WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson is exercising his power of the gavel — and bringing it down Tuesday with an unusually aggressive effort to squash a proposal for new parents in Congress to able to vote by proxy, rather than in person, as they care for newborns.

In an unprecedented move, the House Republican leadership has engineered a way to quietly kill the bipartisan plan from two new moms—Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Colorado. Their plan has widespread support from a majority of House colleagues. Some 218 lawmakers backed the new moms, signing on to a so-called “discharge petition” to force their proposal onto the House floor for consideration.

But Johnson, like GOP leaders before him, rails against proxy voting, as President Donald Trump pushes people back to work in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic work from home trend.

A procedural vote Tuesday will test whether the speaker — or the new moms — have the tally on their side.

“If we don’t do the right thing now, it’ll never be done,” said Luna, who gave birth to her son in 2023.

Pettersen with a diaper over her shoulder and four-month-old son, Sam, in her arms, stood on the House floor pleaded with colleagues to turn back the GOP leadership’s effort to stop their resolution.

“It is unfathomable that in 2025 we have not modernized Congress,” she said. “We’re asking you to continue to stand with us.”

But Johnson has drawn the line against proxy voting as unconstitutional.

“Look, I’m a father, I’m pro-family. The Republican Party is pro-family,” the Republican speaker said late last month. But he said, “I believe it violates more than two centuries of tradition and institution. And I think that it opens a Pandora’s box, where ultimately, maybe no one is here.”

It’s the first time in modern House history that leadership is taking the extraordinary step to try to halt a discharge petition when it’s this far along in the process.

Luna used the discharge petition process as she and others grew frustrated that House committees and party leadership were not bringing the proxy-voting proposal forward. Instead, she and others gathered the majority signatures needed, 218, to discharge it from limbo, and force it to the floor for action.

The Republican leaders are now making a massive effort to stop it.

At a Rules committee hearing early Tuesday, the GOP-led panel tucked in a provision into the routine rules process that would prohibit not just this discharge petition but any others that try to push a proxy voting forward.

Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the panel, said a discharge petition has never been halted before at this stage in the process — a remarkable move from Republicans who often campaign as the party aligned with family values.

“Given the chance to actually support families, they turn their backs,” he said. “A majority of the chamber is upending what the majority in this chamber wants.”

Republicans countered that Luna, who led the discharge effort, did not go through the regular process, of waiting for their resolution to be brought to the floor through the regular procedure. And they criticized the temporary proxy voting policy that Democrats put in place during the pandemic that they said was abused by member absences.

“You have to come to work, you have to be present,” said Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. during a committee debate.

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., the chair of the Rules Committee, decried what she called the “laptop class” in America that doesn’t have the luxury of working by proxy. “Members of Congress simply need to show up for work,” she said.

About a dozen women have given birth while in Congress over the years, and there are many new fathers as well. One, Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, had dashed back to Washington for votes in 2023 after his wife had just given birth and their son was in an intensive care unit. Many are being widely watched as they weigh whether to push ahead or backdown to leaders demands.

Luna’s petition opens the door for the House to vote on a resolution that would allow new parents serving in Congress to designate a proxy — another member of Congress — to vote on their behalf for 12 weeks.

Republicans had barred proxy voting once they took control of the House from Democrats in 2023. The new resolution, which includes specific procedures on how the new parent would deliver their voting instructions, would mean a change in their House rules.

The resolution from the moms allows that a proxy voting process for lawmakers have given birth or pregnant lawmakers who are unable to travel safely or have a serious medical condition. It also applies to lawmakers whose spouses are pregnant or giving birth.

Under the resolution, a qualifying lawmaker may designate a proxy to cast for them for up to 12 weeks.

Luna who is among the House’s more conservative lawmakers, made national headlines for her steadfast support of Trump. But she resigned this week from the archconservative House Freedom Caucus this week, saying she could no longer be part of the group if members “broker backroom deals” against its values.

