Maeve Sheehy

In the past, the House has voted on this, which Democrats have pushed for, and the War Powers votes have failed because Republicans have kind of voted with the president.

This time, though, there were enough Republican absences that it looked like it was likely to advance.

which would have been kind of a blow to Trump.

You know, he could overturn this bill, but it would still be kind of an embarrassment.

And so Republican leaders pulled it at the last minute.

And we haven't seen any call for a delay from China.

But, you know, there have been some concerns from Chinese officials that this is going forward before the U.S.-Iran conflict is settled.

And with all of these new developments over the past couple of days, it's unclear whether that will throw any wrenches into anything.

It's been very contentious every time it's come up for reauthorization, including in 2024.

Basically, there are some privacy hawks in the Republican Party and the Democratic Party as well who say that this spy powers law allows U.S.

agencies to spy on Americans.

And that is a big sticking point.

So they're arguing about warrants and things like that.

A lot of this Epstein discourse was a lot stronger a couple months ago.

So at least from our perspective in D.C., it's interesting to see her commenting now.

But something to point out is that she called on Congress to hold a hearing to allow survivors of Epstein's crimes to share their experiences.

And Democrats on the panel have said that they agree with that.

So that's something to keep an eye on that might happen soon.

He will be the first ex-president who has been forced to testify before Congress.

Democrats have been very clear that they think this sets a precedent that maybe could be used for them to call in Trump in the future if they control the House next year.