Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is seemingly retreating from her threat to hold a referendum on Mike Johnson’s speakership this week after two meetings with the GOP leader.

The Georgia firebrand is backing away from her pledge to hold an ouster vote, for now, saying the small band of conservative rebels interested in booting him would continue to watch Johnson’s actions moving forward. The speaker was widely expected to survive any attempted firing this week, as Democrats had committed to helping him.

“We will see. … Right now the ball is in Mike Johnson’s court,” she responded, when reporters repeatedly pressed her on whether she would carry out her promise to force the vote.

It is a dizzying walkback of a threat Greene first made more than six weeks ago. She had vowed to act on her vow to force an anti-Johnson vote this week even as it became clear that she didn’t have the support to fire him – with former President Donald Trump standing by him and Democratic leaders announcing they would align against her.

During an impromptu briefing on the Capitol steps with her chief ally Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Greene offered no end date for the duo to decide when to try to force a vote on ending Johnson’s reign and said only that his runway is “pretty short.” Greene cautioned that her new stance didn’t “necessarily” mean she had ruled out making a move this week, while Massie attempted to add an even more urgent condition.

“We actually have to see progress hourly” from the speaker, he said, though neither Greene nor Massie provided few specifics on what that would look like.

Despite making several key requests of Johnson in their two lengthy meetings this week, Greene and Massie walked away without a clear commitment from him — and instead urged reporters to go talk to the GOP leader.

Asked whether it is fair to dangle the threat of a no-confidence vote over his head with no timeline or specified legislation in mind, Greene replied that their leaked list of four items was “pretty specific” and that Johnson must now decide how to make good on their demands.

Those four requests from Greene and her allies: defunding Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump; no more Ukraine aid, a deal on federal spending; and ensuring future bills brought to the floor boast support from the majority of the House Republicans.

But some of their ideas are already sparking pushback in other corners of the conference, where members are warning Johnson to avoid getting backed into a corner like his predecessor, fired former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Johnson has publicly downplayed that he is negotiating with his critics — instead describing their closed-door meetings as “productive” discussion but largely the same sort of listening session that he would hold with any member of his conference. When asked, he has declined to share details of those meetings to his House colleagues and reporters.

“I hear suggestions and ideas and thoughts from members. My door has been open from day one,” Johnson said on Tuesday.

Donald Trump is going further than just public statements supporting Speaker Mike Johnson — he’s actually trying to mediate between the House GOP leader and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

So far, it’s unclear if the ex-president can convince one of his most loyal followers to back off her threat to force a vote ousting the speaker.

Trump and the Georgia firebrand, who speak often, had a lengthy phone call over the weekend, according to three Republicans familiar with the matter. Trump’s message to her, per those people: Stand down from the so-called motion to vacate.

“I have it under very, very good sources that President Trump did engage. And I’m hoping that perhaps one would come to the conclusion: ‘You made your point,’” said Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), citing a weekend discussion the former president had with Greene. “But don’t be Kamikaze, because if you go for this, you’re gonna get beaten down. And he made that point. I’m hoping that’s the outcome.”

Another Republican, granted anonymity to discuss private conversations, put it more bluntly: “He told her not to do it.”

Such messages fall in line with Trump’s public remarks, where he’s repeatedly praised the GOP leader and urged Greene not to trigger the vote. He’s made those same comments at private events, according to one Republican with knowledge of his remarks.

“The President was very strong in his endorsement of Johnson at the RNC event this weekend. He repeatedly said what a good job Johnson is doing under impossible circumstances,” said this Republican in attendance, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “And the president repeatedly said that we Republicans need to be unified heading into November.”

The Trump call preceded Greene meeting with Johnson on Monday afternoon, which lasted roughly two hours as they discussed a way forward. They were joined by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who was the second House Republican to co-sponsor the ejection threat.

Johnson and Greene are scheduled to meet again on Tuesday afternoon in what could be an offramp from Greene’s ouster vote threat. The two are discussing multiple ideas, including trying to defund special counsel Jack Smith — a proposal that is likely to spark pushback from other corners of the GOP conference, as it could risk a shutdown shortly before the November election — as well as deals on spending. But Johnson stressed on Tuesday that “it’s not a negotiation” and that he was just listening to ideas from Greene and Massie.