Lisa Mascaro And Leah Askarinam, The Associated Press

A coalition of state attorneys general sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its decision to cut $11 billion in federal funds that go toward COVID-19 initiatives and various public health projects across the country. Attorneys general from 23 states filed the suit in federal court in Rhode Island.

Here’s the latest:

A Senate vote to reverse Trump’s tariffs on Canada is testing Republican support

With Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” of tariff implementation fast approaching, Senate Democrats are putting Republican support for some of those plans to the test by forcing a vote to nullify the emergency declaration that underpins the tariffs on Canada.

Republicans have watched with some unease as the president’s attempts to remake global trade have sent the stock market downward, but they have so far stood by Trump’s on-again-off-again threats to levy taxes on imported goods.

Even as the resolution from Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia offered them a potential off-ramp to the tariffs levied on Canadian imports, Republican leaders were trying to keep senators in line by focusing on fentanyl that comes into the U.S. over its northern border. It was yet another example of how Trump is not only reorienting global economics, but upending his party’s longtime support for ideas like free trade.

▶ Read more about the Senate vote on tariffs

Trump’s Joint chiefs nominee downplays concerns of military involvement in domestic law enforcement

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois, pressed retired Lt. Gen. Dan Caine on whether he would follow orders from the president to use the military in domestic matters like law enforcement.

Duckworth accused Trump of engaging in “threat inflation” of domestic protests to justify military involvement on issues like protests, immigration or free speech.

“I think there’s strong systems in place, legal systems in place, that prevent any missteps there,” said Caine.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, asked Caine whether he would push back on an order by Trump “to use the military in a way that was unconstitutional.” She argued that Trump had made such orders during his first term and promised to do so during his reelection campaign.

“I will senator. I don’t expect that to happen, but I will,” Caine said.

Sen. Cory Booker passes the 17-hour mark in his speech to protest Trump’s actions

Booker, who’s 55, started speaking Monday evening and hasn’t left the Senate floor since. As it rolled into Tuesday afternoon, Booker’s performance is currently the sixth longest in Senate history.

The record for the longest individual speech belongs to Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

Only one other sitting senators has spoken for longer than Booker. In 2013, Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican of Texas, held the floor for 21 hours and 19 minutes to contest the Affordable Care Act.

Among hardest-hit in HHS layoffs is the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

The agency is losing more than 1,000 employees.

NIOSH is based in Cincinnati but also has people in Pittsburgh; Spokane and Morgantown, West Virginia.

Micah Niemeier-Walsh, vice president of the union local representing NIOSH employees in Cincinnati, said the union had heard reports that around 850 of the center’s employees are receiving notices, including the center’s director.

The cuts are hitting mining safety research, work on developing personal protective technology, a firefighter cancer registry, and a lab that’s key in the certification of respirators for industry. Niemeier-Walsh called the cuts “a very pointed attack on workers in this country.”

Who is Cory Booker, the Democrat from New Jersey holding the Senate floor?

Booker, 55, was born in Washington, D.C., and moved to northern New Jersey when he was a boy. He’s spoken about growing up in a Black family in a predominantly white neighborhood and how his parents faced opposition when they tried to buy a house.

He played football in college at Stanford University before attending Yale Law School and then worked as an attorney in nonprofits, giving legal aid to poorer families. Elected to the Newark City Council and then as mayor of the state’s biggest city, he served there until 2013.

His time in office coincided with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100 million donation to the city’s public schools, a boon that burnished his status as a Democratic rising star at the time.

Booker also ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2020.

▶ Read more about Sen. Cory Booker

Trump says he spoke with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi

In a Tuesday post on his social media platform, Trump said the pair discussed U.S. military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, as well as the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and “possible solutions” to the conflict, as well as “military preparedness.”

US sanctions people and firms in UAE, China and Iran for helping to procure drone parts

The Tuesday sanctions were against a network of six firms and two people based in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and China who are allegedly responsible for procuring drone components on behalf of Iranian drone manufacturers.

