Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales, who was facing allegations of sexual misconduct with subordinates, announced his intention to resign on Monday. “There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all. When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office. It has been my privilege to serve the great people of Texas,” Gonzales, a Republican, wrote on X. Gonzales’ announcement came an hour after Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., who has also been accused of sexual misconduct, announced he would resign from Congress. Swalwell fully denies the accusations. In February, the San Antonio Express-News published sexually explicit messages sent by Gonzales to Regina Santos-Aviles, an aide who later committed suicide in an act of self-immolation. Her widower also accused Gonzales of having had an affair with his wife. In March, Gonzales admitted to the affair, calling it a “lapse in judgement” and dropped his reelection bid. In April, a former campaign aide accused Gonzales of having sent her sexual messages. Gonzales faced the possibility of expulsion. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., had announced her intention to force votes of expulsion for both Swalwell and Gonzales. The post Embattled Texas Rep. Gonzales Resigns Amid Sex Scandal appeared first on The Daily Signal.

After returning from negotiations with Iranian officials in Pakistan, Vice President JD Vance said the next step toward future negotiations lies with Iran. “It’s a question that would be best put to the Iranians because the ball really is in their court,” Vance said on Fox News on Monday when asked by host Bret Baier if more talks would happen. “We’ve made clear where we’re going to be accommodating, and we’ve made clear where we absolutely need to see the nuclear material come out of the country of Iran.” Vance led a team of negotiators on April 11 for more than 21 hours of talks in Pakistan. According to a U.S. official, the two parties did not reach an agreement on U.S. demands that included Iran’s ending all uranium enrichment; dismantling all major nuclear enrichment facilities; retrieving highly enriched uranium; accepting a broader peace, security, and de-escalation framework; ending funding for terrorist proxies; and fully opening the Strait of Hormuz. While negotiators expected a brief table-setting meeting to set up future talks, the conversations turned into almost 24 hours of negotiations, the official told The Daily Signal. Vance said he and his team left Pakistan because they learned that the Iranian negotiators were unable to cut a deal, as they needed prior approval from Tehran. “Whether we have further conversations, whether we ultimately get to a deal, I really think the ball is in the Iranian court because we put a lot on the table,” he said. “We actually made very clear what our red lines were. We also made clear, Bret, that we actually would be very happy—the president of the United States has said he would be very happy if Iran was treated like a normal country, if it had a normal economy, if its people were able to prosper and thrive.” “But in order for Iran to be a normal country, economically, it’s going to have to be a normal country from the perspective of not pursuing a nuclear weapon,” he continued, “and it’s going to have to be a normal country from not pursuing terrorism.” Vance said there’s a “grand deal” to be had between Iran and the United States, but the Iranians are responsible for taking the next step. The post ‘Ball Is in Their Court’: Vance Addresses Future Talks With Iran appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Monday declassified and released documents she says show that officials within the Intelligence Community mishandled and politicized a whistleblower complaint that ultimately led to President Donald Trump’s first impeachment in 2019. According to Gabbard, the newly released records allege that what she described as “deep state actors” collaborated with then–House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to advance what she called a “false narrative” surrounding the whistleblower complaint. In a statement accompanying the release, Gabbard accused Schiff and Pelosi of withholding transcripts of closed-door congressional testimony from former Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson—records she said would have undercut claims of Trump-Russia collusion dating back to 2017. Gabbard said those transcripts were kept from the House Judiciary Committee until March 24, 2026, when they were released following a forced vote led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rich Crawford. The declassified documents, Gabbard said, show that Atkinson departed from standard inspector general investigative procedures and relied on what she characterized as politicized and manufactured narratives when handling the whistleblower complaint tied to Trump’s July 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to the records, Atkinson’s preliminary inquiry involved interviews with only four individuals: the whistleblower, a friend of the whistleblower who assisted in authoring the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment on Russia and was an associate of former FBI agent Peter Strzok, and two character references who lacked firsthand knowledge of the Trump-Zelensky call. The documents further state that the whistleblower acknowledged having no direct, firsthand knowledge of the call. One quoted statement attributed to the whistleblower reads, “I do not have direct knowledge of private comments or communications by the President.” Gabbard said the records show that no formal or complete investigation was conducted before the complaint was transmitted to Congress. Despite lacking firsthand evidence, she alleged that Atkinson moved forward in a way that exceeded his statutory authority and “weaponized” the whistleblower process. By disregarding guidance from the Department of Justice and relying on secondhand information, Gabbard said Atkinson facilitated the complaint’s transmission to Congress, its referral to the FBI, and its eventual leak to the media. Gabbard argued that Schiff and Pelosi then used the secondhand allegations to drive media coverage and lay the groundwork for Trump’s impeachment by the House in December 2019. “The politicization of the whistleblower process by a former CIA employee who was working hand in glove with Democrats in Congress (is an egregious example) of the deep state playbook on how to weaponize the Intelligence Community,” Gabbard said. “Exposing these tactics and showing how they undermine the fabric of our democratic republic furthers the critical cause of transparency and accountability and will help prevent future abuse of power,” she continued. The post Gabbard Exposes Congressional Plot to Impeach Trump appeared first on The Daily Signal.

