What day at a gas station in Pennsylvania heralds the midterms: From the political desk

Welcome to From the Politics DeskA daily newsletter that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News Politics team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, Jonathan Allen shares what he learned after spending a day with voters at a Pennsylvania gas station. Plus, our Capitol Hill team will provide an update on negotiations to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

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– Adam Wollner

What a day at a gas station in Pennsylvania that revealed the intervals

By Jonathan Allen

It was seen by millions of viewers in a couple of days Amanda Robbins Giving president Donald Trump NBC News, a piece of her mind on social media, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “The Daily Show,” among other platforms.

The 35-year-old resident of Millersburg, Pennsylvania, is upset with Trump over gas prices and the war in Iran. So, I asked her what she would say to him if she knew he would see it.

“You useless s—,” said Robbins, looking directly into our video camera. I knew she voted for him. How many times have you asked?

“Three times,” she said. “That’s my bad. Apparently, I’m an idiot.”

Since then, friends, colleagues and others have asked me how I found myself talking to voters in Millersburg, about 25 miles north of Harrisburg — who have a big, bold opinion of Trump, her handling of the job and how she turned on him.

In the run-up to any midterm election, reporters have fans across the country and swing voters in swing districts and swing states. I want to shake up that paradigm a bit and speak specifically to MAGA voters in swing districts in swing states.

When the GOP is at its strongest in the Trump era, those voters flock to the polls to help him and his party win control of the White House, House and Senate.

Millersburg, one of a series of MAGA enclaves in battleground Pennsylvania’s highly competitive 10th District, seems like the perfect place to find out how Trump voters judge his performance and think about November’s elections.

Local Congressman, Republican Representative. Scott PerryMAGA was a vocal advocate of the agenda and narrowly retained its seat in 2024. Harrisburg leans more Democratic, but much of the district, including Millersburg, is ruby ​​red. Perry’s run is widely viewed as a toss-up this time around.

I thought a gas station would be a good place to talk to people about the war and the price of fuel – it would be fresh in their minds when they were pumping and there would be time when the tanks were full to chat with reporters.

So I met the photographer Hannah Beer and jack-of-all-trades producer and cameraman Kevin Portilla in Millersburg. We went to the gas station with the lowest prices – because we thought it was busy and the manager allowed us to interview customers.

As we expected, we found a lot of voters who voted for Trump. Some of them are pleased with the war in Iran and are willing to pay more at the pump in its service. Some didn’t like the war or the high prices but still sided with Trump and the GOP. Others said they were unlikely to vote in the interim.

And one — Robbins — struck a political nerve center with her conclusion that her own votes were the cause of war, rising gas prices and an economic squeeze. He said he won’t vote Democrat in the midterms, but he won’t vote Republican.

Republicans will spend the next several months making sure Trump voters get to the polls. There are many Trump voters like Robbins — who are not inclined to help him stay in office — whose biggest fear is that he has control of the House and Senate across the country.

Bilateral talks to end the homeland security standoff get serious as it stalls

By Scott Wong, Frank Thorp V and Brennan Leach

Top Republicans and Democrats are teaming up with the White House’s border czar to try to end the months-long homeland security shutdown. Tom Homan today at the Capitol.

Personal negotiations come as the Senate majority leader John ThuneRS.D., threatened to nix the upcoming two-week Easter break unless negotiators reached an agreement.

Since the DHS funding freeze on February 14, lawmakers have shown little interest in ending the standoff. But with recent suspected terrorist attacks across the country, thousands of federal employees working without pay, and major disruptions at some airports as TSA agents evade payments, the urgency is now growing on Capitol Hill.

“We’ve been encouraging this for a while and it’s nice to see both sides sitting down and honing it in here,” Thune said.

“Being a part of that, I think, is a very big deal, and recognition that we need to address this,” the leader continued. “And that needs to be resolved by the end of next week. I can’t see us taking a break if the government is still shut down.”

Lawmakers in both the House and Senate will go on a two-week recess from March 27.

Today’s meeting marked the rare formal sit-down meeting between Republicans and Democrats since the impasse 33 days ago. And Homan’s presence at the Capitol is a sign that bipartisan talks are getting more serious.

“I’m glad the White House is here, but we’re a long way off,” Sen said. Patty MurrayD-Wash., is the ranking member on the Appropriations Committee. “That’s all I’m going to say.”

Still, others who participated in the talks characterized the gathering as productive.

“We’re just working, trying to figure out how to get DHS funding. We’ve got TSA agents out there, it’s not getting funded, and we’ve got to come up with a solution,” Sen said. John HovenR. N. D. working in the Appropriation Committee. “I think we’ve made some progress. (Homans) remains engaged. His expertise is very helpful.”

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That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter is compiled by Adam Wollner and Owen Aston-Babcock.

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