They mark the second round of sanctions targeting Iranian weapons proliferators since President Trump signed an executive order in February imposing a “restoring maximum pressure” campaign on Iran meant to deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Treasury will continue to target Iranian drones “missiles, and conventional weapons that often end up in the hands of destabilizing actors, including terrorist proxies.”

Mexican president: ‘What they’re going to announce on April 2 isn’t against Mexico’

After previously saying Mexico would seek “preferential treatment” with Trump and his tariffs, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum shifted her tone Tuesday to note the tariffs set to go into effect on Wednesday weren’t targeting Mexico.

“What they’re going to announce on April 2 isn’t against Mexico, it’s not against Canada. It’s a policy of the United States to the entire world,” Sheinbaum said in her morning news briefing.

That said, if tariffs go into effect, Mexico would be dealt a particularly hard blow, as much of its economy is intertwined with the U.S., especially the auto sector.

While other leaders have butted heads with Trump, Sheinbaum has assumed a less confrontational approach, following through on U.S. demands in the hope that doing so will offset the bulk of American populist’s threats.

Speaker Johnson says tariffs may be ‘rocky’ at first

“You have to trust the president’s instincts on the economy,” Johnson said.

He said he expects the tariffs to go forward as Trump promised.

“We’ll see how it all develops,” he said. “It may be rocky in the beginning. But I think that this will make sense for Americans and help all Americans.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson says he and Trump have talked about a third term

“There’s a constitutional path. You have to amend the constitution to do this, and that’s a high bar,” said Johnson, a lawyer who specialized in constitutional issues.

“I think he recognizes the constitutional limitations,” he said.

The Republican speaker says Trump has joked with him about the idea. He said he takes the president “at his word.”

Florida Republicans face off against well-funded Democrats in US House special elections

Tuesday’s special elections for two Florida congressional seats in heavily pro-Trump districts have become an unexpected source of concern for national Republicans as Democrats have poured millions in fundraising into the races.

Both seats opened when Trump chose their representatives for jobs in his second administration. Matt Gaetz was briefly nominated to be Trump’s attorney general before withdrawing, while Mike Waltz became national security adviser.

Florida state Sen. Randy Fine, running for Waltz’s seat, and state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, running to replace Gaetz, are widely expected to hold the seats in their reliably conservative districts, which would give Republicans a 220 to 213 advantage over Democrats in the U.S. House.

But both have been outraised by their Democratic counterparts, and Republicans in Florida and Washington have begun trying to distance themselves from any potential underperformance.

▶ Read more about Florida’s special elections

Hundreds of HHS employees wait in line wrapping around building to find out if their job is gone

As a biting spring wind whipped around them, staffers waited for as long as an hour outside the health department’s Washington offices to get scanned into the building.

As many as 10,000 workers are expected to lose their jobs Tuesday and some are finding out as they try to enter the building that they no longer have jobs. Laid off staffers are being asked to immediately turn in their badges and cellphones at the door.

One staffer waiting in line loudly joked: “Is this an April Fool’s joke?”

Caine says uniformed guard shouldn’t have been in Houthi attack Signal chat

During retired Lt. Gen. John Caine’s confirmation hearing for joint chiefs chairman, Sen. Jack Reed asked him whether top uniformed military leaders should have participated in a controversial Signal chat in which U.S. officials discussed battle plans.

“From what I understand of that chat, it was a partisan political chat and so the joint force should not have been represented in there,” Caine said.

Caine declined to comment on whether senior U.S. officials, including the vice president, defense secretary, secretary of state and national security advisor, should have discussed battle plans on an unclassified, commercial application.

“What I will say is we should always preserve the element of surprise,” Caine said. He noted that the Senate Armed Services Committee had requested an inquiry into the matter.

Joint chiefs chairman nominee for the first time publicly denies he had ever worn a MAGA hat

President Trump has told a story about retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine saying he wore one of the hats when the two met some years ago.

When asked about the story during the Senate Armed Services hearing on his confirmation, Caine said, “For 34 years, I’ve upheld my oath of office and my commitment to my commission. And I have never worn any political merchandise.”

He added that he thinks Trump must have been “talking about somebody else.”