Trump’s backchanneling has extended to Johnson, as well. The speaker said that he also spoke with Trump on Monday — and that the former president had his back on Greene’s threats.

“He’s not in favor of it,” Johnson told reporters, adding that Trump did not call into his Monday meeting with Greene and Massie.

Despite Trump’s pushback, Greene has defended her decision to press forward with a referendum on his speakership, arguing that she — and not Johnson — is the GOP member actually fighting for policies that Trump supports. She’s also acknowledged that she’s spoken with Trump on the vacate effort, while declining to detail their conversations.

“I fight harder for President Trump in Washington, D.C., than anybody,” Greene said in an interview Tuesday with Steve Bannon. “But everybody is trying to pretend like there’s a problem between us. And I’m going to tell you right now: There is not.”

But even some of Johnson’s critics have acknowledged that Trump’s backing has added an extra layer of protection for the speaker and, at least for now, helped deflate Greene’s ouster threat. Other Republicans have privately warned that Greene is risking political blowback, testing the boundaries of a GOP presidential nominee who doesn’t typically take kindly to defiance.

Trump allies who oppose her effort, however, also argue Trump so far doesn’t see this as rising to the level of disloyalty.

As Johnson heads into a second meeting with Greene and Massie Tuesday, Republicans are gently warning the speaker against boxing himself in with his hardliners. They argue the clearest warning is his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, who agreed to multiple huge concessions back in January 2023 in order to win the House gavel.

“I don’t have a problem with him listening. What I will have a problem with … is when you start making special deals, side deals, hidden deals, behind the closed-door deals. And then not just conservatives but moderates, say: ‘Well, what about my deal,’” said Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-Okla.).

“That’s how we got in trouble in January 2023,” echoed centrist Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.). “We gave away way too much, and I think we’re paying for it right now. So I would be very careful on negotiating with her.”

Johnson acknowledged during a closed-door conference meeting on Tuesday morning that he was meeting with Greene and Massie. But Johnson said he told members that he was only hearing them out — something he frequently does for Republicans who wanted to speak with him, regardless of their ideology.

“It’s not a negotiation,” he said. “Everybody knows I have lengthy discussions, detailed discussions with members across the conference.”

Anthony Adragna contributed to this report.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress, is demanding the International Criminal Court issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

She made the demand in a statement Tuesday, as Democrats are grappling with deep intra-party divisions over the state of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas and the IDF began carrying out military operations in Rafah, a major city in Gaza.

Meanwhile, House Republicans are reiterating their plans to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) over comments that some Jewish students were “pro-genocide,” which she made during an appearance at Columbia University — the site of ongoing contentious protests that have at times veered into antisemitic rhetoric.

“There is nowhere safe in Gaza,” Tlaib said in a statement. “I urge the ICC to swiftly issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and senior Israeli officials to finally hold them accountable for this genocide.”

Tlaib has previously declined to urge supporters to back President Joe Biden for reelection in November, citing his handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Republicans, who have tended to widely side with Israel after the attacks on Oct. 7, have frequently criticized Tlaib and other progressives for siding with Hamas.

To that end, House Republicans are prepared to formally pursue another censure of Omar over her recent comments at Columbia that “we should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students — whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide.”

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) reiterated Tuesday he’d pursue censure, though he added he would not make his resolution privileged — which would force a quick vote.

“It’s just unacceptable, so I want to take a bold stand,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “I don’t like me forcing stuff on the agenda when [Speaker Mike Johnson] has got so many other things.”

He predicted that many Democrats would support his resolution, indicating many told him privately they would.

Omar’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment

Jordain Carney and Nicholas Wu contributed to this report.

After a two-hour-long meeting Monday with the speaker, Marjorie Taylor Greene — and Capitol Hill writ large — could get a much better sense Tuesday of the future of her efforts to oust Mike Johnson from the House’s top spot.

Greene (R-Ga.), along with ally Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), met with Johnson in his office, but left without much in terms of steps forward. The trio are set to meet again at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Greene is staying mum on what demands she’s making of Johnson, but our colleague Rachael Bade broke them down. The Georgia Republican is looking for promises of no more aid to Ukraine, stripping funding for DOJ probes into former President Donald Trump and automatic spending cuts if appropriations agreements aren’t wrapped up on time.

