Morning Wire - Shutdown Hits Travelers & Trump Deploys Diplomacy | 3.25.26

Episode Date: March 25, 2026

The DHS funding showdown ratchets up pressure on lawmakers to make a deal, President Trump seeks a diplomatic off-ramp to the war in Iran as the Pentagon deploys troops, and SCOTUS hears a mail-in ballot case that could have sweeping implications for the midterms. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.- - -Ep. 2699- - -Wake up with new Morning Wire merch: https://bit.ly/4lIubt3- - -Today's Sponsors:Alliance Defending Freedom - Visit https://JoinADF.com/WIRE or text 'WIRE' to 83848 to learn more.Goldbelly - Go to https://goldbelly.com and get 20% off your first order with promo code WIRE.- - -Privacy Policy: https://www.dailywire.com/privacymorning wire,morning wire podcast,the morning wire podcast,Georgia Howe,John Bickley,daily wire podcast,podcast,news podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Villaray, the voice that we love that we love. Passengers pay the price with long airport lines as lawmakers work to nail down a deal to end the DHS shutdown. We would open up everything at DHS except ICE, including TSA, which the Democrats'clock. have already agreed to. I'm Daily Wire, Executive Editor John Bickley, with Georgia Howell. It's Wednesday, March 25th. This is Morning Wire.

President Trump sends an elite paratrooper force to the Middle East as negotiators try to hammer out the terms for a peace deal. Because they're going to make a deal. They're going to make a deal. And as the president continues the push for election integrity through the SAVE Act, the Supreme Court weighs a case that could reshape voting nationwide. Independence Day, birthday, and election day. And they're all particular days. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.

Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Let me tell you about one of the most concerning threats to your free speech. One that our friends and Alliance defending freedom are tackling right now. It's called the Digital Services Act. It's an EU censorship law, but it's having real consequences for free speech all over the globe, including in the U.S. The DSA essentially gives European bureaucrats the power to shut down online speech,

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That's join ADF.com slash wire or text wire to 8348 to have your gift matched. The showdown on Capitol Hill over DHS funding is now having a dramatic impact on Americans across the country, ratcheting up pressure on lawmakers to come to terms. Joining us now to discuss that and more is our D.C. Bureau Chief Tim Rice. Great to have you back on the show, as always. Thanks for having me, John. So let's start with the airports. Americans are still waiting hours and security lines all over the country. The video keeps streaming in.

How is that playing in Washington? Yeah, I mean, the pressure is absolutely on. And it's on for everybody, right? So let's start by talking about the Democrats. They at first seemed like they were going to be the easy winners of this whole showdown, right? Because they're blaming President Donald Trump, who said that he would oppose any funding deal that would restart TSA service. unless Congress passes the Save Act, the Save America Act, which is that sort of doomed voting rights, voting integrity legislation that we've talked about before.

So the president's setting ultimatums, not necessarily the best look. And, of course, Republicans are in power. They hold majorities, narrow majorities in both houses of Congress. So it's always easy when you're the party out of power to lay the blame on the people who hold the power. Republicans, of course, are pushing back on this narrative saying that it's Democrats' fault for keeping TSA defunded by refusing to vote to fund the remaining. of the Department of Homeland Security. Meanwhile, Americans face up to four-hour waits at airports across the country. Our colleague Jenny Tare walked the TSA line at George Bush International Airport in Houston,

and it was a lot. Right, as her footage shows, the lines really extend for hours and hours, as you said. Now, who stands to lose the most, the longer this drags on? Conventional wisdom here in D.C. for a little bit was that it would be Republicans. Throw in the fact that Mark Wayne Mullen just started as the new DHS Secretary yesterday, coming on the heels of another DHS scandal, and it kind of looks like a perfect disaster for Republicans. But things are actually starting to shift in Republicans' favor.