Trump administration sued over decision to rescind billions in health funding

A coalition of state attorneys general sued the administration Tuesday over its decision to cut $11 billion in federal funds that go toward COVID-19 initiatives and various public health projects across the country.

Officials from 23 states filed the suit in federal court in Rhode Island. They include New York Attorney General Letitia James, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as well as attorneys general California, Minnesota, North Carolina, Wisconsin and New York , as well as the District of Columbia.

The lawsuit argues the “sudden and reckless cuts violate federal law, jeopardize public health, and will have devastating consequences for communities nationwide.”

The lawsuit asks the court to immediately stop the Trump administration from rescinding the money, which was allocated by Congress during the pandemic and mostly used for COVID-related efforts such as testing and vaccination. The money also went to addiction and mental health programs.

Federal health officials announced the decision to claw back the money a week ago.

Sen. Cory Booker’s floor speech stretches into its 15th hour

The New Jersey senator has been speaking through the night to protest President Trump’s agenda.

Booker’s speech is now among the longest marathon-speaking performances in Senate history. Only eight others have held the Senate floor for longer.

Booker is visibly exhausted as he continues his speech.

National Institutes of Health layoffs arrive on the new director’s first day on the job

The Tuesday layoffs, coming on new director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya’s first day, are part of a larger effort by the Trump administration and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reduce the size of the Health and Human Services department by about 25%.

At the NIH, the cuts included at least four directors of the NIH’s 27 institutes and centers who were put on administrative leave, and nearly entire communications staffs were terminated, according to an agency senior leader, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid retribution.

An email viewed by The Associated Press shows some senior-level employees of the Bethesda, Maryland, campus who were placed on leave were offered a possible transfer to the Indian Health Service in locations including Alaska and given until end of Wednesday to respond.

— Lauran Neegaard

Trump’s pick for Joint Chiefs chairman strikes humble, apolitical tone in Senate hearing

President Trump’s nominee to become the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine told senators Tuesday he understands he’s an unknown and unconventional nominee — but the nation is facing unconventional and unprecedented threats, and he’s ready to serve in its defense.

“I realize for many Americans I am an unknown leader,” Caine said in his opening remarks. He spoke of serving under presidents of both parties and of his wide span of experience, which also included service in the National Guard, the private sector and the CIA.

Advocacy organizations file lawsuit to block Trump executive order to overhaul US elections

The complaint filed Tuesday in federal district court in Washington is the third major legal challenge to the order in two days after national Democrats and a pair of nonprofits filed two other lawsuits Monday.

The suit brought by the Brennan Center for Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union and others argues Trump’s call for a proof-of-citizenship requirement to register to vote violates the U.S. Constitution.

Other legal experts have raised similar concerns, since the Constitution’s so-called “Elections Clause” gives states and Congress the power to regulate federal elections.

Republicans have argued a proof-of-citizenship requirement will help secure elections against illegal noncitizen voting, which research shows is rare. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

US-Canada-Mexico joint World Cup goes from unity to acrimony thanks to tariffs and ’51st state’ talk

Seven years ago, when a joint bid by the United States, Canada and Mexico was awarded the 2026 World Cup, rifts created by tariffs — yes, back then, too! — and a proposed border wall were glossed over because of the neighbors’ longstanding political and economic alliances.

“The unity of the three nations″ was the overriding theme articulated by Carlos Cordeiro, then-president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. “A powerful message,” he called it.

Well, here we are now, with the soccer showcase arriving in North America in about 15 months, and Trump back in office — inciting trade wars between the neighbors, not to mention across the globe, by levying tariffs that come, then go, then return, with more promised, including what the Republican calls “ reciprocal tariffs ” starting Wednesday.

▶ Read more about tariffs and the US-Canada-Mexico joint World Cup

The ‘big six’ GOP leaders from Treasury and Congress to meet on tax cuts

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to meet with congressional Republicans again Tuesday afternoon as they edge closer to agreement on a budget framework for Trump’s tax breaks.

