Principals

1. Arizona’s ancient abortion ban
2. U.S., Japan boost ties
3. Biden, Kishida face uncertainty
4. GOP outreach efforts hit a snag
5. Dems target RFK running mate
6. Impeachment delay

PDB: Trump wades into FISA debate

Biden, Kishida to hold joint press conference … Read on for a text with Rahm Emanuel… Politico: Klain knocks Biden for focus on infrastructure projects

— edited by Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann and Morgan Chalfant

1864 abortion ban roils 2024 elections

A 160-year-old, near-total abortion ban without exceptions for rape or incest is now the law of the land in Arizona, after the state’s supreme court ruled it was revived by the Dobbs decision. The 4-2 decision turbocharges the abortion debate in a presidential battleground that’s also host to a key Senate race. Voters may have a chance to overrule the decision in November, when a proposed amendment guaranteeing abortion could be on the ballot. In the meantime, the news was greeted with unease among Republicans: Senate candidate Kari Lake, who previously supported the Civil War-era law, and former Gov. Doug Ducey, whose judicial picks empowered it, called on the GOP-held legislature and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs to agree on an alternative — which seems unlikely. In the meantime, Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes says she will not enforce the newly-active territorial law.

The court decision comes as Trump tries to calibrate his own abortion position and contains some notable parallels: While the former president backed away from federal legislation on abortion on Monday, some of his supporters have suggested a second Trump administration bypass Congress to limit or effectively ban abortion by recognizing the long-dormant 1873 Comstock Act, which restricts abortifacients by mail. Trump has not weighed in on that interpretation, nor offered any details on how his cabinet picks and judicial nominees would handle related topics.

— Benjy Sarlin

U.S., Japan upgrade security ties, space cooperation

A new partnership on space exploration, an upgraded command structure, and a fresh batch of cherry blossom trees are few of the highlights President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will announce today during Japan’s official visit, Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant reports. Two leaders will unveil a commitment for even tighter military relations between the two countries, as they seek to balance China’s power in the Asia-Pacific region. While security ties may steal the spotlight, there will be other important diplomatic gestures: Japan, which originally gifted Washington cherry blossom trees more than a century ago, has also agreed to provide young cherry blossom trees to replace scores around Washington’s Tidal Basin that were cut down for a restoration project. While U.S.-Japan relations are at a high point, there is at least one source of friction Biden and Kishida will try to avoid: neither is expected to broach the proposed takeover of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel, which Biden recently said he opposed.

What’s hanging over the Biden-Kishida meeting

Biden and Kishida are celebrating tighter U.S.-Japan relations today. But looming over the event are questions about the political futures of both leaders, and the prospect of neither being in power come next year. In Japan, Morgan Chalfant writes, officials are wondering what a return of Donald Trump to the White House might mean for the trajectory of the two countries’ longstanding alliance. “Trump’s way of diplomacy or way of business is unpredictability. That’s the most serious problem for us as an ally,” Akihisa Nagashima, a member of Japan’s House of Representatives in Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party, told Semafor last month. Meanwhile, Kishida’s own days could be numbered, as he tries to manage the fallout of a fundraising scandal and economic slowdown ahead of his party’s leadership contest in September. There’s already speculation he could face a snap election before then.

Upheaval at the top threatens Trump’s minority outreach

Looking to capitalize on promising polling with Black and Latino voters, the Trump campaign hired a young rising GOP star to run its outreach efforts — then parted ways just as the general election began. Derek Silver became coalitions director in October after previously running Jewish outreach for Ron DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial campaign while still in law school. But he left abruptly in March under mysterious circumstances and the position remains unfilled. It’s the latest question mark around the Trump campaign and RNC’s minority outreach efforts, which have some Republicans concerned that they could cede an opportunity to the better-funded Biden campaign and its early investments in staff and messaging operations.

— Kadia Goba

Democrats target RFK running mate

The Democratic consultant James Carville has been calling contacts in Silicon Valley, digging dirt on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. running mate Nicole Shanahan, Reed Albergotti scoops. The calls, on behalf of the SuperPAC American Bridge, have focused on her long history in the valley and her two marriages — the second, to a Google founder, will help finance Kennedy’s campaign. But they’re also a mark of how seriously Biden is taking the third-party threat. “The tech industry is like Hollywood and there’s all sorts of stuff floating around out there,” Carville said in a brief telephone interview. “I would be totally stunned if she wasn’t a really strange person in the eyes of most people.” The Kennedy campaign didn’t comment on Carville’s inquiries.

Johnson postpones impeachment articles

House Speaker Mike Johnson is catching a bit of flack for his decision to postpone sending impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate on Tuesday. One House impeachment manager told Semafor they thought the move was “ridiculous” and complained that they had first heard about it from the press, rather than GOP leadership. Starting Monday night, a group of Senate Republicans had been urging Johnson to hold off on sending the articles, in order to give them more time to build support for a full trial amid concerns that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will simply move to dismiss the charges against Mayorkas immediately. “Our members want to have the opportunity not only to debate, but to have some votes on issues they want to raise, in some cases those will be points of order,” Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy said during a press conference on Tuesday. Utah Sen. Mike Lee, meanwhile, thanked Johnson for his “bold willingness to delay” on the impeachment articles, possibly coining Washington’s new favorite catchphrase the process.

Christian Lindner, German Minister of Finance; Rich Lesser, Global Chair, Boston Consulting Group; Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commission EVP of the European Commission on An Economy that Works for People and Trade Commissioner; Suzanne Clark, CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Steven Rattner, Chairman & CEO, Willett Advisors LLC and Pat Gelsinger, CEO, Intel, will join the Global Growth Session at the 2024 World Economy Summit to discuss shifts from global to regional trade, impacts on capital allocation and market efficiencies, as well as strategies for navigating the ever-changing economic landscape. Register for this session.