The president deployed ICE agents to airports to assist with TSA this week, and we keep seeing footage of grateful passengers thanking ICE agents for their service, thanking them for helping out. We see ICE agents handing out bottles of water in these long TSA lines. So that's obviously a win for the president. And over on Capitol Hill, it seems like lawmakers are close to reach a deal that would fund everything about DHS, except for the one part of ICE that handles deportations. So that might seem like a win for Democrats, but it's actually way closer to what Republicans

have been pushing for. Our colleague Cameron Arcand has been covering this legislative battle for weeks now. We talked to him today about the latest developments and negotiations. White House borders are Tom Holman has been part of those talks. And from what I heard from sources, some moderate Democrats who voted to end the shutdown last fall. They could be pivotal here in these next few days. Now, another element of this I heard from another GOP source is that the Democrats might even be open to making some concessions, like not using judicial warrants or pushing for the end of masking for agents. In exchange,

they would not fund ICE through the next round of appropriations. Instead, the Senate would go through a more partisan reconciliation process. And that's something that Republicans would be okay with because keep in mind, ICE has already largely been funded through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year. Switching gears now, the Senate yesterday held a hearing on Arctic Frost. Tell us about what we heard in that hearing. So just a reminder, Arctic Frost was a Biden Justice Department investigation, which began as a probe into President Trump and eventually grew to encompass over 400 Republican

lawmakers and affiliate groups. So yesterday, a Senate subcommittee chaired by Senator Ted Ked. Cruz held a hearing on Arctic Frost, which Senate Republicans are now calling a modern-day Watergate. The committee released a host of new records, including one that found Special Counsel Jack Smith had gotten Verizon to release two years' worth of FBI director Cash Patel's phone records, of course notable because that was before he was the FBI director. So this is definitely still a work in progress. Yesterday's hearing was not as splashy as the first one, but this is absolutely not the last we'll hear about this from congressional Republicans. And I think this is

going to continue to weigh on Democrats as we headed to the midterms. Meanwhile, the DHS shut down. We will see today if there's more movement on that front. Thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for having me, guys. Have you heard of Goldbelly? It's this amazing site that celebrates the best of America by shipping our country's most iconic foods

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like Ena Garten and Jose Andres, Goldbelly delivers your cravings from the nation's best right to your doorstep. So if you're looking for that perfect gift or you want to impress your friends and family with an epic meal the next time you host, head over to goldbelly.com to get 20% off your first order with promo code wire. That's goldbelly.com code wire for 20% off your first order. As President Trump seeks a diplomatic off ramp to the war in Iran, the Pentagon is deploying thousands of troops to the region and a new show of force. Wired and live host, Cabot Phillips, is here with the latest. So Cabot tensions sky high in Iran. We know President Trump wants. wants to make a deal, but we are seeing some military buildup in the region.

What's the latest there? Yeah, as we speak, more U.S. troops are heading to the Middle East. On Tuesday, the Pentagon reportedly ordered the deployment of roughly 3,000 paratroopers from the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Infantry Division. These are forces capable of parachuting in to hostile territory at a moment's notice. They're often referred to as a rapid response force because of their ability to fully deploy within 24 hours. Now, the Trump administration has not yet said where exactly they are going, and Trump has still refused to commit two boots on the ground.

But this deployment, no doubt, puts extra weight behind his demand for Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, the U.K. and France are reportedly close to finalizing plans to deploy naval vessels to protect commercial ships in the strait from both mines and rocket attacks. So at least some European allies appear to finally be answering Trump's call for aid. Now, where do things stand with regards to the negotiations between Trump and Tehran? Yeah, it's still unclear if direct negotiations have actually taken place yet or are even on the books to take place. At the moment, it appears the process has gone through mainly third-party intermediaries. That includes Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan, all of whom are passing messages between the two governments. Pakistan appears to be taking the lead.

Their prime minister issued a statement yesterday saying his country, quote, stands ready and honored to be the host to facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict. And Middle East envoy, Steve Whitkoff, is reportedly prepared to travel to Pakistan for those talks. But not everyone in the region is pushing for a swift end to this war. According to numerous reports, Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, has repeatedly urged President Trump to continue on with the war, arguing that it offers a historic opportunity to, in his words, quote, remake the Middle East. He says that Iran will continue to pose a threat to stability in the region until the regime is completely toppled.

For his part, though, President Trump said Tuesday that in light of the U.S. military advantage, the Iranians are now, quote, talking sense and, quote, would like to make a deal. And what is each side looking for with that deal? Well, the Iranians reportedly want guarantees that the U.S. and Israel will not launch further strikes in the future and also compensation for damages incurred during the war. That's going to be tough to get from Trump, though. The White House is reportedly offering a list of demands very similar to what they were giving before the war. They want the full dismantlement of Iran's nuclear program, a suspension of their ballistic missile program, and a severing of support to violent militias and terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

But zooming out here, any potential negotiations are obviously complicated by the fact that much of Iran's top ruling class has been killed. So there is a lot of confusion about who is actually in charge to make a deal. According to numerous reports, the White House is losing confidence that the regime in Tehran is going to collapse. And they're now looking for a more pragmatic, moderate insider to cut a deal with and potentially back as the country's leader in the future. That would be very similar to the roadmap employed in Venezuela, where Nicholas Maduro was replaced not by the country's opposition leader, but by Delci Rodriguez, who worked closely with Maduro, but has been much more willing to cooperate with the U.S. Trump acknowledged as much this week. We're dealing with some people that I find to be very reasonable, very solid. The people within know who they are.

