• Democratic-backed Judge Janet Protasiewicz won a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, giving liberals their first majority on the court in 15 years ahead of potential fights on abortion, congressional redistricting and election administration. (NBC News) In Chicago, former teachers’ union organizer Brandon Johnson beat Paul Vallas in the city’s mayoral runoff, marking a victory for progressives over moderate Democrats. (Politico)
• Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who alleges that he conspired to undermine the 2016 election by paying hush money in order to silence claims of extramarital affairs that could have been harmful to his presidential candidacy. (The Associated Press) In remarks from Mar-a-Lago last night, Trump attacked the judge overseeing his case and his family after he urged Trump to “refrain from making statements that are likely to incite violence or civil unrest,” and lit into other ongoing criminal investigations against him. (The Washington Post)
• A federal appeals court in Washington denied a request from Trump’s legal team to block some of his closest advisers from testifying about him to a grand jury probing his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result, setting up potential testimony from former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. (CNN)
• The conservative Club for Growth is backing Republican Rep. Alex Mooney’s bid for Senate in West Virginia, setting up a clash with the National Republican Senatorial Committee if the state’s term-limited Republican governor, Jim Justice, joins the race at their urging, as expected. (Politico) Meanwhile, West Virginia Attorney General ​​Patrick Morrisey launched a campaign for the GOP’s gubernatorial nomination, opting against a Senate run. (The Associated Press)

Happening today (all in ET):

• 2 p.m. White House press secretary holds briefing.
• 4:20 p.m. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks about her recent visit to Africa at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. 

Republicans Fuel Bump in Support for Stricter Gun Laws Following Nashville Shooting
Morning Consult

Biden Has the Oval Office. But Trump Has Center Stage.
Peter Baker and Michael D. Shear, The New York Times

The White House hopes the chaos of Donald Trump’s legal challenges will reinforce the reasons voters turned to President Biden in 2020.

Biden announces trip to United Kingdom and Ireland next week
Nikki Carvajal, CNN

President Joe Biden will travel to the United Kingdom and Ireland next week, the White House announced early Wednesday morning.

U.S. to boost Ukraine’s air defenses with $2.6 billion weapons package
Dan Lamothe and Alex Horton, The Washington Post

The Biden administration said it will purchase laser-guided rockets and gun trucks designed to take on enemy drones.

U.S. Readies ‘Wrongfully Detained’ Label for Reporter Held in Russia
Vivian Salama and Andrew Restuccia, The Wall Street Journal

The State Department is preparing to designate as “wrongfully detained” a Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested by Russian security services last week during a reporting trip and accused of espionage, a designation that would rev up the U.S. government’s efforts to win his release.

Jill Biden Reverses Proposal Iowa Join LSU Women’s Basketball Champs at White House
Jordan Fabian, Bloomberg

First lady Jill Biden’s office walked back her suggestion that the defeated University of Iowa women’s basketball team join national champion Louisiana State University at the White House, amid widespread backlash.

Members of Congress join crowd outside Trump court hearing
Michael Macagnone and Ryan Tarinelli, Roll Call

Amid a chaotic scene of Donald Trump supporters, media and sign-toting protesters, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was one of several members of Congress who appeared in the crowd outside the Manhattan courthouse where the former president was set to be arraigned Tuesday.

Lawmakers to quiz Taiwan’s president on ‘will’ to counter China
Andrew Desiderio and Jake Sherman, Punchbowl News

Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a bipartisan group of lawmakers will host Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen here later today in a high-stakes show of support for an ally under threat of invasion by China.

Taiwan’s President Quietly Met With U.S. Senators Ahead of Kevin McCarthy Sit-Down
Lindsay Wise and Joyu Wang, The Wall Street Journal

A bipartisan group of senators quietly met with Taiwan’s president in New York last week, expressing support for the island’s independence and touting legislation that would impose stiff economic and financial sanctions against China if it invaded Taiwan.

South Korea’s Yoon Set To Address Joint Session of US Congress
Jenny Leonard, Bloomberg

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to speak in front of a joint session of the US Congress in late April when he visits Washington, his office confirmed after Bloomberg reported the address would take place.

McCarthy, Jeffries to visit Israel this month
Marc Rod, Jewish Insider

The two House party leaders are scheduled to visit at the end of April.

Why Congress Is Brawling Over Electric Vehicles
Grace Segers, The New Republic

The Inflation Reduction Act aims to incentivize purchase of E.V.s and secure the U.S. supply chain at the same time. Now lawmakers must disentangle the conflicts that stand in the way.

Legislative themes emerge on upcoming pandemic reauthorization
Lauren Clason, Roll Call

The latest reauthorization of the 2006 pandemic preparedness law is the only major must-pass health bill Congress is considering this year.

The Senate’s Social Security reform gang is in trouble
Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Semafor

The closely watched effort by a club of Senate moderates to craft a bipartisan Social Security reform plan may be stalling out for the foreseeable future.

Trump Is Not Ready For His Closeup
Calder McHugh, Politico

Trump avoided taking a mug shot during his arraignment in New York. Over the years, other politicians charged with crimes haven’t been so lucky.

