“A scion of one of the state’s most storied political dynasties, Kean’s team says the two-term congressmember is facing unspecified health issues. The New Jersey Republican hasn’t voted since March 5 and has missed almost 50 roll call votes.”

A Pentagon spokesman did not provide an explanation for Phelan’s sudden departure, which comes as the U.S. Navy enforces a high-stakes blockade of Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz.

“He stood alone in the limelight Wednesday, however, after engineering a feat of political hardball — a statewide vote paving the way for new Virginia congressional maps that could wipe out four GOP-held seats — that earned praise from Nancy Pelosi herself.”

— Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), at a Senate hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Said Santos: “Think I can’t win? Try me, my life is an open book and I’ll take aim at any seat and primary someone out just to prove a point, the American people rather vote for someone who is open about their life and past and seeking truth than someone who is shady and full of secrets.”

“Instead, they are spinning their wheels on a series of bills with limited political payoff, if any, lacking the votes — or the consensus in their own ranks — to move ahead with much else.”

“Six months from voting that will decide control of Congress, Republicans in the House and Senate are bogged down on an intraparty fight over surveillance powers.”

“Yet the law also establishes a set of deadlines, the first of which is coming on May 1, that could increase the pressure on the Trump administration in the coming days.”

“The recriminations are not new — plenty of GOP lawmakers had private doubts about Trump’s aggressive push to draw maps in Texas and other red states. But now members are growing increasingly vocal as it appears the tit-for-tat he started could now result in a Democratic advantage.”

“After a decade of fiercely attacking a previous deal with Iran, Trump, pursuing a way out of a war he launched, has authorized U.S. negotiators to consider a bargain that involves many of the same trade-offs one of his predecessors confronted.”

“That’s because the Republican Party’s main political committees and allied groups have built a staggering advantage of roughly $600 million over the Democratic ones. The Republican side has about $843.6 million stockpiled compared with just $243 million for Democrats, accounting for debts.”

“The absence of sustained oversight has left lawmakers grasping for basic details about the war’s trajectory even as its economic and political consequences ripple at home. Interviews with more than a dozen lawmakers in both parties reveal a vacuum of information and a lack of urgency from leadership to fill it. While Administration officials have hosted a handful of classified briefings about the war, many lawmakers complain they were woefully insufficient, leaving them with more questions than answers.”

— House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), speaking to reporters.

“The warning comes as President Donald Trump and his administration continue to send mixed messages on its war against Iran and the resultant spike in U.S. gasoline prices. Prices at the pump have risen by more than a third since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran and the oil prices that underlie the cost of gasoline remain exceptionally volatile and could jump again in the weeks ahead, just as drivers will hit the road for summer vacations.”

Playbook: “As the war approaches the two-month mark and the prospect of an imminent off-ramp fades, oil prices risk becoming a bigger political liability for the White House heading into the midterms.”

— Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at a Senate hearing.