{"id":207679,"date":"2026-04-14T18:18:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T18:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/daily-briefing-two-lawmakers-leave-congress-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T18:18:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T18:18:21","slug":"daily-briefing-two-lawmakers-leave-congress-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/daily-briefing-two-lawmakers-leave-congress-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Daily Briefing: Two lawmakers leave Congress &#8211; USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to the Daily Briefing. Start the day with these stories:<br \/><em><strong><a href=https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/nicolefallert\/ data-t-l=:b|z|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>Nicole Fallert<\/a><\/strong><\/em> here. Get <a href=\/story\/money\/food\/2026\/04\/14\/ben-jerrys-free-cone-day-2026\/89592925007\/ data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>free Ben &#038; Jerry&#8217;s ice cream<\/a> today. Start Tuesday with two congressional resignations, and it&#8217;s one day until Tax Day. Plus: A big meeting of film nerds.<br \/>Republican Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales <a href=\/story\/news\/politics\/2026\/04\/13\/texas-tony-gonzales-resignation-from-us-house\/89598257007\/ data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>announced that he will resign<\/a> from Congress after he admitted to\u00a0having an affair\u00a0with a former staffer who died by self-immolation.<br \/>Gonzales&#8217; announcement comes on the same day that Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell also said he would withdraw from the House as he faces\u00a0<a href=\/story\/news\/california\/2026\/04\/10\/swalwell-faces-sexual-assault-allegations-calls-to-drop-out-of-race\/89559104007\/ target=_blank rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>accusations of sexual assault and misconduct<\/a>. The California Democrat called those accusations &#8220;absolutely false.&#8221;<br \/>Swalwell also made a\u00a0<a href=\/story\/news\/politics\/2026\/04\/12\/eric-swalwell-campaign-california-governor\/89584132007\/ data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>sudden exit<\/a>\u00a0from the California governor&#8217;s race, which may seem like bad news for Democrats, but it comes with a silver lining: <a href=\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2026\/04\/14\/swalwell-democratic-odds-california-governors-race\/89590811007\/ data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>a reduced\u00a0risk<\/a> that only Republicans will emerge\u00a0from the state&#8217;s June 2 nonpartisan primary.<br \/><strong><span style=text-decoration:underline>Sports<\/span><\/strong><br \/>Azzi Fudd <a href=\/picture-gallery\/sports\/wnba\/2026\/04\/13\/2026-wnba-draft-prospects-shine-on-the-orange-carpet\/89581480007\/ data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>strutted the orange carpet<\/a> was <a href=\/story\/sports\/wnba\/2026\/04\/13\/dallas-wings-azzi-fudd-wnba-draft-no-1-pick\/89557484007\/ target=_blank rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>selected No. 1 overall by the Dallas Wings<\/a> in <a href=\/picture-gallery\/sports\/wnba\/2026\/04\/13\/azzi-fudd-lauren-betts-olivia-miles-begin-pro-careers-at-wnba-draft\/89581448007\/ data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>the 2026 WNBA draft<\/a> Monday at The Shed at Hudson Yards. She is <a href=\/story\/sports\/wnba\/2026\/04\/14\/azzi-fudd-wnba-salary-caitlin-clark\/89600912007\/ data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>projected to make $500,000<\/a> on her rookie contract in 2026, according to Spotrac. That&#8217;s thanks to a\u00a0<a href=\/story\/sports\/wnba\/2026\/03\/20\/wnba-cba-term-sheet-signed-housing-bonus\/89253539007\/ data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>historic collective bargaining agreement<\/a>.<br \/><strong><span style=text-decoration:underline>Movies<\/span><\/strong><br \/>Imagine a hotel ballroom packed with film buffs. USA TODAY&#8217;s film experts are at CinemaCon this week, the annual convention for theater owners and studios. It was a packed first day: A <a href=\/story\/entertainment\/movies\/2026\/04\/13\/spider-man-brand-new-day-peter-parker-name-cinemacon\/89598985007\/ data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>new clip<\/a> shown in The Colosseum at Caesars Palace plays off the cliffhanger of\u00a0\u201cSpider-Man: No Way Home,&#8221; while <a href=\/picture-gallery\/entertainment\/movies\/2026\/04\/13\/cinemacon-2026-celebrities-red-carpet-photos\/89600103007\/ data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>Dwayne Johnson,\u00a0Kevin Hart\u00a0and\u00a0Jack Black<\/a>\u00a0appeared to share how \u201cJumanji: Open World\u201d will <a href=\/story\/entertainment\/movies\/2026\/04\/14\/jumanji-movie-2026-open-world\/89599075007\/ data-t-l=:b|e|k|\u2691u class=gnt_ar_b_a>honor the late Robin Williams<\/a>.<br \/><small><em>Have feedback on the Daily Briefing?\u00a0Shoot\u00a0Nicole an email at\u00a0NFallert@usatoday.com<\/em><\/small>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMihwFBVV95cUxQYVB3YjFCQ0dWNHF3TjJzYkMybVdEUG1wd2lWLVllRG1RQ1lVbGp3T0MzWFlGOUN6YzNDSDF5aDBVa09fOExyOW91aVVCX2JYYllHbkNTTkF6Y1VscXlDMHNuUllNTm8zZzRTT2h2RjNlcmh6bGtuTVJBSHlPVlh0WkRmR3BseWc?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to the Daily Briefing. Start the day with these stories:Nicole Fallert here. Get free Ben &#038; Jerry&#8217;s ice cream today. Start Tuesday with two congressional resignations, and it&#8217;s one day until Tax Day. Plus: A big meeting of film nerds.Republican Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales announced that he will resign from Congress after he admitted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":207680,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-207679","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}