Stormy Daniels on the Trump Indictment and What Really Happened in That Nevada Hotel Room
Maya Singer, Vogue

Springtime in Central Florida is balmy as a matter of course, but the weekend after President Donald Trump’s indictment by the Manhattan District Attorney was unusually hot, as though the weather itself had caught the rising fever in American politics.

Stormy Daniels ordered to pay Trump team another $120,000 in legal fees
Dan Berman, CNN

Three thousand miles away from his New York legal drama, Donald Trump secured a substantial victory in another court.

Appeals Court Punts on Due Process Rights for Guantánamo Detainees
Charlie Savage and Carol Rosenberg, The New York Times

The case could have resolved an important question about the scope of rights for noncitizens held at the wartime prison.

Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity among prominent Fox hosts, execs set to take stand at defamation trial
Marshall Cohen and Kate Trafecante, CNN

Fox News said in a court filing Tuesday that it plans to put some of its most prominent executives and TV hosts on the witness stand to testify as part of its defense in the Dominion defamation trial.

Two candidates take lead in Denver mayoral race as vote counting continues
Joe Rubino, The Denver Post

Mike Johnston and Kelly Brough lead the mayoral pack in unofficial Election Day results.

Arizona state Sen. Terán announces bid for Gallego’s House seat
Rafael Bernal, The Hill

Arizona state Sen. Raquel Terán (D) on Wednesday is officially launching her campaign to replace outgoing Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is running for Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (I) seat.

Biden Is Moving Right On Immigration. Will That Hurt Him In 2024?
Alex Samuels, FiveThirtyEight

President Biden’s administration recently announced new asylum restrictions and other proposed stringent initiatives to deter an influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. But for some Democrats, the latest crackdowns stand in stark contrast to the “fair and humane immigration system” that Biden once promised voters following the harsher policies of his predecessors, Donald Trump and Barack Obama.

GOP senator endorses Trump ahead of NY arraignment
Al Weaver, The Hill

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) announced she is endorsing former President Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, offering a show of support for the former president ahead of his arraignment in Manhattan on charges from a hush money case.

Republican Sen. Tim Scott to visit New Hampshire during three-state swing
KC Downey, WMUR

Potential presidential candidate Tim Scott will visit New Hampshire and other early-voting states next week.

NC Democrat expected to change parties
Lucille Sherman, Axios

A North Carolina Democratic lawmaker is expected to flip her party affiliation, multiple Republicans with knowledge of the discussions tell Axios.

Move by Tennessee Republicans to oust 3 Dem lawmakers startles state
Liz Crampton, Politico

There’s the Oregon lawmaker expelled for his involvement in an armed incursion into the state capitol. The Idaho House member kicked out following a federal fraud conviction. And the Arizona representative removed over multiple accusations of sexually harassment.

Youngkin, once skeptical of trade missions, plans trip to Taiwan
Laura Vozzella, The Washington Post

Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who broke with tradition by not leading any foreign or domestic trade missions in his first year as Virginia governor, will go to Asia this month and include a stop in Taiwan — a politically charged destination for the potential 2024 presidential candidate.

Kansas passes bill banning trans women from female spaces in veto test for Gov. Kelly
Jenna Barackman and Katie Bernard, The Kansas City Star

Kansas lawmakers voted Tuesday to send to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s desk a bill that would ban transgender and nonbinary people from single-sex spaces inconsistent with their sex at birth.

North Dakota advances suite of restrictions on trans rights
Trisha Ahmed, The Associated Press

The North Dakota Senate has passed a series of bills that would restrict transgender people’s rights in sports, health care, schools, workplaces and daily life.

Florida Senate approves ban on transgender treatments for kids
Arek Sarkissian, Politico

The Florida Senate on Tuesday signed off on a proposed ban on surgeries and prescription treatments for children diagnosed with gender dysphoria, expanding on new state health regulations pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

GOP fundraiser says he got millions to illegally lobby Trump administration
Paul Duggan, The Washington Post

Elliott Broidy, who was pardoned by Trump, testified in court about his failed attempts to quash a federal investigation of a Malaysian financier.

Blunt talk: Former GOP leader makes next move
Burgess Everett, Politico

The retired Missouri senator offered some of his famous free advice to leaders of both parties as he brings his institutional knowledge to a new off-Hill gig.

Illumina, early cancer-screening startup ramped up lobbying amid merger pressure
Caitlin Oprysko, Politico

Ahead of last week’s vote by federal antitrust regulators to reject DNA sequencer Illumina’s acquisition of the early cancer detection startup Grail, lobbying spending by both companies surged to record levels, according to a PI analysis of disclosures.

Who’s Afraid of Integration? A Lot of People, Actually.
Thomas B. Edsall, The New York Times

In 1999, Robert D. Potter, a federal judge who was a protégé of Senator Jesse Helms, Republican of North Carolina, ordered the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district to abandon the busing-for-desegregation program that had integrated its public school system for three decades.

We Finally Know the Case Against Trump, and It Is Strong
Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Norman Eisen, The New York Times

For weeks, Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, has come under heavy fire for pursuing a case against Donald Trump. Potential charges were described as being developed under a novel legal theory. And criticism has come not only from Mr. Trump and his allies, as expected, but also from many who are usually no friends of the former president but who feared it would be a weak case.