Washington Roundup: Iran war powers bid fails; 1st ‘Take It Down’ conviction; Vance stumps for Orbán

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — House Republicans on April 9 blocked a Democratic measure seeking to limit President Donald Trump’s ability to conduct military operations in Iran, after a tumultuous week where the president threatened to destroy Iran’s “whole civilization.” 

The same week, the Department of Justice said an Ohio man became the first person convicted under the new Take It Down Act, a federal law that criminalizes posting nonconsensual explicit imagery, and Vice President JD Vance travelled to Hungary in a show of support for that country’s ruling leader, Viktor Orbán.

Iran war powers measure fails 

The failed measure came just days after Trump on April 7 issued, and then backed down from his threat to wipe out Iran’s “whole civilization,” citing negotiations with Pakistani mediators.

Catholic leaders, including Pope Leo XIV, were among those who condemned the threat.

While the House and Senate are finishing a two-week recess, the measure was not taken up during a “pro forma” session as it lacked unanimous consent.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who served as speaker pro tempore during the pro forma session on April 9, cited a ceasefire agreement, which he said “represents significant, tangible progress towards a long-term resolution of this conflict — and above all, the requirement that Iran never possesses a nuclear weapon and the means to deploy it to a target.”

“I am hopeful that the United States and Iran will arrive at a fair, reasonable agreement during this ceasefire, shielding our children and grandchildren from the looming threat of Iran’s nuclear capabilities,” Smith, a longtime Catholic lawmaker, said in an April 9 statement. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said April 9 House Democrats would again attempt to pass the resolution when they return from recess. 

“It’s time to end Donald Trump’s reckless and costly war of choice in the Middle East,” Jeffries said at a press conference. 

After the U.S. and Israel initiated combat operations against Iran on Feb. 28, arguing the Iranian regime presented grave nuclear threats, Iran effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz by striking ships there. The closure of the strait has led to a significant global spike in energy costs, which is among the factors driving opposition to the conflict among most U.S. adults, polls show.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported April 10 that consumer prices rose 0.9 percent in March from the month before, the biggest monthly gain since 2022, with the war’s impact on energy prices a significant factor in that spike.

First ‘Take it Down Act’ conviction 

An Ohio man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ohio, April 7 to cybercrimes that included distributing both real and AI-generated sexually explicit images and making threats of violence to numerous victims, the Department of Justice said the same day. 

U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II said in a statement the DOJ believes the conviction is the first under the Take It Down Act, legislation that created new penalties for the nonconsensual online publication of sexually explicit images and videos — both authentic or generated by artificial intelligence, sometimes called “deepfakes.”

“We will not tolerate the abhorrent practice of posting and publicizing AI-generated intimate images of real individuals without consent,” Gerace said. He added the DOJ is “committed to using every tool at our disposal” to prevent the distribution of such content.

First lady Melania Trump, a Catholic, was a leading advocate for the bipartisan bill. 

“Today marks the first conviction under the Take It Down Act — protecting victims from non-consensual AI-generated sexually explicit images, cyberstalking, and threats of violence,” she wrote in a post on X. “Thank you U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II for protecting Americans from cybercrimes in this new digital age.”

The legislation’s supporters also included the Alliance to End Human Trafficking — whose members include more than 100 congregations of Catholic women religious — and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.

Melania Trump makes rare public statement denying ties to Epstein 

The first lady also made a rare public statement on April 9 denying that she had ties to the late sex offender and wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein. She called on Congress to allow his victims to testify in a sex-trafficking investigation, where it could be “permanently entered into the Congressional Record.”

“The first time I crossed paths with Epstein was in the year 2000, at an event Donald and I attended together,” she said. “At the time, I had never met Epstein and had no knowledge of his criminal undertakings.”

The first lady’s name appears in some files in the Epstein investigation release in January, including in an email she sent to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s associate; but Melania Trump has not been charged in connection with the case. She described the email as “casual correspondence.” 

“My polite reply to her email doesn’t amount to anything more than a trivial note,” the first lady said.

Many, including allies of the president, have called on the Trump administration to make more details of the sex-trafficking investigation into Epstein, a multimillionaire who was found dead in prison of an apparent hanging in 2019, public. Trump has sought to distance himself from the late former financier, with whom he reportedly had a falling out in 2004. 

Amid the Epstein drama, Catholic advocates have called on Congress to strengthen efforts to prevent sex trafficking.  

Vance travels to Hungary seeking to boost Orbán

Vance in Budapest on April 7 joined a campaign rally for Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister who has a following among some Trump supporters. The prime minister, known for illiberal governance, is trailing in the polls days before the country’s upcoming election.

Orbán’s challenger Peter Magyar, was once a member of Orbán’s Fidesz party but has challenged the prime minister, arguing he has displayed rampant corruption. 

Vance’s support for Orbán marked a deviation from the norms of previous U.S. presidential administrations of not openly campaigning in foreign elections.

Meanwhile, local Catholics voiced anxieties about their country’s future in interviews with OSV News.

“Both the Catholic and reformed churches have claimed complete neutrality — however, given their political entanglements, no one has taken this seriously,” explained Tibor Görföl, editor of Hungary’s Catholic Vigilia monthly.

Görföl added, “If you’re a Catholic and you don’t fully back the government, it’s seen as grave disloyalty. This is why we face serious problems here.”

Orbán has been widely accused of governing in an authoritarian style and turning Hungary into the European Union’s most corrupt state. He has described his administration as an “illiberal democracy.”

Orbán, a public supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has frustrated some European neighbors by refusing aid to bordering war-torn Ukraine and stymying EU efforts toward that end. 

Some have praised Orbán for purportedly what they cast as a traditional worldview, pointing to actions taken against environmental efforts, LGBTQ+ groups’ rights, and migration. 

Pope Francis criticized what he saw in Hungary under Orbán during his May 2023 visit to that country, saying at an outdoor Mass it was “sad and painful” to see “the closed doors of our indifference towards the underprivileged and those who suffer; the doors we close towards those who are foreign or unlike us, towards migrants or the poor.”

Kate Scanlon  is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.

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