Things Musk (and Trump) Did... Day 45 | Blog#42
The revenge tour is just getting started...
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Internal Democratic tensions erupt after Trump speech
Congressional Democrats' internal divisions over how to combat President Trump surfaced with a fury Wednesday after the president was repeatedly heckled and disrupted during his speech to Congress.
Why it matters: The party is in a rut, stumbling on finding the most effective counterattack to Trump's full-bore assault on the federal bureaucracy. That struggle played out on primetime television Tuesday night.
Democrats have been bombarded by grassroots activists demanding they scrap norms and traditions in favor of bare-knuckle political brawling.
But many party leaders and other establishment-oriented Democrats believe that a more narrow, subdued approach remains the most effective.
A senior House Democrat told Axios that some moderates are angry at progressives for their outbursts, but added that "people are pissed at leadership too. … Everyone is mad at everyone."
Continue reading at Axios
Senate Democrats warm to helping GOP avoid government shutdown
Why it matters: A truly clean funding bill will make life easier for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), with President Trump's help, is steadily building House GOP support to extend last year's spending levels through Sept. 30 without any significant policy changes.
Schumer has been clear that he wants to avoid a shutdown. Even talking about wanting one is a big no-no.
If the GOP can get a clean continuing resolution (CR) through the House, and avoid multiple GOP defectors in the Senate, it should be doable to get enough Dems on board to reach 60 votes, multiple sources tell Axios.
Continue reading at Axios
Collins crosses the Capitol to woo House Republicans on shutdown strategy
The visit by the Senate Appropriations Committee chair comes just over a week before the deadline to avoid a government shutdown.
GOP Sen. Susan Collins received a warm welcome across the Capitol Wednesday at the House Republican Study Committee’s weekly lunch, where the moderate from Maine talked with staunch conservatives about tough realities for funding the government ahead of the March 14 shutdown deadline.
The meeting at which the Senate Appropriations Committee chair was a special guest served partly as a rally for bicameral cooperation in a hard-fought Republican trifecta — and partly as a wake up call for what will actually be achievable over the next nine days.
“I really enjoyed the opportunity to talk with them and give an update from the Senate perspective on where we are on the negotiations on the CR and our common goal for preventing a government shutdown,” Collins told a small group of reporters of her meeting with the House Republicans with whom she rarely interfaces directly.
Continue reading at Politico
Note from Rima: Susan Collins is and always was a Republican.
Trump preparing to sign order to dismantle Education Department
President Donald Trump could decide this week to take the first steps to eliminate the Department of Education, people familiar with the matter said, as he looks to dramatically shrink the size of the federal government.
White House officials have prepared an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin the process of dismantling the department, the sources said. Trump could sign the document as early as Thursday, but plans had not yet been finalized.
Trump has long signaled his intention to close the department, but fully eliminating it will require Congress to act, McMahon said during confirmation hearings earlier this year. She was confirmed Monday.
CNN previously reported the administration was drafting an order to launch the process of closing the Department of Education. Trump also plans to push for Congress to pass legislation to end the department.
While calls to abolish the Education Department or merge it with another federal agency are not new, the move has historically failed to get support from Congress.
Continue reading at CNN
Trump expected to order McMahon to take steps toward closing Education Department: Reports
The executive order, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, could come as early as Thursday and has been in the works since before Trump was sworn into office in January.
The draft of the order recognizes that the president does not have the authority to abolish the department and that it would likely take 60 votes in the Senate, where Republicans hold only 53 seats, The Washington Post reported.
But it directs McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department” based on “the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law,” according to the Journal.
“The experiment of controlling American education through Federal programs and dollars—and the unaccountable bureaucrats those programs and dollars support — has failed our children, our teachers, and our families,” the draft order reportedly reads.
Continue reading at The Hill
On schools, Trump talks DEI and trans athletes, not test scores or student loans
The Trump administration sees academic institutions as staging grounds for significant culture war battles, including free speech on college campuses; diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs; and transgender rights. Trump’s longest reference to education on Tuesday was an anecdote about a child transitioning at school without their parents’ consent.
But beyond eliminating the Education Department and returning power to the states, his White House has had far less to say about test scores, learning loss or student loans.
Experts fear the focus portends a backslide to the kind of political polarization of schools seen during the coronavirus pandemic.
“What has happened with schools over the last few years is that we had COVID, we had school shutdowns and it was through those school shutdowns that you had a lot of this parent anger and frustration. … And we went through a phase where there were a lot of Republicans attacking schools in a lot of ways,” said Jon Valant, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institute.
Continue reading at The Hill
Top appropriators near government funding deal ahead of shutdown cliff
With nine days until funding expires, an agreement wouldn’t necessarily eliminate the risk of a government shutdown or thwart a GOP plan for a lengthy patch.
The impending deal on funding totals comes far too late to save Congress from having to clear a funding patch next week to avert a government shutdown set to begin just after midnight on March 14. Whether that continuing resolution lasts just a few weeks — or spans through September, as Trump prefers — remains an open question.
“It’s imminent,” Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the House’s top Democratic appropriator, told reporters Wednesday night about a funding agreement. “Let’s get the process started. Let’s move.”
Yet despite the tentative agreement among appropriators for funding “toplines,” House Republican leaders still aim to hold a vote next week on a Trump-backed plan for a “full-year” continuing resolution, or CR, that keeps the military and non-defense agencies operating on “flat” funding levels through Sept. 30 — the end of the current fiscal year.
Continue reading at Politico
Markets are hungry for EU war bonds
Investors have developed a taste for EU-branded debt — Brussels may soon test their appetite again.
BRUSSELS — The European Union is getting ready to tap markets for up to €150 billion to help finance military spending. If it does, it shouldn’t have any trouble finding takers.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen Tuesday announced plans to raise fresh funds that capitals could draw on from to boost their defenses as the United States pulls back from its long-standing security guarantees.
The plan still needs approval from EU capitals — but if it goes ahead, the Commission would raise cash through bond auctions and pass on the money to member countries for defense outlays. They would then pay back the Commission for the funding.
Ulrika Torell, senior portfolio manager at Alecta, a Swedish pension fund that manages 1.3 trillion kronor (€118 billion) in assets, said the fund would look closely at any new EU debt, having already bought it in the past.
Tony Persson, the fund’s head of fixed income, said: “If there is the political agreement to go ahead, there will be a functioning market for funding these initiatives. I’m quite sure about that.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
EU privately talks emissions rules with US gas firms as Trump trade war looms
Fossil fuel bosses say the bloc’s emissions regulations should be relaxed to appease Washington and boost gas purchases.
BRUSSELS — The European Union is discussing emissions rules with U.S. oil and gas firms as industry pressure mounts to eradicate barriers to buying more fuel in a trade deal with President Donald Trump.
In the crosshairs are upcoming EU methane regulations, which will impose fines on gas importers that don't meet new monitoring and emissions requirements. The rules have been a key focus in a string of meetings between the two sides in recent weeks, according to three government officials and industry figures.
The most recent gathering took place Tuesday, when European Commission officials met with liquified natural gas (LNG) industry representatives in the U.S. That came after the EU executive's top energy official, Ditte-Juul Jørgensen, also flew to the U.S. to discuss methane rules.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Germany’s spending bazooka propels euro, borrowing costs higher
The euro surged against the dollar in early trading on Wednesday.
FRANKFURT — Germany’s historic turnaround on public spending has sent shockwaves through financial markets, sending the euro and government borrowing costs sharply higher.
The euro shook off its usual fears about economic stagnation and Europe’s strategic vulnerability to surge against the dollar in early trading on Wednesday, while the German government’s 10-year borrowing costs leaped by nearly a quarter of a percent to their highest in 17 months, as investors raced to factor in the game-changing impact of hundreds of billions of euros in spending on defense and infrastructure projects.
The moves are a reaction to the announcement late on Tuesday that Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz had struck a deal with his prospective coalition partners the Social Democrats (SPD) to effectively bypass a constitutional cap on the budget deficit. That news came on the same day that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed raising hundreds of billions more to restore Europe’s defense capacity.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Thune's risky to-do list
Senate Majority Leader John Thune's (R-S.D.) tricky month keeps getting trickier.
Why it matters: New debt ceiling fears, GOP holdouts and unexpected demands from President Trump are piling up fast.
Thune was blindsided Tuesday night by Trump calling for Congress to end the CHIPs Act, which gives federal incentives to build semiconductor plants in the U.S. "There were a lot of Republicans ... who voted for it," Thune told reporters Wednesday.
Trump said he wants border funds "without delay." That's the Senate plan, but Trump sided with the House plan instead.
Thune told Axios on Wednesday: Now "what we were trying to get done here, seems like what he's asking for."
Zoom in: Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) are new skeptics of the Senate's plan to make Trump's 2017 tax cuts permanent — and cost $0.
Continue reading at Axios
Northern Ireland risks being caught in crossfire of Trump’s trade war
Tariffs from any side could create a fresh Brexit headache for traders in the sensitive region.
LONDON — Northern Ireland could suffer collateral damage in U.S. President Donald Trump’s impending trade war with the European Union — thanks to its hybrid status post-Brexit.
The EU is firmly within Trump’s sights in his escalating tariff raid, with the president promising retribution for the bloc’s “brutal” trade practices by threatening 25 percent tariffs, claiming the bloc was created to “screw the United States.”
In turn, the EU has warned that Trump’s protectionist policies “will not go unanswered.”
U.K. ministers, meanwhile, are scrambling for an exemption to fresh tariffs, in the hope that the country’s “balanced” trading relationship with the U.S. could mean Trump takes a softer approach to Britain than its neighbors across the channel.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
China’s premier and the American president: Two leaders, two speeches, two differing world visions
BEIJING (AP) — Their words came just an hour apart this week — two major speeches by two of the world’s most powerful leaders, delivered on opposite sides of the planet. Together, they illustrate the very different approaches the world’s 21st-century powers are taking to achieve their respective national ambitions.
For China, it was a call for unity to overcome obstacles through innovation and “opening up” — a time-honored phrase in Chinese politics — to eventually accomplish national rejuvenation. It came from Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing as he delivered an annual work report to the National People’s Congress, nearly 3,000 representatives from a nation of 1.4 billion people.
Seven thousand miles away and an hour later, at 9 p.m. in Washington, President Donald Trump addressed both chambers of the U.S. Congress, more than 500 lawmakers representing a nation of 340 million, as he vowed to levy tariffs on imports and defeat inflation to “make America great again” — an equally resonant phrase for many in the United States.
From setting to speaking style, the speeches were an ocean apart. Yet they struck a similar tone — that of a desire for greatness at a moment when the reigning superpower and its biggest challenger are seeing their interests increasingly at odds.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Scientists raise concerns as the US stops sharing air quality data from embassies worldwide
NEW DELHI (AP) — The U.S. government will stop sharing air quality data gathered from its embassies and consulates, worrying local scientists and experts who say the effort was vital to monitor global air quality and improve public health.