Senate GOP Leader John Thune is hoping to launch votes on the package this week. But differences remain, particularly over GOP spending cuts.

Wall Street falls early with Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs on trade partners now a day away

Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.5% before the bell Tuesday morning, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6%. Nasdaq futures also headed 0.5% lower.

Gold rose to over $3,170.00 per ounce early Tuesday before falling back slightly. Gold is hitting all-time highs as investors seek a save place to park their money with markets destabilized by Trump’s tariff threats.

On Wednesday, the United States is set to begin what Trump calls “ reciprocal ” tariffs. Yet little is known about exactly who will be targeted and what the tariff scheme will be.

▶ Read more about the financial markets

Europe says it holds a lot of trade cards on the eve of Trump’s tariff ‘Liberation Day’

A top European Union official warned the U.S. on Tuesday that the world’s biggest trade bloc “holds a lot of cards” when it comes to dealing with the Trump administration’s new tariffs and has a good plan to retaliate if forced to.

Trump has promised to roll out taxes on imports from other countries Wednesday. He says they will free the U.S. from reliance on foreign goods.

He’s vowed to impose “reciprocal” tariffs to match the duties that other countries charge on U.S. products, dubbing April 2 “Liberation Day.”

“Europe has not started this confrontation. We do not necessarily want to retaliate, but if it is necessary, we have a strong plan to retaliate and we will use it,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told EU lawmakers.

▶ Read more about the European Union’s response to tariffs

Control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court at stake in race that’s drawn powerful political interests

The race, which will be decided Tuesday, broke records for spending and has become a proxy battle for the nation’s political fights, pitting a candidate backed by President Trump against a Democratic-aligned challenger.

Republicans including Trump and the world’s wealthiest person, Elon Musk, lined up behind Brad Schimel, a former state attorney general. Democrats like former President Barack Obama and billionaire megadonor George Soros backed Susan Crawford, a Dane County judge who led legal fights to protect union power and abortion rights and to oppose voter ID.

The first major election in the country since November is seen as a litmus test of how voters feel about Trump’s first months back in office and the role played by Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency has torn through federal agencies and laid off thousands of workers. Musk traveled to Wisconsin on Sunday to make a pitch for Schimel and personally hand out $1 million checks to two voters.

▶ Read more about the Wisconsin Supreme Court election

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker carries an all-night speech to protest Trump’s agenda

Booker took to the Senate floor Monday evening saying he would remain there as long as he was “physically able.” He was still on the floor Tuesday morning more than 12 hours later.

“These are not normal times in our nation,” Booker said at the start of his speech. “And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate. The threats to the American people and American democracy are grave and urgent, and we all must do more to stand against them.”

Booker railed against cuts to Social Security offices and spoke to concerns that broader cuts to the social safety net could be coming, though Republican lawmakers say the program won’t be touched.

▶ Read more about Sen. Cory Booker’s speech

Trump’s schedule for Tuesday

At 12:30 p.m., President Trump and Vice President JD Vance will have lunch at the White House. At 3 p.m., Trump will sign executive orders. There will also be a press briefing held at noon today, according to the White House.

FDA’s top tobacco official is removed from post in latest blow to health agency’s leadership

The Food and Drug Administration’s chief tobacco regulator has been removed from his post amid sweeping cuts at the agency and across the federal health workforce handed down Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter.

In an email to staff, FDA tobacco director Brian King said: “It is with a heavy heart and profound disappointment that I share I have been placed on administrative leave.”

King was removed from his position and offered reassignment to the Indian Health Service, according to a person familiar with the matter who did not have permission to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Dozens of staffers in FDA’s tobacco center also received notices of dismissal Tuesday morning, including the entire office responsible for enforcing tobacco regulations.

▶ Read more about the FDA’s chief tobacco regulator

— Matthew Perrone

Trump has dubbed April 2 ‘Liberation Day’ for his tariffs. Here’s what to expect

Trump has repeatedly called April 2 “Liberation Day,” with promises to roll out a set of tariffs, or taxes on imports from other countries, that he says will free the U.S. from a reliance on foreign goods. To do this, Trump has said he’ll impose “reciprocal” tariffs to match the duties that other countries charge on U.S. products.