They're very respect. And maybe one of them will be exactly what we're looking for. Look at Venezuela how well that's working out. It's interesting. The Trump administration is reportedly now eyeing Mohamed Galabov, that's Speaker of Iran's Parliament, as a potential peace partner. Galabov is hardly a moderate by Western standards, but has in the past expressed a desire to build relationships with Europe and the U.S. And in his words, in 2008, quote,

advance issues through dialogue. The White House says that they're in the process of, quote, testing potential partners as they look for the best option for making a deal. As one official put it to Politico, quote, it's all about installing someone like Adelzi Rodriguez in Venezuela that we say, we're going to keep you there, we're going to not take you out, you're going to work with us, you're going to give us a good deal. Well, an extremely complicated context within which to make a

Yeah. Cabot, thanks for reporting. Absolutely. Look, Air Canada does a sold world. Super, an offer for

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Reserved to AirCanada.com or As President Trump has hammered the importance of election integrity efforts through his focus on the SAVE Act, the Supreme Court this week heard a mail-in ballot case that could have sweeping implications for the midterms. Joining us now to discuss is Alliance Defending Freedom President and CEO Kristen Wagoner. Kristen, good to have you back on. Thanks for having me.

So most Americans are familiar with the SAVE Act by now, but many have not been following what could end up being a really consequential mail-in ballot case in the high court. This is Watson versus RNC. First, what exactly is that issue in this case? The cases about whether states can count mail-in ballots that are postmarked before or on election day if they don't actually receive them until after election day. There are about 14 states and D.C. that have these kinds of laws, and a number of states altered their election laws during COVID.

Mississippi was one of them, and Mississippi's law here requires. requires officials to receive ballots within five days of election day, but other states don't have any clear cutoff date. So the Republican National Committee, among other parties, challenged the law and the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case this Monday. The outcome's going to hinge on what two words in federal law mean, and those two words are election day. So as for, you know, reading the tea leaves, looking at how the justices responded to these arguments, which way do you see the court leaning. I think it's a close call. Most people are taking bets on the majority holding that ballots have to be received by Election Day. That's a view that seems to resonate with Justice's Gorsuch, Thomas, and Alito. Maybe it's inevitable that some sort of line drawing decisions like these have to be

made unless the rule is anything goes, you know, states can do anything they want in this area. We don't have a whole lot to go on here. We have the phrase election day and we have history. If we looked just at the phrase election day, what would we take from that? I think you've been saying, and we're moving in this direction. We don't have election day anymore. We have election month or we have election months. I mean, the early voting can start a month before the election,

the ballots can be received a month after the election. It also tends to the courts focusing more and more on statutory text and historical practice. On the other hand, we know from the argument Justice's Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson, they all seemed far more sympathetic to Mississippi's argument. So that leaves us with the remaining three, Justice's Barrett, Kavanaugh, and the chief. And it was a little bit hard to get a read on just exactly how they might vote in the case. I feel like I've heard that one before. Yes, again and again.

So what are the pros and cons of the court ruling for either side? If Mississippi wins, it would give voters more flexibility. It would give them more time in which to cast their ballots. And that's especially helpful for people that live in rural areas. It also reinforces the idea that states have the right and the room to manage their election procedures. On the other hand, if the RNC and its allies win, it will likely be seen as a win for advocates of election integrity. I'm quite sure that members of Congress way back when didn't, the world in which we live with all the technology.

But what they did foresee and seem concerned about was fraud and establishing a clear rule to prevent it. In terms of the timing of all this, though, we probably won't get a decision until June or even early July. So would that affect necessarily the elections in November? It potentially could, yes. One way or the other, this decision is going to change the election landscape, including possibly the rules that the November midterms will be

Subject to. Well, as we said, yet another major court case to keep an eye on this summer. Kristen, thank you so much for lending us your expertise. Thank you. Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're listening to the show, now you can watch for free on Daily Wire Plus. We'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know.