In response to an inquiry from The Associated Press, the State Department said Wednesday that its air quality monitoring program would no longer transmit air pollution data from embassies and consulates to the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow app and other platforms, which allowed locals in various countries, along with scientists around the globe, to see and analyze air quality in cities around the world.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
The LA Times’ new AI tool sympathized with the KKK. Its owner wasn’t aware until hours later
The Los Angeles Times’ billionaire owner, who unveiled an AI tool that generates opposing perspectives to be displayed on opinion stories, was unaware the new tool had created pro-KKK arguments less than 24 hours after it launched — and hours after the AI comments had been taken down. The incident presents a massive hurdle for the Times, which looks to win back old subscribers and woo new ones with a new suite of offerings.
During an interview with CNN on Tuesday, Patrick Soon-Shiong, the Times’ executive chairman, admitted he had seen neither the piece nor the AI response. But he said the content’s removal showed that there are operational “checks and balances” to the recently introduced system, pegging the moment as a learning opportunity.
“(The incident is) a good lesson to show that at least artificial intelligence is not fully there yet (…) it’s in an attempt to understand that,” Soon-Shiong said.
On early Tuesday, the new AI tool generated counterpoints to a February 25 column from Times columnist Gustavo Arellano. Arellano’s column argued that Anaheim, California, ought to not forget the Ku Klux Klan’s role in its past — calling the white supremacist group “a stain on a place that likes to celebrate the positive” — and connecting it to today’s political landscape. But the divergent views generated by the Times’ AI produced a softer vision of the far-right group, which it called “‘white Protestant culture’ responding to societal changes rather than an explicitly hate-driven movement.”
Continue reading at CNN
Free-market advocates assemble coalition, at Trump’s request, to push tax cuts
EXCLUSIVE: Free-market economics big wigs, acting on a request from President Trump, have assembled a coalition that aims to be the premier voice in the push to make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent — and to do it as quickly as possible.
Economists Stephen Moore and Arthur Laffer — key figures in crafting the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — along with publisher Steve Forbes are spearheading the Tax Cut Victory Alliance, a coalition of taxpayer groups, business groups, state organizations and activists that is urging Congress to permanently extend the cuts in Trump’s first 100 days.
Public announcement of the group comes as financial markets took a tumble over the past few days in reaction to Trump’s promises to implement tariffs.
Continue reading at The Hill
Note from Rima: Arthur Laffer, economist, has long been the butt of jokes among economic circles for his “Laffer Curve”
Abortion care has resumed in Missouri after voters enshrined rights. Providers fear it won’t last
Abortion providers in the state worry the restoration of access could soon be undone, however, given the breadth of anti-abortion bills being considered by the state legislature.
“I’m happy and optimistic but in the back of my mind I do worry,” said Margaret Baum, chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood Great Rivers, one of two abortion providers in the state outside of hospitals. “Are we going to go backwards again?”
Republican lawmakers in Missouri introduced a slew of bills aimed at weakening or getting rid of the state’s newabortion protections at the beginning of the state legislative session in January. Those bills include two proposed constitutional amendments, the first of which would outlaw the procedure except in medical emergencies and in cases with fetal anomalies,as well as in some cases involving rape or incest if patients presented required documentation. Lawmakers held a public hearing on the measure last month, a few weeks before abortion services resumed in the state.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump’s plans to slash IRS staff could derail agency amid tax season
The potential staffing reduction represents a 180-degree course correction for the national tax collector from the substantial funding boost and operational overhaul the agency began to implement during the Biden administration.
It would likely contribute to a longer-term trend at the agency of diminished audit rates, minimal tax enforcement for the most sophisticated taxpayers, and the use of outdated technologies that’s been going on for decades.
However, administrative experts caution that the hiring downgrade may result more from allowing the existing IRS workforce to age out and retire — a process known as attrition — than from firings and buyouts.
Continue reading at The Hill
How Trump’s tariffs could pinch the tech sector
Tech stocks dropped 3.7 percent on Monday, as President Trump indicated that he would not back down from his plans to implement import taxes on products from Canada, Mexico and China. They began to climb back up on Tuesday after an initial dip.
The U.S. imposed 25 percent tariffs against both Canada and Mexico on Tuesday, as well as an additional 10 percent tariff against China. Beijing faced an initial 10 percent tariff last month, while both Canada and Mexico were able to secure a one-month delay.
While markets rebounded Wednesday after Trump announced he would reel in some of his recent tariffs, the tech sector is still facing several threats.
Continue reading at The Hill
GOP lawmakers balk at Trump’s call to repeal CHIPS Act
Republican lawmakers on Wednesday said President Trump’s call for Congress to “get rid of” the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, which provided $52 billion for the domestic semiconductor manufacturing industry, is dead on arrival on Capitol Hill.
Republican senators said they’re willing to work with Trump to make some changes to the program, but they argued the money allocated to bolster microchip production in the United States is critical to national security.
They also point out the money has already been spent and there simply wouldn’t be the votes to repeal a law that passed the Senate and House with strong bipartisan majorities.
Democrats touted the law as one of the biggest legislative successes of the Biden administration, but it also received the backing of 17 Senate Republicans and 24 GOP members of the House.
Continue reading at The Hill
How Trump’s whipsaw trade agenda is threatening economic growth
Consumer and corporate optimism have faded in recent weeks as markets began to contend with the possible consequences of Trump’s agenda.
Private sector hiring cratered last month as more businesses cited unpredictable policies as impediments to growth, according to one widely watched survey released Wednesday. Wall Street banks like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are ratcheting up the likelihood of the U.S. falling into a recession within the next 12 months. Businesses in New York and New Jersey expect prices to spike by as much as 4 percent over the next year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York says. And the Fed’s regional banks reported that trade policy is contributing to economic uncertainty across the U.S.
For businesses, “it’s not just the broad fear of tariffs; it’s not knowing if they’ll be affected, how they’ll be affected or when they’ll be affected,” said Gregory Daco, chief economist at the global consulting firm EY Parthenon. “That’s the gist of the conversations we have with clients across multiple sectors: They don’t know how to best position themselves with regard to the latent uncertainty about tariffs moving forward.”
To that end, Trump’s “‘move fast and break things’ approach is hindering that very investment,” he said.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump Does Not Know How to Run an Empire
Even if he doesn’t know it, Trump’s war on the bureaucracy is in direct conflict with his plans to exert power abroad.
Robert D. Kaplan is the author of 23 books, most recently, “Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis.” He holds the Robert Strausz-Hupé Chair in Geopolitics at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
America’s 41st president, George H. W. Bush, hated the word empire, but he knew how to run one. He was president at the moment the Berlin Wall fell: when the United States instantly became a unipolar power. His deft foreign policy made him the second greatest one-term president in American history (after James K. Polk, who oversaw the largest-ever expansion of our territory, making us truly a continental nation). The elder Bush knew exactly how to both project and husband American power. In order to keep the Pacific stable, he refused to break diplomatic relations with China after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, as members of the Washington policy and intellectual class then were demanding. He refused to make a victory tour through Central and Eastern Europe at the end of the Cold War, in order not to humiliate the Soviets, who might then have used military force to preserve the Warsaw Pact. And he refused to march on to Baghdad after liberating Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991, for fear of dismantling the Iraqi state.
The elder Bush was fond of saying that “public service is a noble calling,” a conviction that was connected to his understanding of American empire. As our last aristocrat in the White House, the elder Bush was always deeply solicitous of not only his own staff, but of the federal bureaucracy. He saw government service as a noble calling because he deeply understood that he couldn’t have accomplished anything without the veritable army of diplomats, area specialists and civil servants who did the meticulous staff work leading up to the momentous decisions of his presidency.
Continue reading at Politico
‘He needs to do much more’: RFK Jr.'s measles response under scrutiny
The health secretary’s muted response to the first major disease outbreak on his watch worries even some allies.
As a deadly measles outbreak spread across Texas, the nation’s top health official took to Instagram on Sunday to blast out a message to his nearly 5 million followers.
“Afternoon mountaineering above Coachella Valley,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in a caption alongside photos of himself hiking in California.
The post quickly ricocheted around the department, dismaying officials working overtime to track and contain the highly contagious disease, according to two people close to the response effort granted anonymity to describe a sensitive situation. Measles had infected more than 140 people in west Texas in a matter of weeks, killing a child and fueling fears more outbreaks would soon emerge throughout the country.
To his critics and even some increasingly concerned allies, the episode epitomized the worryingly casual attitude that Kennedy has taken in public toward managing the first major health crisis on his watch, according to a half-dozen current and former administration officials, outside advisers and other public health officials, most of whom were granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Continue reading at Politico
Most voters think Dems don’t have their act together, insider poll shows
A liberal pollster finds just 10 percent of voters think Democrats have a good plan for opposing the president.
A plurality of voters — 40 percent — said the Democratic Party doesn’t have any strategy whatsoever for responding to Trump, according to the survey by the liberal firm Blueprint that was shared first with POLITICO. Another 24 percent said Democrats have a game plan, but it’s a bad one.
A paltry 10 percent said that the party has a solid technique for dealing with Trump. And that’s coming from a Democratic outfit’s survey.
The unsparing findings, issued by a group backed by mega-donor Reid Hoffman, amount to a major rebuke of the party’s approach to the dawn of Trump’s second term. And they come at a moment when Democrats are already feeling despondent after their roundly mocked response to Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday, which was lambasted as unproductive and amateurish.
“Voters correctly identified that the Democratic Party has lost its way,” said Evan Roth Smith, the top pollster for Blueprint. “The Democratic response [Tuesday] night was more or less a continuation of what we’ve seen from Democrats so far. Which is, there was nothing overtly wrong about it, but it didn’t actually do anything to ameliorate this core issue Democrats face, which is voters aren’t quite sure what we stand for and would like us to get back to the basic principles of the party.”
Continue reading at Politico
House Democrats add Latino-heavy districts to most vulnerable list for 2026
The DCCC released its “frontline list” to shape the midterm map on where they’ll play defense.
House Democrats are making it official: Latino voters have shifted their battleground map.
Their campaign arm is unveiling its list of top battleground incumbents to defend in 2026, giving the first insight into how the party views the midterm elections — with notable new additions to reflect a shift toward President Donald Trump in some majority-Latino congressional districts
The 26-member “frontline” list provided first to POLITICO otherwise largely matches the list of districts where Democrats played defense last cycle. As Democrats continue their post-election autopsy, the list reveals where the party thinks it is most vulnerable and will have to dedicate resources to protect incumbents.
Texas Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez weren’t on the list last cycle but saw their South Texas districts, some of the most heavily Latino in the country, shift dramatically toward Trump. Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) was also a new addition to the list, meaning all three Democratic House members from Nevada will be “frontliners.” Another once-safe district, the North Jersey seat held by Rep. Nellie Pou, was deep-blue territory for years but Trump won it this past cycle.
Continue reading at Politico
Note from Rima: The DNC poured huge amounts of money to defend Cuellar in Texas from young progressive Jessica Cisneros over the last two cycles
The market is worried about a recession
Chart: Polymarket probability of a U.S. recession in 2025
Donald Trump famously believes that "trade wars are good, and easy to win," as he tweeted in 2018. The market, however, believes the opposite: That a trade war is bad, is easy to lose, and could plunge the U.S. into an avoidable recession.
