White House Defends "Signalgate" As Dems Push To Access Messages
Plus: Waymo to bring robotaxi service to D.C., why insurers are against it
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Good afternoon,
As we’re about to embark on allergy season, we’re fascinated by the science of a sneeze. Apparently, with some effort, it’s possible to control how loud we sneeze. (Nothing worse than letting out a loud sneeze just as your kids are falling asleep!)
Doctors tell the Washington Post that “sneeze control involves regulating your breathing the moment you feel a sneeze coming,” as well as relaxing your vocal cords.
Here are some strategies:
If possible, exhale before you sneeze to release some pressure in the lungs.
Imagine you're letting out a deep sigh to relax your vocal cords.
Keep your mouth closed. Hold your tongue to the roof of your mouth to direct air pressure through your nose, rather than your mouth.
And if all else fails: Experts say, “Do the Dracula!” – aka sneeze into a handkerchief or your elbow to help quiet the blast. (Given that most people don’t really carry around handkerchiefs, elbows it is!)
BTW, doctors say it’s fine to quiet your sneeze, but don’t hold in a sneeze altogether. No bueno.
Let the spring season begin!
Jill
Mo News Podcast
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🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING
Blowback Following Signal Group Chat Discussing Houthi Attack, Trump Defends National Security Adviser
President Trump is standing by National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and does not appear poised to fire him after he accidentally added Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to a private Signal chat in mid-March discussing military plans against the Houthis in Yemen. The White House is saying “no classified material was sent to the thread,” despite the fact that it included military attack plans.
Competing narratives: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth maintained on Monday that “nobody was texting war plans.” Goldberg responded on CNN, “No, that’s a lie. He was texting war plans.”
According to documents obtained by CBS News, the National Security Agency (NSA) sent out a memo to its employees warning of potential hacks on Signal. “A vulnerability has been identified in the Signal Messenger Application. The use of Signal by common targets of surveillance and espionage activity has made the application a high value target to intercept sensitive information," it said.
It comes as a pre-planned, annual Senate Intelligence Committee briefing on global threats took place Tuesday. Democrats aimed questions at Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and C.I.A. Director John Ratcliffe, who were both in the group chat with Waltz, Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, and others. Democratic lawmakers have called for Waltz and Hegseth to resign – including Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), who is the highest ranked Democrat on the committee.
A HEATED HEARING
During the hearing, Senate Intelligence Committee leaders debated how forthright Trump officials have been about what was in the chat. Ratcliffe and Gabbard claimed, at times, that there was no classified information discussed. Democrats pushed for the whole conversation to be released.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) attempted to clarify that Gabbard and Ratcliffe were testifying that there was no intelligence community classified information in there – as opposed to classified military information, which they would defer to the Pentagon on. They confirmed.
Sen. Warner pushed back, saying that they can't "have it both ways” – that the chat should be made public if nothing was classified. He added, "Or is this just one more example of a careless approach to how we keep our secrets in this administration?"
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) pressed the two officials about the content in the chat.
Ratcliffe admitted that “pre-decisional strike deliberation should be conducted through classified channels,” meaning that discussions regarding potential military targets should not occur on an hack-able system like Signal, but instead on secure systems provided to government officials.
Gabbard stated that she doesn’t recall if Houthi targets were specifically discussed in the chat, but could only recall a discussion of “targets in general.”
🚨 Despite their claims that nothing classified was discussed, neither said they could agree to release the chat publicly.
REAX
While Congressional Republicans are furious about the group chat, they’re not calling for anyone to be axed. Republican Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), a former Air Force Brigadier General and on the House Armed Services Committee, called the White House’s defense “bologna” and said those in the chat need to own up to their mistake. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) called it “sloppy.”
Trump told NBC that Waltz “has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man.” He added that Goldberg’s presence in the chat had “no impact at all” on the military operation.
Asked if his administration will continue using Signal to discuss such information: "We'll look into it. But everybody else seems to be using it." The situation, Trump added, was “the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one.”
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🚨 ONE THING THAT’S CHANGING
Waymo To Launch In D.C. Next Year, But First Must Overturn Local Ban
Self-driving rideshare service Waymo will expand to Washington D.C. in 2026, but first the company must work with local officials to overturn a law that blocks fully autonomous vehicles without safety drivers.
Waymo’s cars have been doing test drives around the city since last year – but with drivers behind the wheel. Now, the Alphabet-owned company says it’s working with Transportation Department officials to update the city’s rules. City officials say the updates will be "based on public input, emerging best practices, and lessons learned from peer jurisdictions."
The company currently operates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin, while working to expand to Miami and Atlanta. The move to the nation’s capitol is strategic: if more lawmakers start to rely on Waymo in a city with some of the worst traffic congestion in the U.S., they might become more keen on passing federal regulation that favors the company. A bill to expand AV use has been stalled for over seven years in Congress due to debates over safety, liability, and legal exemptions.
PROS & CONS
More and more companies — like Uber and Lyft to Tesla and Amazon — are getting into the self-driving space.
According to a 2024 study analyzing 25.3 million miles driven across various cities by Waymo's AVs, researchers found an 88% drop in property damage claims and a 92% decrease in bodily injury claims, as compared to human drivers. The study was conducted by Waymo and an insurance company.
If you want to see what it's like to ride in one, Mosh recently took a spin in a Waymo for his first time in Phoenix.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 Florida's proposed solution for losing migrant workers: more teen labor (AXIOS)
📌 Senate committee advances nomination of Dr Oz to run Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (FOX)
📌 Jasmine Crockett called Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, ‘Governor Hot Wheels’ (AP)
📌 Judge orders U.S. to stop attempts to deport Columbia undergraduate (NY TIMES)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 Doctor treating Pope Francis says team considered ending treatment so he could die (CNN)
📌 German parliament elects an ex-minister as speaker as it opens a potentially confrontational term (AP)
📌 Turkey detains more than 1,400 protesters and multiple journalists after jailing of leading opposition figure (NBC)
📌 World’s longest-serving death row prisoner awarded $1.4 million after acquittal – that’s $85 for each day (BBC)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 Consumer confidence in where the economy is headed hits 12-year low (CNBC)
📌 CDC is pulling back $11B in Covid funding sent to health departments across the U.S. (NBC)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 'Real Housewives' star Teresa Giudice, husband Luis Ruelas owe $3M in tax liens (FOX)
📌 World Athletics to require chromosome testing of women’s track and field athletes (NBC)