There’s another ask at the core of her conflict with Johnson: the “Hastert Rule.” Named after now-disgraced former Speaker Dennis Hastert, it’s a pledge to not bring any legislation to the floor that doesn’t have the support from the majority of the GOP conference.

Johnson has allowed spending bills and foreign aid packages to clear the House without the backing of the majority of his conference, instead leaning on Democrats to the consternation of those in the GOP’s right flank.

These meetings between Johnson and Greene don’t mean she won’t move to vacate this week; she still reserves that right. But with Democrats pledging backup for Johnson and a hearty bloc of GOP support for the speaker, the votes do not appear to add up.

Before the midday meeting in Johnson’s office over his potential ouster, the entire House GOP Conference is set to gather for their weekly meeting first thing this morning.

Senate returns to FAA: The Senate is back Tuesday with just four days before Friday’s deadline to reauthorize the FAA. At this point, a short-term patch is looking more likely. Senators have filed nearly 100 amendments to the bill, and the chance for a deal on amendments and speeding up action on the legislation is waning.

Expect broad frustration if few or no amendments are taken up. This is one of the last major pieces of legislation expected this year, and nearly every lawmaker had something they were hoping could hitch a ride on the must-pass bill.

A bipartisan group of 85 House and Senate members is lining up against the Biden administration’s push to shift space-focused Air National Guardsmen into the Space Force.

The lawmakers urged leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees in a letter Monday to reject the Pentagon push when their panels consider annual defense policy legislation in the coming weeks.

The group argued the move undercuts state governors’ authority and the Guard’s dual national security and state domestic response missions. They said it also “undermines the choice made” by Guard members to serve part-time in their states.

“To be clear: when individuals sign up for the National Guard, they are serving their country and their community,” the lawmakers wrote. “Congress shouldn’t abandon this model.”

The letter was spearheaded by Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), and Colorado Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper. It’s the largest show of force so far by lawmakers opposed to the Pentagon’s space legislative proposal ahead of debate on the annual National Defense Authorization Act.

Opposition to the space personnel moves, led by fellow Democrats, is yet another complication for President Joe Biden, who is seeking to smooth over divisions in his party headed into an election.

The bicameral, bipartisan Hill resistance comes as all 50 governors came out against the Air Force plan this past week. Opposition from governor’s mansions puts pressure on congressional delegations to act to kill the proposal.

Governors from 48 states and five U.S. territories penned a bipartisan letter opposing the plan last week. The two governors who didn’t sign on, Republicans Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, have since sent their own letters opposing the administration’s aims.

The Pentagon in March sent lawmakers a legislative proposal that would permit the Air Force to transfer space units from the Air National Guard to the Space Force.

Though meant to bring those part-time personnel into the new space service, the plan has drawn broad opposition from space and non-space states alike that are concerned about protecting their Guard assets. Governors argue doing so would undermine their authority to command their Guard forces.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, meanwhile, has downplayed the implications of the proposal, arguing it was meant to allow the 5-year-old Space Force to flexibly manage its full- and part-time personnel without incurring extra cost or creating new bureaucracy.

While lawmakers such as Crow are pushing to create a separate Space National Guard to house those weekend warriors, the letter didn’t offer a specific alternative to the Space Force shift. They’re only urging the four Armed Services leaders to keep the proposal out of the NDAA.

“We recognize the Air Force is evolving to address future threats, but there are other options available to the Air Force to accomplish this evolution that don’t undo an important foundation of our state National Guard system established by Congress,” they said.

Rep. Henry Cuellar’s indictment marks the third high-profile Hispanic lawmaker to have been indicted in recent months. Critically, the influential Congressional Hispanic Caucus is coming to his defense.

That’s a marked difference from how the group treated Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), a fellow member who was indicted on charges that he and his wife accepted bribes in forms of cash, a car and gold bars to help aid the Egyptian government. Generally, the CHC has stayed far away from Menendez’s issues, but they’re explicitly defending Cuellar — who’s also accused of accepting bribes to help a foreign government.

It’s a small but significant silver lining for the freshly charged Texan.

“Congressman Cuellar has been a steadfast advocate for his constituents in South Texas and an important voice in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus,” Hispanic Caucus spokesperson Brian Garcia told us in a statement. “The Congressman has stated that he is innocent of the allegations in the indictment and that he was proactive in seeking Ethics Committee guidance. He deserves his day in court to respond.”