Why it matters: Trump 1.0 listened to the market. Trump 2.0 is very different.
Traders are no longer convinced they can rely on the "Trump put," the idea that the president will reverse course on policies the market doesn't like.
What they're saying: The clearest articulation of the Trump administration's attitude to the market came from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
"Wall Street's done great," he said Tuesday, "but we have a focus on small business and the consumers. So we are going to rebalance the economy."
Between the lines: Bessent singled out "the level of the 10-year bond" as "one of the biggest wins for the American people."
Continue reading at Axios
Exclusive: Russian disinfo floods AI chatbots, study finds
A Russian disinformation effort that flooded the web with false claims and propaganda continues to impact the output of major AI chatbots, according to a new report from NewsGuard, shared first with Axios.
Why it matters: The study, which expands on initial findings from last year, comes amid reports that the U.S. is pausing some of its efforts to counter Russian cyber activities.
Driving the news: NewsGuard says that a Moscow-based disinformation network named "Pravda" (the Russian word for truth) is spreading falsehoods across the web.
Rather than directly sway people, it aims to influence AI chatbot results.
More than 3.6 million articles were published last year, finding their way into leading Western chatbots, according to the American Sunlight Project.
"By flooding search results and web crawlers with pro-Kremlin falsehoods, the network is distorting how large language models process and present news and information," NewsGuard said in its report.
Continue reading at Axios
States push fight against mRNA vaccines
Why it matters: The efforts risk further politicizing science and illustrate how the pandemic experience we all want to put in the rearview continues to drive policymaking.
Driving the news: No state has enacted a ban on mRNA so far. But Iowa, Montana and Idaho have all introduced legislation this year aimed at cutting the use of mRNA vaccine technology.
In Iowa this week, a bill advanced out of a legislative subcommittee that would penalize providers with fines of as much as $500 for each shot of mRNA-based vaccine they provide.
After pushback, state Sen. Doug Campbell, who introduced the bill, backtracked and reworked it to instead require mRNA vaccine makers to waive federal liability protections in order to distribute within the state.
The move would allow patients who believe they were harmed by the vaccine to file a lawsuit. "If I was a manufacturer of car tires and they delammed at 1,000 miles, I should be liable for that," he told the TV station KEYC.
Meanwhile, an Idaho bill that would outright ban the use of mRNA-based vaccines for 10 years is being considered in a state Senate committee but hasn't advanced. A regional public health department in the state has already been blocked from administering COVID shots in six Idaho counties.
Continue reading at Axios
White House firings continue despite speed bumps
The Trump administration's efforts to purge the federal workforce are hitting speed bumps, but they're not stopping.
Why it matters: The firings of tens of thousands of employees happened lightning fast, and more are coming.
In the meantime workers are eyeing the exits, and the ability of critical government agencies to function is at stake.
Zoom in: In two words, an IRS employee who recently resigned from the agency explained why: "The uncertainty," he told Axios.
There was the return to office order, but no office to go to. The agency didn't have the space for him. Then there was the "fork in the road" push to resign, rumors of layoffs, and the firings of probationary employees.
Now the IRS plans to cut its workforce in half, the New York Times reported this week.
"Are we going to have a job next week? An office?" the IRS employee said, requesting anonymity because he's still working there for a few more days.
Where it stands: Yesterday the USDA was ordered to reinstate nearly 6,000 employees. Last week a federal judge ruled the initial order from the Office of Personnel Management to fire probationary workers was unlawful.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump stares down early economic potholes
Buy your local economist a drink: The economic backdrop is more chaotic and uncertain than it's been in years — a result of fast-moving and sometimes vague Trump policy.
Why it matters: There is a growing list of factors that could put downward pressure on the economy — tariffs, spending cuts, a looming government shutdown and more.
America's economy has defied naysayers, but there is no guarantee that continues.
Forecasters are writing GDP and inflation estimates in pencil, warning that their models can't possibly account for all the ways the jumble of policies could net out.
What they're saying: "It's really drinking from a fire hose at this point," Brian Gardner, chief Washington strategist at Stifel, tells Axios.
"Trying to understand where things are going is unusually difficult, historically difficult," Gardner adds.
Where it stands: The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow model, a "nowcast" that uses released data to estimate GDP in real-time, suggests the economy is contracting sharply.
Continue reading at Axios
Inside the MAGA media ecosystem: The power of Don Jr.
If you have time to tune into only one person to understand — and track — the interconnected MAGA media ecosystem, follow Donald Trump Jr.
Why it matters: There's no way to track all of the sources. So follow the power and influence. Don Jr. is deeply wired into every major player and most platforms, Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Tal Axelrod write in an Axios AM Executive Briefing special report.
Don Jr., 47, is his father's conduit, whisperer and translator of MAGA. President Trump, for all his MAGA clout, has a more traditional media diet, heavy legacy media. Don Jr. eats it all.
Continue reading at Axios
Exclusive poll: Young Americans down on DOGE
Most young Americans have been keeping up with Elon Musk’s DOGE — and it’s not too popular.
The big picture: 87% of 18- to 34-year-olds say they’ve heard a lot or a little about DOGE. And 71% say they strongly or somewhat disapprove of the agency’s work so far, according to a new Generation Lab poll.
69% strongly or somewhat disapprove of President Trump’s job performance.
Between the lines: The overall numbers show low approval for Trump and DOGE, but there's a partisan split. There's a great deal of support for both the president and the agency among young Republican respondents.
81% who say they're Republican strongly or somewhat approve of Trump, compared with just 10% of Democrats and 29% of Independents.
68% of young Republicans approve of DOGE’s work, compared with 9% of Democrats and 29% of Independents.
Continue reading at Axios
Exclusive: Gaetz could be next Florida attorney general
Florida's next attorney general could be the ex-congressman who almost became President Trump's U.S. attorney general: Matt Gaetz.
Why it matters: Despite the intense controversy he generated before withdrawing his nomination to be in Trump's Cabinet, Gaetz still has strong name ID and is well-liked enough among Florida's GOP base to be a formidable candidate.
In a hypothetical primary matchup against Attorney General James Uthmeier, Gaetz was favored 39%-21%, according to a recent survey of likely Republican voters by Tony Fabrizio, one of the nation's top pollsters who works for Donald Trump and several GOP clients.
Zoom in: There's already a war of words brewing between Gaetz and Uthmeier supporters over right-wing influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate, the Florida men who recently were allowed to return to the U.S. after facing sex-trafficking charges in Romania.
Uthmeier on Tuesday announced an investigation into the Tates. Gaetz — who as a member of Congress faced allegations of paying a minor for sex — has criticized Uthmeier's motives.
Reality check: A race against Uthmeier would be no slam dunk for Gaetz. Fabrizio's poll found 40% of GOP voters were undecided.
Continue reading at Axios
Live updates: EU leaders hold emergency Ukraine talks after Trump suspends aid
European Union leaders are holding emergency talks to agree on ways to quickly increase their military budgets after the Trump administration signaled that Europe must take care of its own security and also suspended assistance to Ukraine.
Here’s what to know:
Trump’s impact: In just over a month, U.S. President Donald Trump has overturned old certainties about U.S. reliability as a security partner, as he embraces Russia and withdraws American support for Ukraine. On Monday, he ordered a pause to U.S. military supplies to Ukraine as he sought to press President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to engage in negotiations to end the war with Russia.
EU faces major challenges: Thursday’s summit comes as the EU is arguably at its weakest point, fragmented by the steady rise of a hard right that is often pro-Russian. Meanwhile, many larger countries face their own uncertainties at home.
The funding predicament: Defense spending throughout Europe has gone up since Russia’s invasion began. Much is spent on weapons to keep Ukraine in the fight and backfill depleted European stocks, but demand is driving up prices.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
US employers cut more jobs last month than any February since 2009
The Trump administration’s massive federal cuts and swelling feelings of economic uncertainty helped fuel a recession-level spike in layoffs last month, new data showed Thursday.
US-based employers last month announced plans to slash 172,017 jobs, a 103% increase from January and the highest February total since 2009, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas’s latest monthly job cuts report released Thursday.
It’s the 12th highest monthly total in the 32 years Challenger has been tracking job cuts. The 11 others (four came during the Covid-19 pandemic) all occurred when the US was in a recession, Challenger data shows.
The largest share of job cut announcements came in the government sector, where the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency has axed jobs, slashed federal spending and scrapped contracts.
By Challenger’s count, there were 62,242 announced cuts across 17 federal agencies. That’s a 41,311% increase from the 151 cuts announced through February 2024, Challenger noted.
Continue reading at CNN
Secretive D.C. Influence Project Appears to Be Running a Group House for Right-Wing Lawmakers
For a project explicitly designed to influence Congress, Steve Berger’s operation has left a scant paper trail. The archconservative evangelical pastor, who started a D.C. nonprofit a few years ago to shape national policy, does not file lobbying reports. His group does not show up in campaign finance records.
There is a simple way to glimpse his effort’s expanding reach in Washington, however: Pay attention to who is walking out the front door of his Capitol Hill townhouse. New evidence suggests Berger may be running what amounts to a group house for conservative lawmakers, with multiple members of Congress living with him at his organization’s headquarters.
The six-bedroom, $3.7 million home is owned by a multimillion-dollar Republican donor.
Rep. Andy Ogles, a Tennessee Republican who is among President Donald Trump’s most aggressive allies in Congress, has been at the house on multiple days over the past two weeks, according to people who live in the area. Video reviewed by ProPublica showed Ogles leaving the townhouse with bags on Feb. 27. As he left, he locked up the front door and pocketed the keys to the house.
As ProPublica reported last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson is living in the townhouse. And Dan Bishop, a former congressman from North Carolina now nominated for a powerful post in Trump’s White House, appears to have lived there until recently as well.
Continue reading at ProPublica
Capitol agenda: Government funding frenzy
With the March 14 deadline bearing down, appropriators and GOP leaders are on wildly different courses.
The government-funding frenzy is in full swing on Capitol Hill with nine days to go before a potential shutdown, and the state of play is simple enough: It’s appropriators vs. GOP leaders.
With the March 14 deadline bearing down, the heads of the two Appropriations panels are finalizing a bipartisan deal on government funding totals for fiscal 2025 — Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democratic appropriator in the House, said it’s “imminent.”
But Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP leaders aren’t much interested in what appropriators are cooking up. Leadership has its own plan — a continuing resolution, or CR, through September — and Johnson’s plowing ahead with putting it on the floor next week.
One catch: There are a whole lot of House Republicans who have never voted for a CR before, and getting them to play along this time is crucial. Because of the anger over Trump’s slashing of the federal bureaucracy, Democrats who usually put those stopgaps over the finish line probably won’t be on board this time.
Continue reading at Politico
As US stops sharing intel, Russia hits Zelenskyy’s hometown, killing 4
Trump administration has halted all intelligence sharing with Ukraine in a move to push Kyiv to negotiate a peace deal on U.S. terms.
