Overview

• The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the Honest Act in an 8–7 vote, with Sen. Josh Hawley as the sole Republican joining all Democrats in support.
• Committee negotiators carved out an exemption so that the president and vice president would not be covered during their current term to address Article II concerns, a change that has drawn sharp criticism.
• President Trump publicly denounced Hawley on Truth Social, branding him a “second-tier senator” and accusing him of enabling Democratic efforts to target his administration.
• Sen. Rand Paul, Sen. Ron Johnson and other Republicans have voiced objections to the executive-branch exemption and broader scope of the bill, exposing fractures in the GOP majority.
• The legislation now moves to the Senate floor for a 53–47 majority vote, with unresolved disputes over the carve-out and Trump’s stance set to shape its final outcome.