SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
We're joined now by NPR's Ron Elving. Ron, thanks for being with us.
RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Scott.
SIMON: Day 57 of this war, coming up to the 60-day mark by when Congress is required to vote on whether to continue military action beyond this window set by the 1973 War Powers Act. Now, previous votes to limit the president's actions on Iran have failed. What do you expect to see week?
ELVING: I think we can expect to see a congressional traffic jam of epic proportions. Voting on the war on Iran is only one of the high-profile issues that Congress has. It's got just a week before its next break. And the big action is mostly in the House. We're nearing that 60-day limit you mentioned. That comes from the Vietnam debacle half a century ago. And it lets the president take military action as he's been doing for 60 days, but then it inserts a role for Congress. If Congress wants to, it can vote against Trump's war, but that's a big if.
Speaker Mike Johnson has been loath to interfere with Trump on Iran or other subjects. And the House maybe prove willing to accept just a letter from Trump, or someone writing for Trump, setting out his case for the war. Congress can accept that or reject it, putting more pressure on Trump to justify what he's doing. In the same week, Congress must decide whether to continue a foreign surveillance program that critics say abuses the rights of U.S. citizens. And it must put together a budget reconciliation bill, like last year, one that might get through the Senate without any Democratic votes and restore funding for ICE and the Border Patrol and the rest of Homeland Security as well.
SIMON: Rough polling numbers out for President Trump this week showing Americans are largely unhappy with his handling of the economy and the cost of living. His approval rate is down even among Republicans. Multiple polls also show Americans overall disapprove of his performance.
ELVING: Trump's polls are at the lowest of his term and down where they were when he left office in 2021. One measure of how bad was the TV show by Tucker Carlson. He had his - guest was his brother, Buckley Carlson. And they said they were regretting their years of promoting him - Tucker, of course, as a pundit on Fox and later on his own program and Buckley as one of Trump's speechwriters. Now, check out what Buckley told his brother this week on "The Tucker Carlson show."
(SOUNDBITE OF PODCAST, "THE TUCKER CARLSON SHOW")
BUCKLEY CARLSON: The 25th Amendment is there for a reason. It's not crazy to talk about it in this context. If our country is suffering great and lasting damage, which it seems to be, then sober minds need to come in and exercise what power they have.
ELVING: So one lesson here is when your polls fall far enough, loyal allies find it toxic to continue in that role.
SIMON: And, Ron, using those polls as a guide, how worried should Republicans be about the midterms?
ELVING: Worried. If the new voter-approved map for Virginia holds up in the courts, that's another four seats gone. We re far from learning whether Florida's effort to counterbalance that gerrymandering will succeed. And the latest Cook Report surveys the 36 most competitive seats in the House and says that Democrats lead across that map by an average of six points. That's a tall order for the Republicans.
SIMON: Finally, Ron, another high-profile departure from President Trump's Cabinet. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer was under investigation for misconduct She is the third head of an executive department to depart in less than two months - follows the attorney general, Pam Bondi, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. What does this tell us about President Trump's Cabinet?
ELVING: It's running out of women very quickly, and there's a lot of scrutiny being directed at Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence right now, too. We can also see a change at the FBI, where Director Kash Patel has been the subject of multiple stories alleging excessive both before and since his current appointment. But we should also note that this week, Trump's Justice Department dropped its criminal probe of Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell over alleged overspending at the Fed's headquarters. Powell's term is up in May.
SIMON: NPR's Ron Elving. Thanks so much.
ELVING: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