KYIV — The night after the U.S. stopped sharing all intelligence with Ukraine, the Russian army attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih with ballistic missiles, killing at least four people and injuring more than 30 others.
“A ballistic missile struck an ordinary hotel" in Kryvyi Rih, an industrious city in Dnipropetrovsk region, Zelenskyy said in a statement Thursday morning. "Unfortunately, four people were killed in this attack," he added.
"Just before the attack, volunteers from a humanitarian organization — citizens of Ukraine, the United States, and the United Kingdom — had checked into the hotel. They survived because they managed to get down from their rooms in time," Zelenskyy added.
Besides the hotel, located in a highly populated civilian neighborhood, the Russian airstrike Wednesday night also damaged 14 residential buildings, two schools, two kindergartens, a post office and business venues, Kryvyi Rih Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said in a post on Telegram.
More than 30 people were injured in the attack on the city, including a 13-year-old girl, Vilkul said. He added that 28 people have been hospitalized, three of them in extremely serious condition and 11 in serious condition.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
France shares intelligence with Ukraine amid ‘morally detestable’ US aid cutoff, says French minister
“Our intelligence is sovereign,” says French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu.
PARIS — France is providing intelligence to Ukraine despite the Trump administration's decision to stop doing so, French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Thursday.
On Wednesday, the United States temporarily cut off intelligence sharing with Kyiv in an effort to put pressure on Ukrainians to get to the negotiating table.
Asked whether Europeans could replace the intelligence provided by the U.S., Lecornu replied on French radio station France Inter that Paris was already sharing intelligence with Ukraine.
"I think that for our British friends, who are in an intelligence community with the U.S., it's more complicated." he said, referring to the Five Eyes group that also gathers Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
"Our intelligence is sovereign. Yes, we have intelligence resources that we share with the Ukrainians," he added.
Earlier this week, the U.S. also halted sending military aid to Ukraine, leaving the country vulnerable to aerial attacks by Russia.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Playbook: School’s out forever
DOGE DAY AFTERNOON: It’s not quite a mission to Mars, but a big day lies ahead for Elon Musk’s project to slice and dice the federal government. A long-trailed plan to abolish the Department for Education has been finalized and will likely be signed by Donald Trump as early as today, the Wall Street Journal scooped last night. It comes with a major court judgement looming this afternoon over Musk’s efforts to cancel tens of billions of dollars’ worth of foreign aid, hours after the administration secured a significant court victory over the firing of an independent watchdog leading the fightback against DOGE. With the Republican Party compliant and Democrats seemingly helpless, the courts still look like the only bulwark standing in Musk’s way.
We don’t need no education: The biggest story of the day will surely be the closure of the Education Department, assuming Trump does indeed press the button. The shuttering of an entire federal department with an annual budget of $268 billion would represent the most significant play so far in the Trump administration’s drive to reshape the Washington machine, handing a totemic and long sought-after scalp to small-state Republicans. There’s been no formal comment from the White House so far.
This is not new: Trump promised to kill the department while on the campaign trail last year, and has made repeated nods to the plan since returning to power. Wrestling exec-turned-Education Secretary Linda McMahon has already made clear to staff she plans to “send education back to the states,” having set out her thinking to senators last month. Even so, none of this diminishes the fact it will be a big story when the moment comes.
Law and order: A draft of Trump’s executive order, as seen by the WSJ, directs McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Education Department” based on “the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.” That final caveat is significant, given the department was created in 1980 via legislation signed by President Jimmy Carter. Lacking the 60 votes he’d need in the Senate to eliminate the department legislatively, Trump is looking to do it purely through executive order. Which means — as with most of DOGE’s radical cost-cutting moves — it’s likely to be challenged in the courts.
Speaking of which: Musk’s first major program of cuts — the near-destruction of USAID — faces its own moment of truth in a D.C. courtroom today. Judge Amir Ali has given the Trump administration an 11 a.m. deadline to set out a new timeline for delivering $2 billion in frozen payments to foreign aid contractors for work they have already carried out, following the administration’s unexpected 5-4 defeat yesterday at the Supreme Court. An even more significant moment comes at 2 p.m. as Ali considers whether to extend the unfreeze to billions of dollars more in future USAID payments. Each of these judgements mark vital — if not final — moments in defining the new powers of the presidency.
In the DOGE house: It wasn’t just the Supreme Court doling out defeats to DOGE yesterday. A workers’ board is reinstating — at least temporarily — almost 6,000 fired probationary workers from the Department of Agriculture, according to an order obtained by CNN. And a federal judge issued an injunction blocking cuts to National Institutes of Health payments, STAT News’ Jonathan Wosen reports — “a decision that suggests plaintiffs seeking to overturn the sweeping policy change are likely to eventually succeed.” We shall see.
Continue reading the Politico Playbook newsletter
Gavin Newsom breaks with Democrats on trans athletes in sports
The Democratic California governor made the stunning remarks in his debut podcast with conservative guest Charlie Kirk.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a pioneer for LGBTQ+ rights who decades ago upset leaders in his own party when he defied state law and issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples, suggested Democrats were in the wrong in allowing transgender athletes to participate in female college and youth sports.
“I think it’s an issue of fairness, I completely agree with you on that. It is an issue of fairness — it’s deeply unfair,” Newsom said in his debut podcast episode of “This is Gavin Newsom.” “I am not wrestling with the fairness issue. I totally agree with you.”
Newsom’s comments on the issue roiling political debates nationwide came in a conversation with influential MAGA-world figure Charlie Kirk, the campus culture warrior who leads the organization Turning Point USA and is a close ally of President Donald Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr.
Newsom also agreed that the most politically destructive attack ads from Trump’s campaign featured Kamala Harris’ support for providing taxpayer-funded gender transition-related medical care for detained immigrants and federal prisoners.
“She didn’t even react to it, which was even more devastating,” Newsom said, suggesting upward of 90 percent of Americans disagreed with Harris’ position. “Then you had the video [of Harris] as a validator. Brutal,” Newsom added. “It was a great ad.”
Continue reading at Politico California
UK insists US still a ‘reliable ally’ amid jitters over Trident nuclear subs
Defense analysts in London are urging the British government to make contingency plans for its fleet of U.S.-maintained nuclear-armed submarines.
LONDON — The British government stressed that the United States remains a “reliable ally,” amid questions in London about the future of the country’s jointly-maintained nuclear deterrent under Donald Trump.
“The U.K. has a long standing, close relationship with the U.S. on all defense nuclear issues,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson told reporters Thursday.
“Long-term arrangements provide the cooperation and collaboration which has been and continues to be a considerable mutual benefit to both nations,” they added.
The comments come after defense analysts told the Times of London that Trump’s sharp pivot away from Europe, as he tries to end the Ukraine war, called into question the future of the U.K.’s £3 billion-a-year Trident program, which relies heavily on U.S. cooperation to keep running.
Britain has operational control over its Trident nuclear arsenal. But the missiles, loaded on to four nuclear submarines, are U.S. manufactured, and jointly-maintained by the U.K. and U.S. They are subject to periodic refurbishing by the U.S.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
🏛️ Mapped: Federal real estate whiplash
New Trump administration moves to shrink the federal footprint are creating whiplash in an already confused and scrambling Washington, Axios D.C.'s Mimi Montgomery writes.
🏢 The General Services Administration (GSA) on Tuesday announced that hundreds of federal buildings were for sale, with about a third concentrated in the D.C. area.
The list featured the DOJ and Agriculture Department headquarters.
Then the GSA seemed to shift course: Later that day, all of the D.C. properties, and many in Virginia and Maryland, had been removed from its list.
By yesterday, the entire list had been removed.
See the map at Axios
Trump has ‘lost his patience’ with Hamas: Rubio
In an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Rubio described the president’s “last warning” to Hamas earlier that day to release all the hostages, living and dead, immediately.
Rubio noted that message came after hosting eight former hostages at the White House.
“People don’t realize the president meets with these people, he hears their stories; he’s outraged and rightfully so,” Rubio told Sean Hannity.
“He’s tired of watching these videos every weekend where hostages that are emaciated are released and bodies are turned over, and sometimes it’s the wrong bodies, and there’s five here and three there, and there’s games that are being played,” Rubio continued, referring to recent exchanges amid the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. “And he’s lost his patience with it.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Steve Wozniak Has Had It With Elon Musk’s Antics
The Apple co-founder isn't a fan of the "sledgehammer" approach.
Steve Wozniak, perhaps the last of an old guard of tech guys who generally seem pretty chill, does not think particularly highly of Elon Musk or Donald Trump. The guy credited with sparking the personal computer revolution told CNBC during an interview that Musk and Trump are bullies who are taking a sledgehammer to the federal government.
While Woz told CNBC that he’s in favor of looking for inefficiencies in government, he’d take a much different approach, saying he’d want “a huge department that analyzes bit by bit by bit.” Apple’s co-founder argued that the task of cutting spending and red tape should be done “more surgically, with a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer.”
Instead, Musk and his team at the Department of Government Efficiency have taken the shoot first and ask questions later approach, seemingly almost blindly cutting government contracts and firing off workers that they inevitably have to bring back to actually make agencies function, because it turns out it’s actually a good idea to have people handle nuclear programs and operating air traffic control towers. “Just mass firings…it’s not good for a business to run that way,” Wozniak said. “It’s really to find out what works and what doesn’t, make the changes.”
Continue reading at Gizmodo
More Americans tapping 401(k)s to pay for financial emergencies
Hardship withdrawals hit a record 4.8 percent in 2024: Vanguard
Before the pandemic, the average was around 2 percent each year
Several factors help explain the recent uptick
More Americans are raiding their retirement savings to cover emergency expenses, taking early withdrawals from their 401(k)s.
A record 4.8 percent of account holders took hardship withdrawals last year, up from 3.6 percent in 2023, according to Vanguard Group, which examined data from nearly 5 million people with 401(k)-type accounts.
Hardship withdrawals let savers tap their retirement funds early for an “immediate and heavy financial need” but are widely seen as a last resort. The most common reasons for taking them are preventing foreclosure or eviction and covering medical bills.
Before the pandemic, about 2 percent of account holders took hardship withdrawals annually — less than half the latest share, according to Vanguard data.
Continue reading at The Hill
House Democrats call Al Green Trump speech protest ‘inappropriate’
Several House Democrats disapproved of their colleague Rep. Al Green’s (D-Texas) disruption during President Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday.
Rep. George Latimer (D-N.Y.), speaking to Axios, said he felt the disruptions from Green and other Democrats were “inappropriate.”
“When a president — my president, your president — is speaking, we don’t interrupt, we don’t pull those stunts,” he told the outlet.
Continue reading at The Hill
Second judge indefinitely blocks Trump’s sweeping OMB funding freeze
A second federal judge indefinitely blocked President Trump’s blanket freeze on federal grants and loans, saying the administration “put itself above Congress.”
U.S. District Judge John McConnell’s preliminary injunction in favor of Democratic state attorneys general adds to a near-identical block imposed by a federal judge in the nation’s capital late last month.
Both lawsuits commenced after Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a now-rescinded memo that instructed federal agencies to pause grants and loans, a sweeping freeze that covered trillions of dollars of federal spending.
