Good Tuesday evening. In this edition: Trump urges Iranians to protest, says "help" is coming; and Supreme Court grapples with transgender athlete bans.
Plus, Clintons, inflation, Jerome Powell, Kristi Noem, Mary Peltola and Jack Smith.
Iran Protests
President Trump urged Iranians to keep protesting, telling them "help is on the way," as the regime in Tehran intensifies its crackdown on dissent.
"To all Iranian patriots, keep protesting. Take over your institutions, if possible. And save the name of your killers and abusers," the president said in Detroit. "Save their names because they'll pay a very big price."
Iran is facing some of its strongest protests in years and has responded with brutal violence, leaving as many as 3,000 people dead, according to some estimates, though exact figures remain elusive.
The government has also instituted a near-total communications blackout across the country as it tries to quell the demonstrations.
It's unclear what the president meant by "help," though he recently said he was weighing "very strong options" against Tehran and the White House has left the door open to military strikes.
President Trump has previously shown a willingness to strike directly at the regime, ordering the 2020 killing of Iran's top military commander, Qasem Soleimani, and authorizing strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities last June.
The president on Monday night announced 25% import tariffs on products from any country doing business with Iran, a major oil exporter.
The White House has not elaborated on how the levies will be implemented, but a 25% increase in tariffs on China — which does significant business with Tehran — could risk reigniting the dormant trade war.
On Sunday, the president said Iran's government had reached out to the White House and wanted to cut a deal, adding that he was open to holding a meeting.
But on Tuesday, he said he had "canceled all meetings" with Iranian officials until Tehran stops its "senseless" killings.
Steve Witkoff, the White House special envoy, also secretly met over the weekend with Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran, according to Axios.
Mr. Pahlavi, the son of the shah who was deposed during the 1979 Islamic Revolution and a fierce critic of the current government, has sought to position himself as a "transitional leader" if the Iranian regime falls.
The Supreme Court's conservative majority appeared inclined to uphold state bans on transgender athletes competing in women's sports as justices heard arguments in a pair of cases challenging separate state laws.
The cases — one involving Idaho's ban and the other West Virginia's — center on whether the restrictions violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment or Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education.
Transgender student-athletes have become a political flash point in recent years, and more than half the states have barred them from competing on women's or girls' teams.
Supporters say the bans are necessary to preserve fairness and safety in competition because of inherent physical differences between males and females, while opponents argue the laws unlawfully discriminate against transgender people.
For more than three hours, justices pressed lawyers on issues of fairness, safety, scientific uncertainty and discrimination.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch are viewed as potential swing votes, given their role in a 2020 decision that protected gay and transgender employees from workplace discrimination. But both appeared skeptical of arguments challenging the state bans.
Conservative justices noted that federal law has long allowed separate teams for boys and girls to promote fair competition, and raised concerns that striking down the bans could weaken Title IX, which has greatly expanded participation in women's sports.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a girls' basketball coach, questioned why the court should "constitutionalize" a right for transgender women to compete in women's sports while the science remains unsettled. "Why would we get involved at this point?" he asked.
The court's three liberal justices, appearing to recognize the direction the majority may be headed, suggested that even if the bans are upheld, transgender athletes might still be able to bring individual challenges.
Their questions indicated the plaintiffs could argue in lower court that they do not have an unfair competitive advantage, even if other transgender athletes might.
An estimated 300,000 transgender youths ages 13 to 17 live in the U.S., according to the UCLA School of Law.
The Human Rights Campaignestimates about 14% of trans boys and 12% of trans girls play on a sports team.
Justice are expected to issue a ruling in the cases by late June or early July.
Last June, the court ruled 6–3 along ideological lines to uphold state bans on gender transition care for minors.
Bill and Hillary Clintonrefused to testify in the House Oversight Committee's investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, escalating a monthslong battle with the panel's chair, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who said he will initiate contempt of Congress proceedings. The Clintons, who had previously been associated with the late convicted sex offender, say they have no relevant information to share with the committee and contend the subpoenas issued to them were "legally invalid." "Every person has to decide when they have seen or had enough and are ready to fight for this country, its principles and its people, no matter the consequences," they wrote in a lengthy letter to Rep. Comer. "For us, now is that time." Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) backed the effort to hold them in contempt. "I think by definition, if you defy a subpoena of Congress, it is contempt," he told reporters.
Inflation rose at a 2.7% annual rate in December, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report, matching expectations but remaining above the Federal Reserve's 2% target. Core CPI, which strips out the more volatile food and energy categories, increased 2.6% over the year ending in December. Food prices have continued to soar, jumping 0.7% last month for the largest one-month increase in grocery prices since October 2022. The central bank — currently embroiled in a legal fight with the Trump administration — holds its next policy meeting at the end of the month.
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, appeared to soften the threat of criminal action against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell after fierce blowback on Capitol Hill, including from prominent Republicans. "The word 'indictment' has come out of Mr. Powell's mouth, no one else's," she wrote on social media Monday night. "None of this would have happened if [the Fed] had just responded to our outreach." President Trump, however, continued his criticism of Mr. Powell, accusing him of being either "incompetent" or "crooked" over his handling of the Federal Reserve's renovation of its DC headquarters.
Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL) filed articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, accusing her of obstruction of Congress, violation of public trust and self-dealing. "She needs to be held accountable for terrorizing our communities," the Democrat said on the House floor. The articles were filed in the aftermath of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shooting a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis last week.
Mary Peltola, the former Democratic congresswoman from Alaska, announced she will run for the U.S. Senate in November, challenging Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), who is seeking a third term. "My agenda for Alaska will always be fish, family and freedom," she said in her launch video. "But our future also depends on fixing the rigged system in DC that's shutting down Alaska while politicians feather their own nest." Ms. Peltola won a special election in 2022 to succeed Rep. Don Young (R-AK), defeating Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich. She was elected to a full term later that year before narrowly losing reelection in 2024.
Jack Smith, the former special counsel who secured two indictments against President Trump, will testify publicly before the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 22. His previous requests to testify publicly were rebuffed, and he sat for a lengthy closed-door deposition last month in which he said he would bring the charges again if presented with the same facts.
For your radar…
FCC Chair Brendan Carr (R) and commissioners Anna Gomez (D) and Olivia Trusty (R) testify Wednesday before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. Watch LIVE on C-SPAN3 at 10:15am ET.
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