But a lot remains unknown about how these levies will actually be implemented. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that Trump would unveil his plans on Wednesday, but maintained that the details are up to the president to announce.

Since taking office just months ago, Trump has proven to be aggressive with tariff threats, all while creating a sense of whiplash through on-again, off-again trade actions. And it’s possible that we’ll see more delays or confusion this week.

▶ Read more about Trump’s “Liberation Day”

Layoffs begin at US health agencies

Employees across the massive U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began receiving notices of dismissal on Tuesday in a major overhaul expected to ultimately lay off up to 10,000 people.

The notices come just days after Trump moved to strip workers of their collective bargaining rights at HHS and other agencies throughout the government.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announced a plan last week to remake HHS, which, through its agencies, is responsible for tracking health trends and disease outbreaks, conducting and funding medical research, monitoring the safety of food and medicine, and administering health insurance programs for nearly half of the country.

The plan would consolidate agencies that oversee billions of dollars for addiction services and community health centers across the country under a new office called the Administration for a Healthy America.

The layoffs are expected to shrink HHS to 62,000 positions, lopping off nearly a quarter of its staff — 10,000 jobs through layoffs and another 10,000 workers who took early retirement and voluntary separation offers.

▶ Read more about the layoffs at HHS

The Associated Press

President Donald Trump ‘s administration has acknowledged mistakenly deporting a Maryland man with protected legal status to a notorious El Salvador prison but is arguing against returning him to federal custody in the United States because of alleged gang ties.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials admitted in a court filing on Monday night to an “administrative error” in deporting the 29-year-old man, generating immediate uproar from immigration advocates.

Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was arrested on March 12 after completing a shift as a sheet metal worker apprentice at a construction site in Baltimore, according to a complaint filed in federal court by his lawyers.

Abrego Garcia was then sent to a notorious prison in his home country, the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, which activists say is rife with abuses and where inmates are packed into cells and never allowed outside.

He was placed at CECOT despite an immigration judge’s ruling in 2019 that he not be deported to El Salvador because he had established it was “more likely than not that he would be persecuted by gangs,” according to his lawyer’s complaint.

Abrego Garcia “left El Salvador when he was around sixteen years old, fleeing gang violence,” according to the complaint. “Beginning around 2006, gang members had stalked, hit, and threatened to kidnap and kill him in order to coerce his parents to succumb to their increasing demands for extortion.”

“Although he has been accused of general ‘gang affiliation,’ the U.S. government has never produced an iota of evidence to support this unfounded accusation,” the complaint stated, adding that Abrego Garcia is neither a member of nor affiliated with MS-13 or any other criminal or street gang.

Abrego Garcia’s wife later saw him in photos and video of him at the prison, identifying her husband through his distinctive tattoos and two scars on his head, the complaint stated.

The Trump administration said in its court filing that ICE “was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador,” but still deported Abrego Garcia “because of an administrative error.”

The administration argued against his return to the U.S., citing alleged gang ties and claiming that he is a danger to the community. The administration stated that his gang ties were confirmed at a 2019 bond proceeding and upheld by the Board of Immigration Appeals.

“This was an oversight, and the removal was carried out in good faith based on the existence of a final order of removal and Abrego-Garcia’s purported membership in MS-13,” Robert Cerna, ICE’s acting field office director of enforcement and removal operations, wrote in a statement to the court.

Ben Finley, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s nominee to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine, told senators Tuesday that he understands he is an unknown and unconventional nominee — but that the U.S. is facing unconventional and unprecedented threats and he is ready to serve in its defense.

At his confirmation hearing to become the top U.S. military officer, he said he would be candid in his advice to Trump and vowed to be apolitical. While Caine stopped short of criticizing top leaders for using a Signal chat to discuss plans for an attack against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, he told senators during questioning that he always communicates in proper channels.