Under McConnell’s order, the Trump administration is indefinitely prohibited from implementing an across-the-board funding freeze under a different name. Agencies can still limit funding access on an individualized basis under applicable laws and regulations.
Continue reading at The Hill
DOGE’s play for government data is straining a law inspired by Watergate
Judges are considering whether longstanding constraints on government can hold up when the government itself seems indifferent to violating them.
A rarely tested 50-year-old law meant to protect sensitive information on millions of Americans is becoming a last-ditch tool to slow Elon Musk’s push to disrupt the federal government.
At least a dozen lawsuits trying to stop the billionaire’s Department of Government Efficiency from tapping into tax records, student loan accounts and other troves of personal data have invoked the Privacy Act of 1974 since January.
The Watergate-inspired law ostensibly prevents agencies from sharing sensitive information with unauthorized parties, even within the federal government — exactly what many of Musk’s critics allege DOGE is forcing them to do. Now it has surfaced as one of the few legal avenues state attorneys general, unions and associations believe can curb DOGE’s agency incursions so far.
But because previous Republican and Democratic administrations have largely attempted to abide by the law — which was meant to be a constraint on federal power — its limits and authority are now facing their first real test in court.
Continue reading at Politico
Stocks slump on Trump tariff fears, job cuts
All three major indexes kicked off trading Thursday with losses of more than 1 percent and gave up gains from a brief market rebound Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 470 points shortly after the market opened, losing 1.3 percent. The S&P 500 index was down 1.5 percent and the Nasdaq composite was down 1.7 percent.
Wall Street has fretted for days over the impact of Trump’s new 25-percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican products. While stocks recovered after the White House announced Wednesday it would exempt North American auto companies from the tariffs for a month, the narrow exemption had done little to soothe broader concerns.
Continue reading at The Hill
Two-thirds want leading or major world role for US: Gallup
More than 60 percent of Americans want the U.S. to take a leading or major role on the international stage, a new survey found.
The survey, released Thursday by Gallup, found that 19 percent of respondents want the U.S. to take a “leading role” and 47 percent want the country to take a “major role” in solving global problems.
Gallup noted that it’s lower than readings from 2001 to 2009, when Americans averaged at 75 percent support.
Continue reading at The Hill
Former GOP lawmaker: ‘I can’t understand the Canadian tariffs’
Former Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) says he doesn’t understand President Trump’s seemingly adversarial attitude toward Canada, including launching a tariff fight and taunting the U.S.’s ally to the north about becoming the “51st state.”
“I think the unintended consequences of what he’s doing right now are going to hurt his overall agenda,” Buck, who was known for breaking with his party on various issues before resigning from Congress last year, said Wednesday night on CNN’s “Erin Burnett Outfront.”
“You’ve got elections in Canada in the near future, and those elections are directly affected by his tariffs and his surge in in populism and in patriotism in Canada,” Buck added.
Continue reading at The Hill
EU poised to back return of Russian gas for Slovakia
Calling for a resumption of Ukraine gas transit flies in the face of pledges to cut off funding for Moscow’s war.
The draft text of a joint statement, set to be issued following talks in Brussels on Thursday, suggests that EU officials could weigh in to broker a deal that would see Kyiv renew an agreement that allowed Moscow to export fuel via the country.
The special European Council summit, which brings together heads of government from across all 27 member states, is designed to help replace military support for Ukraine after President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on aid and intelligence sharing. However, Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico had threatened to derail those efforts, alongside Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán.
“The European Council calls on the Commission, Slovakia and Ukraine to intensify efforts towards finding workable solutions to the gas transit issue, including through its resumption,” the document reads.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Poland, Denmark open to Macron’s nuclear deterrent proposal
French president’s push to discuss how France’s nuclear weapons could protect Europe was long unsuccessful — until now.
Polish and Danish leaders signalled openness today to French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to discuss how France’s nuclear deterrent can protect Europe.
“The French proposal is not new. This topic has come up in conversations with me several times,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on his way into the summit of European leaders in Brussels Thursday. “This is something worth considering,” he added.
France is the European Union’s only nuclear power, and one of three within NATO — alongside the United States and the United Kingdom.
For years, Macron’s push to discuss the issue with European partners has fallen on deaf ears as European capitals perceived they were protected by Washington's nuclear deterrent.
But now, U.S. President Donald Trump’s realignment with Russia and threats to pull out American troops from Europe are triggering defense policy shifts in Europe, including in nations historically very close to the U.S. such as Poland and Denmark.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
"Trump trades" are falling across markets
After a two-month honeymoon, where the value of just about anything Trump-adjacent rose as he prepared to take office, markets have now soured on many "Trump trades."
Why it matters: At some point, the declines will test whether there's still a "Trump put," as in his first presidency — where Trump tended to swiftly reverse policies the market didn't like — or if Trump 2.0 really doesn't care as much about markets.
The big picture: The economy, as Axios's Courtenay Brown notes, faces a number of potholes, which are all sapping investor confidence.
But the assets most closely tied to President Trump are falling faster than the broader market — some because hopes about his policies may have exceeded reality, others as consumers and investors sour on the activities of Trump advisors like Elon Musk.
By the numbers: Over the last month, shares of some of the most prominent Trump trade stocks have slumped.
Continue reading at Axios
Graham ‘OK’ with Trump hostage negotiations with Hamas
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) signaled Wednesday evening that he supports President Trump’s decision to open direct communication with Hamas on the release of hostages amid the militant group’s fragile ceasefire with Israel.
“It looks like the administration’s directly negotiating with Hamas. Do you like that, or you don’t like that? How do you feel?” Fox News’s Jesse Watters asked Graham.
The Republican senator responded that he doesn’t mind what the president does, “because I trust Trump.” He pointed to Trump’s recent post on Truth Social that called for the remaining hostages in Gaza to be released “immediately.”
“Trump sent out a tweet today, ‘Release the hostages or you will be destroyed,’ and that’s the kind of leadership we need,” Graham told the host, according to a clip highlighted by Mediaite.
Continue reading at The Hill
Watch live: Jeffries gives remarks after Democratic protests to Trump speech
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is holding a press conference Thursday morning, days after Democrats showed their disdain for President Trump’s executive actions in various ways during the president’s first address to Congress since returning to office.
Watch at the Hill on YouTube
Al Green censure vote in the House of Representatives
Note from Rima: 10 Democrats voted in favor
House votes to censure Rep. Al Green for disrupting Trump's speech to Congress
The vote was 224-198, with 10 Democrats joining all Republicans in voting in favor of the censure resolution.
Continue reading at NBC
Bill to pay troops during shutdown filed as funding deadline looms
Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.) on Thursday reintroduced a bill to ensure that members of the military get paid during a government shutdown, a move that comes as a March 14 deadline ticks closer without a deal to extend funding.
The Pay Our Troops Act would direct existing unappropriated Treasury funds to be made available to pay members of the armed forces as well as civilian employees and defense contractors supporting the military in the event of a shutdown, until either a continuing resolution (CR) is passed, regular full-year funding is passed, or until Jan. 1, 2026.
“Dysfunction in Washington should never force our servicemembers to go without a paycheck. These men and women put their lives on the line to protect our country – it is our responsibility to ensure they can provide for their families and put food on their tables,” Kiggans, who represents a district with a large military population, said in a statement.
Continue reading at The Hill
Jeffries bashes GOP for ‘illegal immigrant’ smear again House Democrat: ‘Disgusting’
The National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) on Wednesday blasted a message on social media attacking Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) over his critical response to President Trump’s speech to Congress the night before.
“Democrats literally chose an illegal immigrant to give their response to President Trump’s address,” the NRCC posted on X. “Predictably, this radical called Trump’s presidency a ‘reign of terror.’”
“Democrats couldn’t be more disconnected from the American people.”
Jeffries, who also hails from New York City, wasted no time responding to the smear with a barb of his own.
Continue reading at The Hill
Democrats slam GOP campaign committee labeling New York lawmaker an ‘illegal immigrant’
Rep. Adriano Espaillat touts himself as a “former undocumented immigrant turned progressive Congressman.”
House Republicans’ campaign arm directly attacked Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat’s immigration status, drawing condemnation from Democrats.
“Democrats literally chose an illegal immigrant to give their response to President Trump’s address,” the National Republican Congressional Committee wrote on X on Wednesday, adding that “Democrats couldn’t be more disconnected from the American people.”
Continue reading at Politico
Trump knocks ‘sleazebag journalists’ over reaction to thanking Roberts
“Thank you again. I won’t forget it,” Trump said, patting Roberts on the shoulder while exiting the House chamber after his speech that set a record at nearly 100 minutes.
The exchange was captured on video with clear audio and prompted speculation among Trump critics, particularly in light of Supreme Court rulings in Trump’s favor after he lost his 2020 bid for reelection.
The Supreme Court ruled last year that former presidents have a presumption of criminal immunity for official acts while in office — a solid win for Trump as he faced charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The court decision, which Roberts penned, effectively shielded Trump from criminal charges and paved the way for him to return to the White House.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump says he’ll delay tariffs on Mexican products covered by free trade deal
Trump posted on Truth Social that goods that fall under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will be exempted from a 25 percent tariff he imposed this week on imports from Mexico and Canada. The delay will last until April 2, at which point Trump has pledged to impose reciprocal tariffs on all nations that have duties on U.S. imports.
“I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum,” Trump posted, noting he had spoken with the Mexican president. “Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl. Thank you to President Sheinbaum for your hard work and cooperation!”
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump says Al Green should be forced to take IQ test
President Trump said Thursday that Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) should be forced to take an IQ test after the congressman was removed from his joint address and later censured by the House.
“[He] should be forced to pass an IQ test because he is a low IQ individual, and we don’t need low IQ individuals in Congress,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“He should be censured,” Trump added, calling the congressman “a fool and a clown.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Jeffries says GOP on its own to come up with votes to pass clean spending bill
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) warned Thursday that Democrats are ready to oppose a long-term extension of government funding at current 2024 levels.
The Democratic opposition in the House could be critical, because it is not clear that House Republicans, who hold a razor-thin majority, have the votes on their own to pass a “clean” funding bill.
The government will shut down next weekend without a new funding measure.
Jeffries has been pushing for a deal that would provide more funding for the government than the measure that the GOP is pursuing.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump hoping to complete southern border wall by 2029: Vance
During a visit to Eagle Pass, Texas, a reporter asked Vance how he and the president would define “success” when it comes to the initiative and how much of the border needs to be “walled off” before the end of Trump’s administration.
“I think the president’s hope is that by the end of the term we build the entire border wall,” the vice president replied.
“And of course that’s the physical structure — the border wall itself — but we even heard today, there are so many good technological tools, so many great artificial intelligence-enabled technologies that allow us” to guard the southern border, he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
House Republican: Musk should take ‘a half step back’ on DOGE cuts
Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) said billionaire Elon Musk should take a “half step back” as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) takes steps to reduce the size of the federal workforce and eliminate so-called wasteful government spending.
In a brief interview with CNN’s Manu Raju on Wednesday — shortly before Musk was slated to meet with House Republicans — McCormick told Raju he had some advice for Musk before the meeting.
