• Florida governor and potential 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (R) is planning a trip to Israel to give the keynote address at the “Faces of Israel” event on April 27.
  
  

• A Northwestern University poll shows Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas tied at 44 percent support in Chicago’s April 4 mayoral race, with 12 percent undecided.
  
  

• A group of female lawmakers of color launched the Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment, with co-founders Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) as chairs. 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday criticized Sen. Tommy Tuberville‘s (R-Ala.) decision to delay Pentagon nominations over his opposition to the Defense Department’s abortion policy.

“Not approving the recommendations for promotions actually creates a ripple effect in the force that makes us far less ready than we need to be,” Austin said. “The effects are cumulative and it will affect families, it will affect kids going to schools … it’s a powerful effect and it will impact our readiness.”

The Defense Department changed its policy in February to provide leave and reimbursement to servicemembers who travel to get an abortion, a procedure the department allows for in certain limited cases. Tuberville said, “This is about not forcing the taxpayers of this country to fund abortion. That’s been a bipartisan consensus for more than 40 years.” 

From The Hill’s Brad Dress: “The GOP senator’s hold forces the Democrat-controlled Senate to consider and vote on each nomination rather than approving them in batches, dragging out the process.” Read more here.

Former Vice President Mike Pence must appear before the grand jury in the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 investigation as D.C. District Court Chief Judge James Boasberg ruled executive privilege doesn’t shield him from answering questions, according to reports Tuesday.

Boasberg reportedly ruled that Pence must answer questions about former President Trump‘s actions but not about Pence’s role as Senate president that day. It’s unclear whether Trump or Pence will appeal the judge’s ruling.

Check out the two-part series on fentanyl from The Hill’s Rafael Bernal and Rebecca Beitsch, focusing on statistics around who’s trafficking the drug and how it’s affecting U.S.-Mexico relations.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that more electricity was generated from renewable sources than from coal or nuclear power for the first time last year, with natural gas remaining the top source of electricity.

From The Hill’s Zack Budryk: “In a statement to The Hill, Gregory Wetstone, president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy, said the surge was largely the result of economic factors, with wind energy and solar energy costs falling by 70 percent and 90 percent, respectively, in the last decade.”

“Conflicts that will drive US politics this decade” — John Feehery, a longtime GOP strategist and staffer who is a partner at EFB Advocacy. (Read here)

“Democrats need a post-populist economics” — Will Marshall, president and founder of the Progressive Policy Institute. (Read here)

10 a.m.: The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing on federal regulators’ response to the recent bank collapses.

10 a.m.: The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee  is holding a hearing “to examine the need to end illegal union busting at Starbucks.”

The second Summit for Democracy, with leaders from Costa Rica, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Zambia, begins Wednesday.