April 17 | 9 a.m.-12 p.m. ET | Washington, D.C.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: The choice facing House Speaker Mike Johnson is “pass a Ukraine aid bill or remain speaker.”

Playbook: Arizona is the new Florida.

The Early 202: Republicans want to draw out the impeachment trial against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to draw attention to the border crisis. During their private lunch Tuesday, Senate Republicans discussed tactics including holding up legislative activity.

White House

• President Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will participate in a press conference this afternoon before the state dinner.
• Biden said he disagreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the war against Hamas during an interview with Univision.
• Biden phoned UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley to congratulate him on the NCAA championship win Monday night, the White House said.
• White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan condemned Ecuador’s raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito, saying Ecuador “disregarded its obligations under international law.”
• Richard Sauber, the White House lawyer tapped to handle GOP congressional inquiries, plans to leave his position in May. — CNN

Congress

• The Senate votes at noon on the confirmation of a judicial nominee, Ann Marie McIff Allen. The House votes beginning at 1:30 p.m. on legislation to extend U.S. customs waters and criticize Biden administration immigration policies.
• The House Rules Committee advanced a bill to reauthorize and reform a key spying tool, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, teeing it up for a vote later this week. Overnight, Donald Trump expressed opposition to the bill. “KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, referencing Carter Page, who was surveilled under traditional FISA but not 702.
• Tom Cole, the chairman of the House Rules Committee, has been selected to replace Rep. Kay Granger as chair of the House Appropriations Committee.
• Activists are using artificial intelligence to imitate the voices of gun violence victims in voice memos being sent to members of Congress. — Politico
• Could Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., replace Marcia Fudge as the head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development? Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass thinks it’s a good idea. — NBC
• Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has some questions before he approves a sale of F-15 fighter jets to Israel.

Outside the Beltway

The parents of the Oxford, Mich., teenage school shooter were sentenced to as many as 15 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, the first such conviction.

Climate

• A new EPA rule will require hundreds of chemical plants across the U.S. to reduce toxic emissions tied to cancer.
• The EPA is setting limits on “forever chemicals” in drinking water for the first time.

Courts

• Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial is still on for next week, as an appeals court rejected his latest effort to delay it.
• The names of witnesses in Trump’s classified documents trial will remain secret in court filings.

Polls

Pew Research Center breaks down party identification trends based on 2023 data and finds little recent movement among Black, Latino, and young voters — though Republicans do make gains overall, with the parties now effectively drawing equal support.

On the Trail

• Vice President Harris is heading to Tucson for a campaign speech on “reproductive freedom” on Friday after the state’s top court revived its 1864 ban: “Arizona just rolled back the clock to a time before women could vote — and, by his own admission, there’s one person responsible: Donald Trump,” she said in a statement.
• Another one: Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen said that the Democratic convention is too late to get President Biden on the state’s general election ballot.
• Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is considering leaving the Biden administration (after November’s election) to run for governor of California. — Politico
• Cornel West plans to announce his running mate.
• The Mitch McConnell-aligned Senate Leadership Fund and an affiliated group raised over $51 million during the first quarter of this year, setting a record. — Fox

Foreign Policy

• Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday, ahead of a meeting with President Biden.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed skepticism about Donald Trump’s stated plans to quickly end Russia’s war in Ukraine if he is reelected, and said he had privately conveyed his offer for Trump to visit Ukraine. “We conveyed the messages and the context through the appropriate people,” Zelenskyy said. “We said that we would like Donald Trump to come to Ukraine, see everything with his own eyes and draw his own conclusions. In any case, I am ready to meet him and discuss the issue.” — Politico
• The Pentagon sent thousands of machine guns, sniper rifles, and rocket launchers confiscated from Iran to Ukraine last week.
• Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the U.S. has seen no evidence of Israel conducting genocide in Gaza.
• Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Austin privately that Israel has not set a date for its Rafah operation, undercutting earlier comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. — Axios

Technology

Elon Musk and Argentine President Javier Milei plan to meet at Tesla’s Austin factory this weekend.

Media

NPR’s interim chief content officer has pushed back on senior business editor Uri Berliner’s criticism that the outlet has alienated Americans by adopting progressive views and sacrificing journalistic values. “I and my colleagues on the leadership team strongly disagree with Uri’s assessment of the quality of our journalism,” The New York Times quoted Edith Chapin as saying in a memo to NPR staff. “With all of this said, none of our work is above scrutiny or critique.”

Big Read

Nippon Steel’s $14 billion offer for United States Steel, widely seen as a slam-dunk, is facing challenges, Bloomberg says. Winning over the United Steelworkers union was seen as the only sticking point, and Nippon Vice Chairman Takahiro Mori in person promised USW chief David McCall there would be no idling of plants or immediate layoffs. According to sources, those talks ended in under an hour. The union has continued slamming the deal but is keeping the door open for more talks. While unions don’t usually have any influence in takeovers, the bid came in an election year. President Biden and Donald Trump publicly oppose the deal as they seek to win over blue-collar voters. Blue-collar workers were strongly supportive of Trump in 2020, but enough of them switched support to Biden that year to help him win. Now, ahead of a 2024 rematch, both are pulling out all the stops to woo them.

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, according to data from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: West Virginia restricted four major banks, accusing them of boycotting the fossil fuel industry.

What the Right isn’t reading: President Biden characterized Donald Trump as the “primary threat” to American democracy.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann, Morgan Chalfant

Editor-at-Large: Steve Clemons

Reporters: Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Rahm Emanuel is the U.S. ambassador to Japan.