“If he just takes a half step back, we’ll do something that I think can be compassionate, at the same time, something that’s impactful, when it comes to saving Americans money,” McCormick said.
Continue reading at The Hill
Senate Democrats to introduce PBM changes, health provisions dropped from December spending bill
The effort, led by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and others, is an attempt to revive bipartisan reforms and funding extensions without trying to attach it to a continuing resolution.
With much of the attention in Congress focused on reconciliation, it isn’t clear whether there will be enough political will among GOP leadership to do anything but a “clean” funding bill, without PBM changes or other health extenders.
“Senator Wyden is ready to pass these bipartisan health care priorities, which have been blocked for unrelated reasons for too long. Introducing this legislation is the first step towards allowing the Senate to swiftly act,” a Wyden spokesperson said.
US, Ukraine planning peace talks in Saudi Arabia: Witkoff
The meeting signals a thawing of relations between the U.S. and Ukraine, which ruptured abruptly following an explosive Oval Office confrontation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We are now in discussion to coordinate a meeting with the Ukrainians in Riyadh or even potentially Jeddah,” Witkoff told reporters outside the White House.
“So the city is moving around a little bit, but it will be Saudi Arabia. And I think the idea is to get down a framework for a peace agreement and an initial ceasefire as well.”
Continue reading at The Hill
A fifth of US butterflies have disappeared since 2000: Study
Butterflies are disappearing from the United States at an alarming rate, with their total population declining by more than a fifth over two decades, a new study has found.
Total butterfly abundance — the total individuals of a species within a given area — plummeted by 22 percent between 2000 and 2020, according to the study, published Thursday in Science.
During that period, about 33 percent of butterfly species underwent significant shrinkage, while many experienced extreme declines in abundance, the research showed.
“For those who were not already aware of insect declines, this should be a wake-up call,” said lead author Collin Edwards, of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, in a statement.
Continue reading at The Hill
Tensions flare in House over Al Green censure
The vote on the resolution to censure Green — which was adopted in a bipartisan fashion — featured singing, yelling and warnings that more punishment efforts may be on the horizon.
After the chamber approved the resolution in a 224-198-2 vote, Green presented himself in the well of the House so Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) could read the censure measure aloud, the customary sequence of events for the formal congressional rebuke.
As Johnson began reading the resolution, Green, surrounded by other Democratic lawmakers from the Congressional Black Caucus and beyond, started singing “We Shall Overcome,” sending the chamber into disarray.
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Jewish groups condemn deputy Pentagon press secretary over X post
The American Jewish Committee and Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned deputy Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson over social media posts they described as antisemitic.
“Anyone who posts antisemitic conspiracy theories lifted right out of the neo-Nazi playbook should not be in public office,” the American Jewish Committee wrote in a Wednesday post on the social platform X.
“Kingsley Wilson, newly appointed @DepPressSecDOD, is clearly unfit for her role,” they added.
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Truckers brace for impact of Trump’s tariffs
Truckers tell NewsNation they’re bracing for major changes without a clear roadmap, and the American Trucking Association is warning the Trump administration of unintended consequences.
There’s a lot of anxiety throughout the supply chain, and truckers are key to getting all consumer items to your door. While there’s a new reprieve from Mexico, tariffs have kicked in for Canada. Some truckers say they’re turning around at the U.S.-Canada border to avoid that new 25 percent payment at customs.
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Tex-Mex restaurant chain On The Border files for bankruptcy
The company currently operates around 60 locations across the United States, and these locations are expected to remain both open and operational during the process.
According to court documents, On The Border reported between $10 million and $50 million in assets and liabilities. A press release from the company states that they have received $10 million in funding to ensure continued operations during the Chapter 11 process. The company also says that they intend to enter into an asset purchase agreement with an affiliate company within the coming weeks.
Court documents revealed that the company spent $25.3 million on lease payments in 2024, of which $11.8 million were for underperforming locations, causing extreme stress to the company’s liquidity.
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Corporations partly to blame for high egg prices: Report
According to data from the United States Department of Agriculture, the price of eggs has nearly doubled in the last six weeks, with the average cost of a dozen at around $8.
Bird flu, which has spread poultry and also affected dairy herds, has “slightly reduced” egg production, but “corporate greed has also played a major role,” a report from Food and Water Watch published Wednesday said.
According to the report, about 10 companies control the vast majority of the eggs produced in America, and they dictate egg prices whether there’s a bird flu outbreak or not.
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Hunter Biden asks for laptop data case to be dismissed, citing financial problems
Biden sued Garrett Ziegler in 2023, accusing the former staffer of violating state and federal laws by creating a searchable database of Biden’s emails. The suit accuses Ziegler of “accessing, tampering with, manipulating, [and] altering” content from a laptop connected with Biden.
While the judge overseeing the case in September rejected a motion by Ziegler to dismiss the case and order him to pay nearly $18,000 in legal fees to Biden, the former president’s son says he does not have the financial wherewithal to continue the litigation.
“Plaintiff has suffered a significant downturn in his income and has significant debt in the millions of dollars range. Moreover, this lack of resources has been exacerbated after the fires in the Pacific Palisades in early January upended Plaintiff’s life by rendering his rental house unlivable for an extended period of time,” Biden’s attorneys wrote in a court filing.
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Trump doubles down on claim Trudeau using tariffs as campaign issue before giving Mexico a delay
President Trump doubled down Thursday on his claim that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is using the escalating trade war between the two neighbors as a campaign issue, just before giving Mexico a delay on tariffs covered by the free trade deal.
“Believe it or not, despite the terrible job he’s done for Canada, I think that Justin Trudeau is using the Tariff problem, which he has largely caused, in order to run again for Prime Minister. So much fun to watch!” Trump said on Truth Social.
Trudeau announced his intent to resign in January. The two spoke Wednesday following Trump’s move to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and after the call, the president said Trudeau is using the trade war to try to stay in power.
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Peter Navarro: ‘Canada has been taken over … by Mexican cartels’
Peter Navarro, a senior trade adviser to President Trump, said Wednesday that Canada has been “taken over” by Mexican cartels as tensions between the countries are on the rise over Trump-imposed tariffs seeking to crack down on fentanyl entering the U.S.
“What I want to say to every world leader who gets up in arms when all we’re asking for is fairness and to have them stop killing our people is, ‘Please, listen to us.’” Canada could do a lot more,” Navarro said, discussing drug flow into the U.S. on Fox News’s “Special Report” with anchor Bret Baier.
“Canada has been taken over, Bret, by Mexican cartels,” he continued as highlighted by Mediaite.
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These 10 Democrats voted to censure Al Green
House Democratic leadership did not whip on the Green censure resolution, allowing lawmakers to decide on their own whether to support it.
In the end, 10 Democrats backed the measure: Reps. Ami Bera (Calif.), Ed Case (Hawaii), Jim Costa (Calif.), Laura Gillen (N.Y.), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.), Jim Himes (Conn.), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Jared Moskowitz (Fla.) and Tom Suozzi (N.Y.).
The group is composed of centrists, members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus and front-liners.
Green and Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Ala.) voted “present.”
Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he backed the censure resolution because he supported a similar, but diluted, effort in 2009 to disapprove of Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) when he yelled out “you lie!” during then-President Obama’s address to Congress.
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Trump puts new limits on Elon Musk
The president convened his secretaries, with Musk, to clarify power.
President Donald Trump convened his Cabinet in person on Thursday to deliver a message: You’re in charge of your departments, not Elon Musk.
According to two administration officials, Trump told top members of his administration that Musk was empowered to make recommendations to the departments but not to issue unilateral decisions on staffing and policy. Musk was also in the room.
The meeting followed a series of mass firings and threats to government workers from the billionaire Tesla founder, who helms the Department of Government Efficiency, that created broad uncertainty across the federal government and its workforce.
DOGE’s actions have faced ferocious resistance in court and criticism from Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump’s CHIPS demand creates a $52 billion headache for Congress
It’s not clear to lawmakers what the president thinks should happen to a “horrible, horrible” law — or if changing it is politically possible.
Leaders in the Senate said Trump’s request — issued during his joint address to Congress on Tuesday — was new to them and, in interviews, they did not put a high priority on following the president’s direction.
The microchip industry is confused about the comment, and adding to the uncertainty, it was unclear to multiple senators Wednesday what exactly Trump was instructing Congress to do.
Rolling back the law itself would be a sharp reversal of one of the Biden administration’s signature policies, one with broad bipartisan support and global implications. And while the Trump administration has asserted broader control over spending, any move to cut the CHIPS money would be procedurally and legally tricky, and run afoul of the many beneficiaries in Republican districts.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump’s US destroying world order, says Ukraine’s UK ambassador
Valery Zaluzhny said the White House was making ‘steps towards the Kremlin’ — but the Ukrainian government distanced itself from his remarks.
Speaking at a think tank event, Valery Zaluzhny — a former Ukrainian general sent to represent Kyiv in London last year — said actions by the White House under U.S. President Trump had called into question "the unity of the whole Western world."
The intervention came despite cooling public rhetoric between Trump and Ukraine's President Volodomyr Zelenskky in recent days, after a disastrous meeting between the two leaders in the Oval Office last week.
The Ukrainian government appeared to distance itself from Zaluzhny's remarks Thursday afternoon. When approached by POLITICO, its foreign ministry responded that the opinion voiced by the Ukrainian ambassador had been his personal position.
Continue reading at Politico
Bessent defends Trump tariffs: ‘Access to cheap goods’ is not the ‘American Dream’
“International economic relations that do not work for the American people must be reexamined,” he said at the Economic Club of New York.
“Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American Dream,” Bessent said during a speech at the Economic Club of New York. “The American Dream is rooted in the concept that any citizen can achieve prosperity, upward mobility, and economic security. For too long, the designers of multilateral trade deals have lost sight of this. International economic relations that do not work for the American people must be reexamined.”
Trump earlier this week implemented 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico. He has since offered reprieves to the auto industry and most Mexican products, but the White House says he still plans to move ahead with “reciprocal” tariffs on imports.
The possibility that large quantities of foreign goods may soon be subject to new levies led many companies to ramp up imports before they take effect, which caused the trade deficit to surge to a new record and threatens future investment and hiring.
Continue reading at Politico
United States African Development Foundation tries to block DOGE access to shut it down
A recent executive order called for the elimination of the United States African Development Foundation.
The United States African Development Foundation, a small agency with a budget of about $45 million, is pushing back against the Department of Government Efficiency’s moves to effectively shutter its doors.
DOGE notified the foundation that a staffer with the Elon Musk-inspired department and State Department official Peter Marocco, who’s tasked with dismantling the United States Agency for International Development, would be visiting the foundation.
The foundation’s CEO and president, Ward Brehm, responded that he is out of office and would not allow his staff to meet with DOGE without him, effectively shutting it out, according to an undated letter obtained by POLITICO on Wednesday.
Despite the letter, Marocco and other officials went to the USADF building on Thursday, attempting to gain access to the building for a second time, according to the foundation.