Garcia didn’t detail why they would officially defend Cuellar and not Menendez. But Cuellar’s lawyer, Chris Flood, had his own take for why the two cases are different: it’s “in the details.”

“I don’t know what the details are in the Menendez case, but there is no quid pro quo in the Cuellar case,” Flood told us in a brief interview.

Why does the CHC’s position matter? Consider the case of our third recently indicted lawmaker, former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), whose colorful transgressions had played out over months before he was booted from the House in December. He had far fewer Hill allies to count on and was already radioactive to much of the House GOP conference when his expulsion vote came up. Even if he had somehow survived, the chances of him getting reelected were slim to none.

While Cuellar was already automatically booted from leading an appropriations subpanel, due to House Democrats’ rules on indicted members, the CHC statement shows he can still count on high-profile allies. That gives him a shot at staying in the House — though his reelection is in serious peril.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to tri-caucus watchers that they’d hold their fire on a longtime respected incumbent. The influential blocs of Hispanic, Black and Asian American lawmakers generally defer to seniority, and top Hispanic lawmakers are also backing the reelection bid of Rep. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), Bob Menendez’s son, who’s facing a competitive primary. (There’s no indication Rob Menendez is part of the elder Menendez’s corruption scandal).

Cuellar and his wife Imelda can’t leave the Southern or Western Texas Court Districts under the conditions of release, though he can travel to Washington, D.C., for congressional purposes. International travel requires court permission, and they had their firearms confiscated, too. The trial is scheduled to start in July.

Here’s where it gets tricky for Democrats. New York Republicans led the charge on expelling Santos, arguing to leadership that keeping him in the House could drag down their own reelection chances. Democrats don’t seem to have the same fears related to Cuellar, yet, but they have to ensure his case doesn’t broadly stain other members of the party with the corruption label. Republicans and even some members of their own party could make that difficult.

“Dems should vote to expel him, just as they should expel Menendez,” Ezra Levin, cofounder of progressive group Indivisible, posted on X. “Failure to do that weakens the Dem brand, encourages disaffected voters to believe both sides are corrupt, and risks handing votes to Trump & MAGA.”

Santos, never one to pass up a shot in the spotlight, is calling for Cuellar to be expelled. Only one sitting House Democrat has called for Cuellar to go: Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), an iconoclast in the party best known these days for trying to challenge President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz aimed an off-color post at Kristi Noem — but ended up hitting himself.

Moskowitz posted on X Monday about a CBS interview with the South Dakota GOP governor, who’s facing national scrutiny for an upcoming memoir that discusses her killing of her dog and falsely claims she met North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. The Florida Democrat wrote of Noem: “Why am I getting the feeling that she wanted to eat dog with Kim Jong Un?”

The tweet, while referencing Noem’s controversial admission to shooting her dog Cricket dead, also invokes a broad ethnic stereotype about Asian Americans.

“It was a joke about Kristi Noem and the dictator of North Korea — 2 people, no one else. I took the post down as I didn’t want it to be misconstrued and offend the broader community. I condemn those stereotypes and would never want to feed into them,” Moskowitz told POLITICO in a statement.

His now-deleted post drew a response from the House’s only two Korean American Democrats.

“While we appreciate our colleague standing up to GOP extremism, we cannot perpetuate harmful stereotypes in the process,” Reps. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) said in a statement. “We thank Rep. Moskowitz for apologizing and taking down his tweet.”

This isn’t the first time that Moskowitz has had to walk it back after posting memes and gibes slamming Republicans and other critics.

In March, he posted on X about President Joe Biden’s viral facial expression after encountering Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wearing a MAGA hat on the House floor during the State of the Union. He paired it with a photo of actor Sydney Sweeney, making a visual comparison that appeared to reference Sweeney’s physique on International Women’s Day — and later deleted the post.

House Republicans are escalating their standoff with the Justice Department as they demand the audio of former special counsel Robert Hur’s interview with President Joe Biden.

The Judiciary Committee will vote on May 16 on recommending Attorney General Merrick Garland be held in contempt of Congress, a person familiar confirmed to POLITICO. Though the committee action next week will initiate contempt proceedings, it still needs to pass the full House before a referral is made to the DOJ.

