On Wednesdasy, Republicans in the U.S. House voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt, and former President Donald Trump is preparing for a Thursday trip to Capitol Hill.

House Republicans vote to hold Attorney General Garland in contempt

The House voted on Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with Republicans’ demands that he turn over audio recordings of President Joe Biden's interview with the special counsel who probed his handling of classified documents.

The largely party-line vote passed despite the Republican majority's slim margin, with only one GOP lawmaker defecting: Rep. David Joyce of Ohio. All Democrats voted against the resolution.

“It is deeply disappointing that this House of Representatives has turned a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon," Garland said in a statement. "Today’s vote disregards the constitutional separation of powers, the Justice Department’s need to protect its investigations, and the substantial amount of information we have provided to the Committees. I will always stand up for this Department, its employees, and its vital mission to defend our democracy.”

The White House's decision to exert executive privilege over the audio recording, shielding it from Congress, would make it exceedingly difficult to make a criminal case against Garland, the third attorney general in U.S. history to be held in contempt of Congress. It is unlikely that the Justice Department — which Garland oversees — will prosecute him. 

The move is the latest in a series of actions taken by House Republicans as they wage a political and legal campaign against the Department of Justice and the Biden administration over perceived corruption and the criminal prosecutions of former President Donald Trump. Those prosecutions are being handled by an independent special counsel in two federal cases and local district attorneys in two others, including the New York hush-money trial where Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records late last month. Biden and Garland have denied playing any role in any of the four prosecutions.

“We have to defend the Constitution. We have to defend the authority of Congress. We can’t allow the Department of Justice, an executive branch agency, to hide information from Congress,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said at a Wednesday morning press conference. “We have a right to know if [special counsel] Robert Hur’s recommendation against prosecuting President Biden was warranted. And the best evidence… was the audio recordings because they provide critical insight in what that transcript itself cannot provide. We have to know if the transcript was accurate.”

Garland has argued that Congress already has transcripts of the interview and Biden — on Garland’s recommendation — asserted executive privilege to block the release of the audio. Hur, a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney kept on by Garland to continue his investigation into Biden, chose not to prosecute Biden for his handling of classified documents after leaving the vice presidency in 2017.

Blinken: Some of Hamas' proposed changes to cease-fire plan workable, some not

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the war in Gaza would go on after Hamas proposed "numerous" changes to a U.S.-backed cease-fire plan, some that he said were "workable" and some not.

"A deal was on the table that was virtually identical to the proposal that Hamas made on May 6, a deal that the entire world is behind, a deal Israel has accepted," Blinken said. Hamas could have answered with a single word. ‘Yes.’ Instead, Hamas waited nearly two weeks and then proposed more changes, a number of which go beyond positions that had previously taken and accepted."

He did not spell out what the changes were. Speaking to reporters in Qatar, Blinken said the U.S. and other mediators will keep trying to "close this deal."

Blinken is in the region to push a cease-fire proposal with global support that has not been fully embraced by Israel or Hamas. The militant group submitted its first official response late Tuesday, requesting "amendments" to the deal.

"In the coming weeks, we will put forward proposals for the key elements of a ‘day after plan,’ including concrete ideas for how to manage governance, security, reconstruction," Blinken said. "That plan is key to turning a cease-fire into an enduring end to the conflict, but also turning an end of a war into a just and durable peace, and using that peace as a foundation for building a more integrated, a more stable, a more prosperous region."

"I can't speak for Hamas or answer for Hamas, and ultimately it may not be the path that Hamas wants to pursue, but Hamas cannot and will not be allowed to decide the future for this region and its people," he added.

Hamas has expressed support for the broad outline of the deal, but also wariness over whether Israel would implement its terms.

Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha told the Lebanese news outlet ElNashra that the "amendments" requested by the group include guarantees of a permanent cease-fire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Hamas's official reply to the proposal, which it conveyed to mediators on Tuesday, appeared to be short of outright acceptance but kept negotiations alive. Qatar and Egypt, which have been key mediators alongside the United States, said they were studying it.

Blinken is on his eighth visit to the region since the start of the war.

Trump to meet with House and Senate Republicans this week in D.C.

House Republicans will meet privately with Donald Trump on Thursday, as the former president who is now the party's presumptive nominee returns to Capitol Hill for the first time since his supporters attacked the building on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to overturn President Joe Biden's election.

Trump was already scheduled to meet with Senate Republicans behind closed doors, and he will now hold a separate session with colleagues in the House. House GOP Conference Chairwoman Rep. Elise Stefanik advised lawmakers early Tuesday of the upcoming meeting with Trump.

It's a pivotal moment for the indicted former president, weeks before he is to be sentenced after being found guilty in the hush money trial and ahead of the Republican National Convention when he is expected to become the formal GOP nominee for president.

The Trump campaign did not confirm the meeting with House Republicans, but the senior campaign official said the Senate meeting will be focused on policy issues — including tax cuts.

Trump's return to the GOP campaign offices across from the Capitol, his first since the mob of supporters rioted at the Capitol in 2021, comes as he faces other legal charges, including the four-part federal indictment brought by Justice Department Special Prosecutor Jack Smith in the conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results.