Continue reading at Politico
Germany splits with former frugal allies in push to boost EU military spending
Northern European countries traditionally unenthusiastic about higher spending are wary of Germany’s new-found desire to splash the cash.
Thursday's emergency gathering of the bloc’s 27 chiefs aims to thrash out how to cope with the war in Ukraine, the threat from Russia and President Donald Trump's push to the end the decades-long U.S. commitment to European security.
Leaders are focusing on whether to relax the EU’s tough rules that restrict government expenditures, including a proposal by the European Commission that includes exempting defense expenditures up to 1.5 percent of GDP over a four-year timeframe.
"We have to ensure that in the long term, countries spend as much on defense as they themselves and their friends and allies think is right. And that's why we also need to come to long-term changes to the rules and regulations in Europe," outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said as he arrived at the summit.
For years, Germany has been a vociferous critic of any effort to make it easier for governments to spend money over fears that it could saddle the eurozone with debt and risk the stability of the common currency.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Trump pauses Canada-Mexico tariffs again, but stocks sink
President Trump paused 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports covered by a North American trade pact until April 2.
Why it matters: It's the latest abrupt pivot in the Trump administration's trade policy, which is rattling businesses and consumers.
Trump signed executive actions that said goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) — the deal negotiated in his first term — would get a temporary reprieve from tariffs.
The big picture: In the last month, the White House announced tariffs on incoming goods from Mexico and Canada that were later paused, imposed again and now paused once more.
Continue reading at Axios
The world's Trump adjustment
Chart: Yield on 10-year German government bond
America's fraying relationship with longtime allies is driving global economic shifts that were unthinkable just months ago.
Why it matters: Policy changes in the U.S. are rippling beyond its borders.
Some of the world's biggest economies are in the midst of their own policy regime changes — pledging investments and adjustments in response to President Trump that could outlast him.
In Europe, the catalyst is the Trump administration's threat to pull back U.S. protection of European Union borders, as well as looming tariffs that could crush the already-ailing economy.
The intrigue: Europe is racing to adjust with plans that will play out over decades — a type of response not seen in Trump 1.0.
Trump took office just as European leaders acknowledged the need for changes to reinvigorate its stagnant economy.
But it also might be a sign of leaders expecting that Trump-style policies might stick even after he leaves office.
What they're saying: "Whereas Trump's first four years the Europeans viewed him as an accident, I think they see now he's no accident," Gordon Sondland, the former U.S. ambassador to the EU under Trump, tells Axios.
Continue reading at Axios
CFPB allowing some offices to resume functions
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is allowing some offices to resume their functions, as the Trump administration faces a legal challenge over its stop work order and other efforts to overhaul the consumer watchdog.
Mark Paoletta, the CFPB’s chief legal officer, emailed employees Sunday clarifying they still should be performing statutorily required work. Several offices at the agency since have received authorization to resume their work, according to a trove of emails filed in court Tuesday.
“These measures were intended to ensure that new leadership could establish operational control over the agency while ensuring that it would continue to fulfill its statutory duties,” Paoletta wrote. “Many of you understood this and continued to perform functions required by law and sought approval from me to perform work, which I have promptly granted.”
Continue reading at The Hill
House Republican plots to kick dozens of Democrats off panels
A House Republican said Thursday he will force votes on kicking dozens of Democratic colleagues off of their committees for chanting and singing on the House floor over the objections of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Why it matters: The incident came in response to Republicans and nearly a dozen Democrats voting to censure Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) for disrupting President Trump's speech to Congress.
As Johnson read out the resolution censuring Green, dozens of House Democrats, primarily Black Caucus members and progressives, stood in the well of the House singing "We Shall Overcome."
Johnson repeatedly banged the gavel and said, "The House will come to order," before putting the House in recess until the disruption subsided.
What they're saying: "Today, a group of House Democrats broke decorum during the censure of Rep. Al Green and, after multiple warnings, refused to heed [Johnson's] order," Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) said in a post on X.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump administration considers rolling back chemical plant safeguards
The Trump administration will consider rolling back Biden-era regulations that increased safeguards for workers at chemical plants, it announced Thursday in a legal filing.
The Trump administration asked a court to pause legal challenges to the 2024 safety rules while it “undertakes a new rulemaking.”
It said that as part of this rulemaking it will “reassess elements of the underlying rule challenged here.”
It’s not entirely clear what exactly the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would rewrite — if anything. The agency declined to comment further.
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Trump stresses Cabinet secretaries lead agency cuts, but keeps Musk as threat
“I want the cabinet members, go first, keep all the people you want. Everybody that you need,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
He added, “I want them to do the best job they can, when we have good people that’s precious, that’s very important and we want them to keep the good people. So, we’re going to be watching them. Elon and the group are going to be watching them. If they can cut, its better. And if they don’t cut, then Elon will do the cutting.”
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Trump signals he won’t seek to change daylight saving time: ‘It’s a 50/50 issue’
“It’s a 50/50 issue, and if something is a 50/50 issue, it’s hard to get excited about it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I assume people would like to have more light later, but some people want to have more light earlier because they don’t want to take their kids to school in the dark.”
“It’s something I can do, but a lot of people like it one way. A lot of people like it the other way,” Trump continued. “It’s very even. And usually I find when that’s the case, what else do we have to do?”
Most Americans will turn their clocks forward one hour on Sunday for the start of daylight saving time.
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House Judiciary panel subpoenas Google, YouTube parent company
The panel also requested that Alphabet hand over internal communications about its interactions with the previous administration and third parties working with the executive branch.
“The Committee’s oversight has revealed that YouTube, a subsidiary of Alphabet, was a direct participant in the federal government’s censorship regime,” Jordan wrote in a letter to Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.
Jordan cited a committee report featuring a series of emails between Google and the White House under former President Biden about content moderation in 2021, largely related to COVID-19 misinformation.
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Trump signs tariff exemptions for certain imports from Canada, Mexico
Under the orders, goods compliant with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will not be subject to tariffs until April 2, at which point Trump has pledged to impose reciprocal tariffs on other nations with duties on American imports.
One of the orders also stipulates that tariffs on Canadian potash, a key ingredient in fertilizer, be lowered from 25 percent to 10 percent.
The move comes hours after Trump said Mexican imports covered under the USMCA would be exempted, and one day after he said auto imports included in the USMCA would not be subject to tariffs. The exemption also applies to auto parts used in the assembly of cars.
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Patel: FBI working to ‘zero out’ number of American hostages overseas
“My singular promise to you in this community is that I will do everything as the director of the FBI to marshal the resources necessary to make sure that no other American family feels that pain,” Patel said Thursday at a State Department ceremony that honored hostages and their families.
Patel said the Trump administration is working to bring home Americans from various countries, including Russia and Venezuela, as well as the remaining hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza, The Associated Press reported.
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Scoop: Dems privately confront Trump speech disruptors
Why it matters: Many progressives defied House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' (D-N.Y.) request to avoid making themselves the story.
Jeffries, in a dear colleague letter ahead of the speech, urged a "strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber."
Trump's speech was instead rocked by constant heckling. Democrats held up signs and other props, and Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) was ejected.
In meetings and discussions with leadership this week, Democrats who heckled, walked out in protest or were otherwise disruptive were given a talking to about their tactics, sources said.
What we're hearing: Leadership is "very unhappy" with those who went beyond traditional protest tactics like outfit coordination and refusal to clap, a senior House Democrat told Axios.
Continue reading at Axios
Walgreens is going private in an up to $24 billion deal
New York (CNN) — Walgreens Boots Alliance is being taken private in a deal valued up to $23.7 billion, following a largely disastrous run on the public markets where its market cap has lost billions and more than 10% of its locations have closed.
It brings an end to nearly 100 years as a publicly traded company. After opening its 100th store in Chicago, Walgreens went public the following year in 1927.
Private equity firm Sycamore Partners agreed to pay $11.45 a share in cash, according to a statement from Walgreens. Including debt and other potential future payouts, the company said the full value of the deal could reach up to $23.7 billion.
Continue reading at CNN.com
Trump administration reverses on plan to close nuclear waste site management office, Democrat senator says
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) website lists an Energy Department office in Carlsbad, N.M., as among the 748 leases it is terminating.
However, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) says he spoke with the Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who told him the office will not close.
“This week, @RepGabeVasquez, @SenatorLujan, and I demanded that the Carlsbad DOE office and [Waste Isolation Pilot Plant] stay open,” Heinrich posted Thursday on X.
“I’m pleased to announce that on my call with Secretary Wright, he promised they will,” he added.
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Georgetown Law School defends practices amid US attorney’s DEI threat
Georgetown Law School Dean William Treanor is defending his school’s curriculum after the Washington, D.C., U.S. attorney threatened to not hire any students from institutions that teach diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Interim D.C. U.S. Attorney Ed Martin sent a letter to the law school last month asking if the institution eliminated all connection to DEI, a top target of the Trump administration.
“At this time, you should know that no applicant for our fellows program, our summer internship, or employment in our office who is a student or affiliated with a law school or university that continues to teach and utilize DEI will be considered,” Martin wrote in the letter, according to The Washington Post.
Treanor responded on Thursday the school complies with all laws around discrimination and harassment, but he shot down Martin’s attempt to influence curricula.
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Social Security Administration bans reading ‘general news’ at work
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has banned reading “general news” websites at work, The Hill has learned.
“Social Security employees should be focused on mission-critical work and serving the American people,” a Social Security spokesperson said in a statement emailed to The Hill on Thursday.
“Therefore, we implemented additional restrictions to the categories of websites prohibited from government-furnished equipment, including online shopping, general news, and sports. Employees may request an exception if they have a business need for job-specific duties,” the spokesperson continued.
NBC News and The Washington Post both reported previously that there was an SSA email discussing employee website bans including for “general news,” which was confirmed by the statement for the agency.
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Trump: MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace, Rachel Maddow ‘should be forced to resign’
“Worse than CNN is ‘MS-DNC,’ which is the worst. And the good news is very few people watch them anymore,” he told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office.
“They have lost such credibility; and, frankly, what Nicole Wallace said — I’ve never been a fan of hers, and she’s not very talented — but I’ll tell you, what she said the other day about that young man is disgraceful. She should be forced to resign,” he added.
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Judge orders release of some foreign aid payments by Monday
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali, an appointee of former President Biden, said the government must release the payments by 6 p.m. on Monday and that he would weigh a timeline for releasing the rest of the funds while he considers whether to grant injunctive relief to the plaintiffs as litigation is ongoing.
The new schedule comes after the Trump administration for weeks attempted to fend off Ali’s order to resume existing foreign aid contracts. The administration has broadly looked to dismantle USAID, including by firing employees and freezing its payments to contractors.
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Trump faces new economic uncertainties amid trade battles
Many economic forecasts show the U.S. adding somewhere around 150,000 jobs with a slight increase in the unemployment rate last month — a solid, if unexciting report.