The move comes as Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) repeatedly threatened they would hold Garland in contempt unless the Justice Department handed over audio of Hur’s interview with Biden, which was conducted as part of the federal investigation into his handling of classified documents.

Spokespeople for Comer didn’t immediately respond to a question Monday about whether the Oversight Committee would also mark up a contempt resolution or report.

The Justice Department declined to comment Monday.

DOJ previously handed over the transcript of Hur’s interview with Biden, but Republicans doubled down on wanting the audio, arguing it could provide additional insight into Biden’s responses.

The department, however, rebuffed the GOP’s request for the Hur-Biden audio in its latest letter late last month — first reported by POLITICO — saying that “the committees have not articulated a legitimate congressional need to obtain audio recordings from Mr. Hur’s investigation, let alone one that outweighs the Department’s strong interest in protecting the confidentiality of law enforcement files.”

The department also warned it believes the GOP’s request could have a political motive, adding that: “We do not obtain evidence for criminal investigations so that it may later be deployed for political purposes.”

Bernie Sanders will seek a fourth term in the Senate this fall, a move putting the best-known Senate progressive on track to win another six years in the chamber.

The 82-year-old Vermont independent and two-time presidential candidate is currently at the peak of his power in Congress, chairing the Senate’s top health care committee and working to push the Democratic Party to the left.

“I have been, and will be if reelected, in a strong position to provide the kind of help Vermonters need in these difficult times,” Sanders said in a video announcing his intent to seek his seat again.

Sanders caucuses with the Democrats and serves on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer‘s leadership team, but will run as an independent yet again. That means he’s likely to win the Democratic nomination in his state but turn it down, as he has done in previous cycles, according to a person familiar with his plans. He’s expected to win his seat again by an overwhelming margin.

The progressive leader has had major ups and downs since Democrats took the Senate majority in 2021. When Democrats controlled the House, he pushed the party to spend trillions of dollars on new social programs and was at times frustrated his caucus wouldn’t go along with his efforts to expand Medicare and weaken the filibuster.

In divided government, he has prioritized big new health care investments and challenged his party on providing aid to Israel, voting against recent foreign aid bills in protest. Ahead of his fourth Senate campaign, though, Sanders cast the election’s stakes in dire terms.

“There are very difficult times for our country and in world. And, in many ways, this 2024 election is the most consequential election in our lifetimes. Will the United States continue to even function as a Democracy, or will we move to an authoritarian form of government?” Sanders asked.

Despite his heavy left lean, Sanders does have a pragmatic side. He eventually came around to the much-smaller energy and health care-focused Inflation Reduction Act devised by Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and has at times tried to pursue compromise with Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate’s HELP Committee.

Still, there’s no doubt that Democrats losing the Senate majority in November would mean progressives forfeit their most prominent committee perch in Congress — relegating Sanders to the less-powerful ranking member spot on the panel.

A dozen Republican senators have warned the International Criminal Court against issuing arrest warrants for Israeli officials over the nation’s conduct during the war in Gaza.

In a letter led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the senators warn ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan, citing reports that the court may be considering issuing international arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.

Such actions are “illegitimate and lack legal basis,” the lawmakers wrote, warning they would result in severe sanctions against Khan and the ICC.

“Target Israel and we will target you. If you move forward with the measures indicated in the report, we will move to end all American support for the ICC, sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States,” the senators wrote in the letter sent April 24.

“You have been warned,” the letter concluded.

Other signers include Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Sens. Marsha Blackburn, Katie Britt, Kevin Cramer, Ted Budd, Ted Cruz, Bill Hagerty, Pete Ricketts, Marco Rubio, Rick Scott and Tim Scott.

In the letter, they also blasted the ICC for not issuing arrest warrants for controversial leaders including Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Syrian President Bashar al Assad, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, or Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Last year, Cotton, Cruz and Rubio introduced a bill to sanction ICC officials who investigate or prosecute U.S. troops and allies who don’t recognize the court’s authority, such as Israel.

Last week, conservative lawmakers, including Speaker Mike Johnson, urged the Biden administration to demand that the court refrain from targeting top Israeli officials as it probes war crime allegations during the conflict in Gaza.