Today’s notice: The potential, and reality, of the House class of 2012. Josh Shapiro vs. energy prices. Progressives’ new affordability tour. Hiring at the Hirshhorn. Plus: A quiet vote in the Senate that could have massive implications for public lands.

P.S. Exciting news! In June, we’re getting a new name: The Star. You can read more about our big plans here.

THE LATEST

From the ‘where are they now?’ file: This morning, NOTUS’ Paul Kane published a text from Eric Swalwell he received shortly before The Recent Unpleasantness: “If I promise to win the CA governor race, do you promise to write that book I’ve long wanted on the Class of 2012?”

That first promise is not going to be kept. Swalwell is out of the gubernatorial primary, out of Congress and out of friends willing to publicly back him. But Paul’s given the second promise a shot. Swalwell’s right, there really could be a book about the House members first elected in 2012. But what kind of book would it be?

Cautionary tale? Among Swalwell’s fellow freshmen that year were Beto O’Rourke and John Delaney — two Democrats who tried and failed to be president — and Ron DeSantis, a onetime Republican presidential hopeful who may try again. Also on the list is Joe Kennedy III, who lost a bid to unseat Ed Markey in a Democratic Senate primary.

Tragedy? Many fervent backers of Tulsi Gabbard and Kyrsten Sinema, Democrats elected in 2012, came to regret their support. Both women say they remained consistent, but Sinema became an independent partway through her sole Senate term and Gabbard’s roller-coaster ride of a career has landed her in Donald Trump’s Cabinet.

First volume in a series? Class of 2012 members Hakeem Jeffries and Suzan DelBene are the future of Democratic leadership: Jeffries could soon become speaker if his party retakes the House in November and DelBene, as chair of the DCCC, could be the face of that victory. Her Republican counterpart at the NRCC, Richard Hudson, was also elected in 2012. So was the newly minted homeland security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, who may find himself with a number of political options if he successfully rights the ship at DHS.

Open tabs: Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons resigns (CBS); Trump to Pick Ousted FEMA Head to Lead Agency Again (NYT); Trump Administration Ends Funding Freeze for NYC’s Second Avenue Subway (NOTUS); Progressive Democrat Analilia Mejia wins New Jersey special election for US House (Guardian)

From the Hill

Republicans kicked the FISA can down the road, extending the deadline to reauthorize the surveillance law for 10 days. Even after a huddle stretching into early this morning, two attempts to pass more substantial extensions failed.

Speaker Mike Johnson faces pressure from privacy hawk Republicans to add changes to section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the government to collect information of foreigners abroad without a warrant – including their interactions with Americans. Some Republicans want protections added to prevent Americans’ data from being swept up in searches.

Trump urged Republicans to pass a clean extension. “The fact is, whether you like FISA or not, it is extremely important to our Military,” he wrote on Truth Social this week.

The short-term extension goes to the Senate, where most members have already left for the weekend. It would likely need a unanimous consent to pass without a formal vote before the measure would expire on Monday. The House also cancelled Friday votes.

From Pennsylvania

Exclusive: Shapiro’s war with the power grid. “Pennsylvania is no longer going to be held captive to PJM,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, told NOTUS’ Anna Kramer yesterday. PJM Interconnection is a key component of the Eastern Seaboard’s energy infrastructure, serving 13 states including the commonwealth. Shapiro has threatened to pull Pennsylvania out of it unless changes are made at PJM he says will curb skyrocketing energy prices.

“I’ve been very clear that they’re either going to adopt them or they’re going to lose Pennsylvania,” he told Anna. This is one of those stories you don’t hear a lot about that could end up being a really big deal.

Bonus: They’re laughing at you, D.C. Shapiro spoke at a bipartisan energy-themed event hosted by the National Governors Association. The panel was asked if this is finally the year that Congress gets permitting reform done.

There was a pause, Anna reports. And then the entire room, including the assembled governors, burst out laughing. “D.C. is not coming up with solutions,” Kevin Stitt, the NGA chair and Oklahoma’s Republican governor, said.

From the campaign trail

First on NOTUS: The Congressional Progressive Caucus is launching a multistate “Affordability Listening Tour” in Las Vegas tomorrow, NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz has learned. Reps. Yassamin Ansari and Steven Horsford are set to meet with around 100 voters to discuss household-finance struggles. Future stops with other representatives are set for Houston and Phoenix.

From the Treasury

A well-timed investment: The assistant secretary for terrorist financing, Jonathan Burke, purchased $15,001 to $50,000 worth of shares on Feb. 20 in three exchange-traded funds focused on nuclear energy, domestic fossil-fuel development and cybersecurity companies — just eight days before the war with Iran began. NOTUS’ Mark Alfred reports that after a month of conflict, that fossil-fuel ETF alone had risen 20% in value.

Treasury spox: “These transactions were reviewed and approved by career ethics officials.”

From the National Mall

Smithsonian brain drain: “Historically, people want to be directors, but it’s a scary time to be working with the federal government,” a Smithsonian museum employee told NOTUS’ Torrence Banks recently. The nation’s most famous museum brand currently has high-level gigs open at the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum of African American History and Culture and, now, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. That museum’s director recently left for the Guggenheim.

In theory, that opening leaves a plum gig for the taking. But employees say ongoing scrutiny from the White House could put the Hirshhorn’s next director in an uncomfortable spotlight. “Contemporary art is inherently boundary-pushing, so I’m sure we’ll be targeted again at some point,” one Hirshhorn employee told Torrence.

NEW ON NOTUS

Republicans upend congressional oversight of public lands: The GOP-controlled Senate passed a law yesterday to allow mining on hundreds of thousands of acres of previously protected land near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Critics of the measure, including a few Republicans, told NOTUS’ Em Luetkemeyer and Igor Bobic that the precedent could come back to haunt Republicans if a future Democratic administration uses the same process to block mining and fossil-fuel exploration across the country.

“An activist, liberal administration could ride roughshod through a lot of our states, particularly more rural states that have large parcels of land and land agreements in place,” Sen. Thom Tillis told NOTUS.

North Carolina Democrats in the most competitive races outraised their Republican opponents and now have more money on hand, according to new FEC reports reviewed by NOTUS’ Christa Dutton. That gap is largest in the state’s marquee race: the Senate contest between Roy Cooper, the former Democratic governor, and Michael Whatley, the former RNC chair.

More: Moderate Democratic Group Backs New Candidates in Key Congressional Races, by Tyler Spence

FEMA Official Defends Cuts to Disaster-Response Staff at Agency, by Torrence Banks

Fiscal Hawks Prep for Battle Against Mammoth Pentagon Budget Request, by Joe Gould, Hamed Ahmadi and Reese Gorman

NOT US

• How Newsom Boosted His Book Sales With $1.5 Million From His PAC, by Shane Goldmacher for The New York Times
  
• What I Saw Inside the Kennedy Center, by Josef Palermo for The Atlantic
  
• Democrats want the full 2024 election autopsy released — no matter the findings, by Natasha Korecki and Jonathan Allen for NBC News

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