But tumbling markets in the wake of Trump’s new tariffs, the mass firings of federal workers, plateauing inflation and slowing economic growth are heightening uncertainty and interest ahead of the report’s release by the Labor Department.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday closed with a loss of 400 points, falling 1 percent on the day. The Nasdaq composite fell 2.6 percent on the day, sinking 10 percent past its most recent peak and entering correction territory. The S&P 500 index was down 1.8 percent.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump signs order targeting law firm Perkins Coie
President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at stripping security clearances and government ties to Perkins Coie, a major law firm that did work for Democrats during the 2016 campaign.
The order, which Trump signed in the Oval Office, directs the attorney general and director of national intelligence to “immediately take steps consistent with applicable law to suspend any active security clearances held by individuals at Perkins Coie, pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest.”
The order additionally aims to cut off Perkins Coie employees’ access to federal government facilities and to review any contracts the federal government has with the law firm.
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AARP says no to Medicaid cuts
In letters exclusively provided to The Hill, AARP’s senior vice president of government affairs Bill Sweeney addressed leaders of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and Senate Finance panel.
“More than half of all the funds for long-term care in America come from Medicaid. As our country gets older, and as millions of Baby Boomers continue to age, our country is on the brink of a serious long-term care crisis,” wrote Sweeney.
“AARP would welcome the long-overdue debate about how to address this challenge, which should involve reforms to remove Medicaid’s bias toward institutional care and increased support for families who take care of their loved ones at home. Large-scale cuts, however, threaten millions of seniors with disruption to the care they need,” he added.
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IKEA beds? Dressers? Inside the ‘increasingly odd’ DOGE office setup
Details of the arrangements at GSA offer a window into the lifestyle of DOGE workers.
As DOGE staffers dismantle the federal workforce, they’re following Elon Musk’s ethos of moving fast and breaking things. But even DOGE workers need to slow down and sleep — and they’re increasingly doing so in a federal office building, an arrangement that ethics experts said could break longstanding agency rules.
At the General Services Administration’s towering federal office building in downtown Washington, workers have set up at least four separate rooms on the 6th floor for sleeping, complete with beds from IKEA, lamps and dressers, according to two career GSA employees.
These rooms share office space with conference rooms and are accessible only with high-security clearances, said the workers, who were granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump puts new limits on Elon Musk
The president convened his secretaries, with Musk, to clarify power.
According to two administration officials, Trump told top members of his administration that Musk was empowered to make recommendations to the departments but not to issue unilateral decisions on staffing and policy. Musk was also in the room.
The meeting followed a series of mass firings and threats to government workers from the billionaire Tesla founder, who helms the Department of Government Efficiency, that created broad uncertainty across the federal government and its workforce.
DOGE’s actions have faced ferocious resistance in court and criticism from Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans.
Continue reading at Politico
Major division in EU as leaders get deal on arming Ukraine — without Hungary
Summit shows backing for Kyiv, but Orbán veto exposes disunity.
BRUSSELS ― European Union leaders have endorsed military support for Ukraine but without the support of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
At an emergency summit Thursday in Brussels, Orbán, who hasn't hidden his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, vetoed an EU-wide push to replace American military aid. U.S. President Donald Trump announced the freezing of military assistance to Kyiv on Monday.
The EU's other 26 leaders moved forward without Hungary and published their own conclusions.
"Achieving ‘peace through strength’ requires Ukraine to be in the strongest possible position, with Ukraine’s own robust military and defense capabilities as an essential component," the joint statement said. "The European Union remains committed, in coordination with like-minded partners and allies, to providing enhanced political, financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people."
Continue reading at Politico Europe
State officials come out in favor of Senate debanking bill
Political forces are lining up behind legislation that would rein in regulators' abilities to pressure banks into denying services to legal but disfavored industries.
The big picture: The case that certain companies, particularly those in the crypto industry, were getting debanked by association looked improbable not so long ago. But mounting evidence to support the claims has brought the issue to the political forefront, and even acknowledged by the Fed chairman.
Driving the news: Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott (R.-S.C.) released new legislation Thursday called the Financial Integrity and Regulation Management Act, or FIRM act.
All 13 Republicans on the committee signed on, but no Democrats were listed on the initial announcement.
Within hours, a letter from 26 state finance officials from across the country released a letter expressing support for the bill.
What they're saying: "This discriminatory and un-American practice should concern everyone," Scott said in a statement.
Continue reading at Axios
Ontario will tariff electricity going to 3 US states on Monday, premier says
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said three states would face tariffs on electricity after a week of President Trump’s swipes at Canada with fluctuating trade policies.
“I love Americans. It’s been 20 years of my life. But in saying that, no, we’re going to put a 25 percent tariff on electricity coming from Ontario to Michigan, New York and Minnesota,” Ford said during a Thursday appearance on Fox Business Network’s “The Claman Countdown.”
The leader said new tariffs are scheduled to be implemented Monday in an effort to push back on Trump’s international economic measures.
“And isn’t this a shame? It’s an absolute mess. He’s created chaos. He ran on a mandate. The lower cost, lower inflation, create more jobs. It’s the total opposite,” Ford said.
“You know, people are going to be losing their jobs in the U.S. and in Canada, and inflation is happening already,” he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
The U.S. crypto reserve is all about forfeited assets
President Trump signed an executive order Thursday establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a separate stockpile of other cryptocurrencies.
Why it matters: The "first crypto president" has committed the government to a long-term holding of the first and by far the largest cryptocurrency.
What we're watching: Bitcoin plummet.
It lost more than $5,000 in less than an hour after the news broke.
"Sell the news" is often a very powerful effect in this space, but the market had already surged last Sunday, when the president teased adding other cryptocurrencies to the reserve.
What's happening: The U.S. is going to quit selling bitcoins it seizes (and has already seized) from criminal operations of civil asset forfeiture.
Continue reading at Axios
SpaceX Starship rocket explodes after launch
SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded minutes after it launched from Texas Thursday.
The big picture: Debris from the rocket reached as far away as Philadelphia, and caused flight delays in several states, including Florida, FAA data show.
It's the spacecraft's second consecutive test flight to end in destruction, after another such explosion nearly two months ago.
Driving the news: "During Starship's ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost," SpaceX said in a post on X.
The SpaceX team then activated on its pre-planned contingency responses, and said they'll review data from the flight test to better understand the cause.
"As always, success comes from what we learn, and today's flight will offer additional lessons to improve Starship's reliability," the post read.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump pauses Canada-Mexico tariffs again, but stocks sink
Why it matters: It's the latest abrupt pivot in the Trump administration's trade policy, which is rattling businesses and consumers.
Trump signed executive actions that said goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) — the deal negotiated in his first term — would get a temporary reprieve from tariffs.
Most energy imports are not covered by the pact. Those goods will still be subject to 10% tariffs that took effect earlier this week, as will goods that face tariffs related to anti-dumping investigations.
The big picture: In the last month, the White House announced tariffs on incoming goods from Mexico and Canada that were later paused, imposed again and now paused once more.
Continue reading at Axios
Senate Democrats punt on trans rights in women's sports
Senate Democrats want to leave the issue of trans athletes playing in women's sports to state and local governments.
Why it matters: Democrats privately admit they need a sharper response to counter Republican attacks on their support for transgender rights, especially when it involves sports.
In the Senate, their emerging strategy is to argue that one part of the issue is best left to the states, while acknowledging concerns about athletes gaining an unfair advantage.
"There are basic issues of fairness here," said Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) "There are really important issues that we should be discussing on the local level, within sports leagues and within conferences."
Between the lines: The Democratic messaging effort has been spearheaded by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), sources tell Axios.
Continue reading at Axios
Murphy fears more Medicare pay cuts will kill private practice
Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) worries that if nothing is done to curb Medicare payment cuts to physicians, doctors will no longer be able to afford to run their own private practices.
“We’re at a crucible where if we don’t fight these cuts now, if we don’t get rid of them, we don’t reverse them, I don’t see how private practice survives,” Murphy said Thursday during The Hill’s “State of Medicare Physician Payments.”
Medicare reimbursement payments for doctors were reduced for the fifth consecutive year on Jan. 1 when payments decreased by 2.83 percent. Some argue, however, that the cut is actually higher when inflation is taken into account.
Continue reading at The Hill
Canadian senator challenges Donald Trump Jr. to charity boxing match over ‘bogus tariffs’
Canadian Sen. Patrick Brazeau challenged Donald Trump Jr. to a charity boxing match over the “bogus” tariffs implemented this week by his father, President Trump.
“I know, I still can’t believe it myself. But I no longer smoke and have been sober for almost 5 years,” the Quebec-based senator said in a Thursday post on X.
“In light of these bogus tariffs from President @realDonaldTrump from the U.S. onto Canada, I challenge you to a fight to raise money for cancer research or an organization of your choosing,” the senator added.
Brazeau lost to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a 2012 boxing match.
Continue reading at The Hill
Europe is doing what you wanted, UK tells US defense boss
John Healey tells Pete Hegseth that Europe is meeting Washington’s challenge to “step up” on security and Ukraine.
Europe and the United Kingdom are taking a leading role on defense and supporting Ukraine, just as the United States has demanded, British Defence Secretary John Healey told his American counterpart Pete Hegseth on Thursday.
Healey and Hegseth’s meeting at the Pentagon was their first since the American defense chief’s trip to European capitals last month, where he warned that Europe “can’t make an assumption that America’s presence will last forever” and called on the bloc to “step up” to safeguard its own security.
Britain and Europe have done just that, Healey argued Thursday.
"You challenged Europe to step up. You challenged us to step up on Ukraine, on defense spending, on European security,” he said. “And I say to you that we have, we are and we will further."
Continue reading at Politico Europe
FAA grounds traffic at four Florida airports after SpaceX craft breaks apart
A SpaceX Starship broke apart after launch, raining debris down off Florida’s coast and over the Caribbean
The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily halted air traffic at four Florida airports on Wednesday after a SpaceX craft broke apart after launch, raising concerns about falling debris.
The Starship vehicle broke apart following the eighth flight test of the rocket launched from Boca Chica, Texas.
The agency briefly halted flights into Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, and Orlando for possible space launch debris in the area, the agency said in an alert. According to flight tracking website FlightRadar24, several flights were observed holding their position off Florida’s coast and over the Caribbean.
The mishap marks the second time a Starship vehicle has broken up after ascending to space, disintegrating into a shower of sparks caught in multiple videos on social media.
Continue reading at Politico
Judge orders Trump administration to pay some foreign-aid bills by Monday
Judge Amir Ali gave the State Department four days to pay past invoices from groups suing over the aid freeze.
A federal judge has set a new deadline of Monday for the Trump administration to pay a large batch of backlogged invoices for foreign aid programs, but he sharply scaled back the amount of money that will need to be sent out by then.
U.S. District Judge Amir Ali issued the new directive Thursday, just a day after the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s emergency appeal of an earlier order that Ali issued in a pair of lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s broad freeze on foreign aid. The judge’s earlier order had imposed a deadline of Feb. 26 for the State Department to send out an estimated $2 billion the government owes to contractors and grant recipients who run aid programs abroad.
But the Feb. 26 deadline passed while the administration’s appeal was pending, and the high court on Wednesday sent the case back to Ali with instructions to “clarify” the government’s obligations now.
Continue reading at Politico
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