, including their distance from Earth, distance from the Moon, mission duration, and more. NASA

Federal judge finds Trump violated free speech by ordering NPR defunded: A federal judge has knocked down the core of President Trump's executive order barring federal funding for NPR and PBS, saying it violated the broadcasters' First Amendment rights on its face. NPR

Republicans are losing clout in statehouses in another possible sign of midterm trouble: More than a dozen GOP leaders in state legislatures across the country — including North Carolina, Wisconsin, Georgia and Iowa — have opted to resign or have announced their retirement over the past 14 months, in what could be another sign of the party’s dimming prospects in the midterms. POLITICO

TAKE ACTION

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