On the morning of Friday, April 10, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., was considered to be the leading Democrat in the California gubernatorial primary. Four days later, Swalwell is not only bowing out of the race—but out of Congress entirely. “I am aware of efforts to bring an immediate expulsion vote against me and other members. Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong,” Swalwell said in a statement posted on X. “But it’s also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties.” “Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress,” Swalwell’s statement read. pic.twitter.com/JbKgSORgu4— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) April 13, 2026 “I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me,” Swalwell added. “However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.” Swalwell’s career was upended over the weekend when the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN published reports on Friday in which multiple unnamed women came forward accusing the California congressman of sexual assault. Swalwell has repeatedly denied the allegations levied against him. “These allegations are flat false,” Swalwell posted on X with a video statement attached. “And I will fight them.” Hear it directly from me. These allegations are flat false. And I will fight them. pic.twitter.com/bQSlCquD1U— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) April 11, 2026 Despite Swalwell’s denials, more than 20 major Democrats and several large political organizations withdrew their endorsements of Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign. By Sunday night, Swalwell had suspended his gubernatorial campaign. As Congress prepared to return from a two-week recess on Tuesday, both Democrats and Republicans were calling on Swalwell to resign. Reports suggested that both Republicans and Democrats were considering an effort to expel problematic members such as Swalwell and Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas. Prior to Swalwell’s Monday afternoon statement, the House Ethics Committee announced it would investigate the allegations against Swalwell. The post Swalwell to Resign From Congress, Maintains His Innocence appeared first on The Daily Signal.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Sunday that the city will open its first government-run grocery store in East Harlem.  The self-avowed democratic socialist mayor aims to fulfill his campaign promise to open one city-run grocery store in every one of the city’s five boroughs by the end of his first term. Mamdani made the announcement on his 100th day in office, saying that the store would be up and running by the end of next year. “During our campaign, we promised New Yorkers that we would create a network of five city-owned grocery stores, one in each park,” Mamdani said in his statement. “Today, we make good on that promise.” Mamdani promised to construct “stores where prices are fair, where workers are treated with dignity, and where New Yorkers can actually afford to shop at our stores.” The store will be located in La Marqueta, the New York Post reported. Though Mamdani said the government-run stores were “going to make it easier for New Yorkers to put food on the table” and bring down prices, they have been met with much skepticism. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote on X, “Government run grocery stores! What could go wrong?” Government-run grocery stores!What could go wrong? https://t.co/GTQlKG3Tak— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) April 13, 2026 John Catsimatidis, the owner of Gristedes and D’Agostino’s, “the city’s oldest and largest independent supermarket chains,” wrote in the Wall Street Journal last year that Mamdani’s proposal “would collapse our food supply, kill private industry, and drag us down a path toward the bread lines of the old Soviet Union.” The initial location has a planned price tag of $30 million, according to The New York Times, nearly half of the $70 million Mamdani requested in his 2026 budget for all five planned store locations. New York City faces a budget crisis. Comptroller Mark Levine has said that New York is looking at a $7.3 billion budget gap between this year and next year. “I can tell you that in all that time  I—and we—have never seen a fiscal challenge as big as the one we face now,” Levine said to the New York City Council in March. Mamdani also admitted Friday that New York City is “worse than broke,” though he has blamed the fiscal shortfall on his predecessor, former Mayor Eric Adams. The post Mamdani Moves Forward on Government-Run Grocery Store Plan appeared first on The Daily Signal.