Caine is a decorated F-16 combat pilot who served in leadership in multiple special operations commands and in some of the Pentagon’s most classified programs. While Caine does not meet prerequisites for the job set out in a 1986 law — such as being a combatant commander or service chief — lawmakers noted his decades of service. Those requirements can be waived by the president.

“I realize for many Americans, I am an unknown leader,” Caine said in his opening remarks. He spoke of serving under presidents of both parties and his expansive experience, which also included service in the National Guard, the private sector and the CIA.

Democrats noted that Caine was nominated after Trump fired Gen. CQ Brown Jr. in a purge of generals viewed by the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as endorsing diversity, equity and inclusion in the ranks.

“I trust that you understand the fraught situation within which you have been nominated to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs,” said Sen. Jack Reed, senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. “In this regard, your distinguished record of service is encouraging.”

The committee chairman, Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, said he’s convinced Caine sees his job as nonpartisan.

“We can argue politics up here on the dais, but I expect General Caine to stay out of it no matter the subject,” he said.

Caine disputes MAGA hat story

In his remarks, Caine sought to assure lawmakers of his approach to readying the nation for future wars. He said his military experience, which included seeing fellow service members die, has shaped his views on when to use force and “the importance of carefully considering the use of that force.”

Caine also for the first time publicly denied that he had ever worn a MAGA hat. Trump has told a story about Caine saying he wore one of the hats when the two met some years ago.

When asked during the hearing, Caine said, “For 34 years, I’ve upheld my oath of office and my commitment to my commission. And I have never worn any political merchandise.”

He said Trump must have been “talking about somebody else.”

Caine has been described by former military colleagues as a deeply serious career officer who has spent the past few weeks meeting both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, said a former U.S. official who has helped Caine prepare for the confirmation process and spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details on Caine’s nomination.

Questions on attack plans sent in Signal

Caine also was asked about senior national security officials using a Signal chat to communicate about airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthis, including Hegseth posting tactical details before the operation had launched. That chat, which included a journalist, did not include acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Christopher Brady.

“From what I understand of that chat, it was a partisan political chat and so the joint force should not have been represented,” Caine told the lawmakers.

Caine declined to comment on whether senior U.S. officials who were in the chat — including the vice president, defense secretary, secretary of state and national security adviser — should have discussed battle plans on an unclassified, commercial application.

“What I will say is we should always preserve the element of surprise,” Caine said.

Trump’s top military adviser

While Caine would be the military’s top uniformed officer, his chief duty would be serving as the president’s primary military adviser. Caine told senators that the military must remain apolitical.

“I think it starts with being a good example from the top and making sure that we are nonpartisan and apolitical and speaking the truth to power.”

During his first term, Trump’s relationship with then-Chairman Gen. Mark Milley soured as Milley pushed back and took steps to try to prevent what he saw as an attempt to politicize the office. He would remind military service members that they took an oath to the Constitution, not to a president.

Within hours of Trump being sworn in office in January, Milley’s portrait as chairman of the Joint Chiefs was removed from the Pentagon. Trump and Hegseth have subsequently stripped Milley of his security clearance and security detail.

Because he retired in December, Caine would need to be sworn back into active duty. That would take place after he is confirmed, and then he would be promoted to four-star general, the former U.S. official said.

Caine has spent time inside the Pentagon, leading its Special Access Programs Central Office, which oversees what classified information on weapons programs is shared with foreign governments.

He also served as the commander of the joint special operations task force in Iraq in 2008 and as the assistant commanding general of joint special operations command at Fort Bragg. From 2018 to 2019, he was the deputy commanding general of the special operations joint task force for Operation Inherent Resolve, countering the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

He also was associate director for military affairs at the CIA from 2021 until he retired in December.

Caine transferred into the National Guard in 2009 and began working in the private sector, including as an adviser at an investment firm run by the brother of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

He has more than 2,800 flying hours in the F-16 and has earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bronze Star Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster, among other awards.

___

Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Matt Brown in Washington contributed to this report.

Tara Copp, The Associated Press