Things Musk (and Trump) Did... Day 51 | Blog#42
What a quarter billion and, now, another one hundred million bought Musk...
News worth repeating
Musk plans to give Trump's political operation $100 million
Why it matters: The contribution is unheard of in both amount and type: Musk, who is technically a special government employee, is the world's richest person.
Musk donated more than $250 million to a pro-Trump super PAC during the 2024 election campaign. That made Musk Trump's biggest financial booster.
Now, he is the face of the DOGE team that's driving the Trump administration's huge cuts to the federal workforce and agencies.
The New York Times first reported the latest planned contribution.
Zoom in: Trump's political team has set up a pair of organizations: MAGA Inc. and Securing America's Greatness. It is not clear if Musk will give to either of those two groups, or if he plans on giving to another one that will be controlled by Trump's team.
MAGA Inc. and Securing America's Greatness are run by Chris LaCivita and Tony Fabrizio, who were top advisers on Trump's 2024 campaign and have close ties to the Trump White House.
Continue reading at Axios
FEMA cancels classes at national fire training academy amid federal funding cuts
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that National Fire Academy courses were canceled amid a “process of evaluating agency programs and spending to ensure alignment with Administration priorities,” according to a notice sent to instructors, students and fire departments. Instructors were told to cancel all future travel until further notice.
Firefighters, EMS providers and other first responders from across the country travel to the NFA’s Maryland campus for the federally funded institution’s free training programs.
“The NFA is a powerhouse for the fire service,” said Marc Bashoor, a former Maryland fire chief and West Virginia emergency services director with 44 years of fire safety experience. “It’s not a ‘nice to have.’ It is the one avenue we have to bring people from all over the country to learn from and with each other. If we want to continue to have one of the premier fire services in the world, we need to have the National Fire Academy.”
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Administration cancels meteorologist disaster training
The Trump administration has canceled a training that prepares meteorologists to forecast during disasters, The Hill has learned.
The incident meteorologist training for the National Weather Service was canceled amid “short staffing” and a severe reduction in how much employees are allowed to spend on travel, according to an email viewed by The Hill.
An agency source expressed concern that the cancellation of this session would delay new incident meteorologists from being certified — leaving the weather service less able to respond to disasters like fires and putting an even greater strain on the existing workforce.
[…]
Meanwhile, this also does not appear to be the only government training that has recently been canceled.
A senior Department of Homeland Security official confirmed to The Hill that fire trainings at the Federal Emergency Management Agency were also being canceled, saying via email, “The bottom line is we are no longer paying for non-employee travel. We are only authorizing travel for mission critical programs, this isn’t one.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Education Department to slash half its workforce
“Employees will not be permitted in any ED facility on Wednesday, March 12th”, for any reason,” the message said.
An agency official told reporters Tuesday that the job cuts being finalized over the coming weeks are expected to affect roughly half of the agency’s workforce.
The official said the department focused on cutting teams whose operations are redundant or not necessary to serve its core functions.
“We have a department now that exists largely to oversee contractors, add strings, and in many cases, do duplicative efforts across the department,” the official said.
Employees affected by Tuesday’s announced force reduction will have 90 days until they are actually terminated and will receive full pay and benefits during this time, in addition to severance pay.
Continue reading at Politico
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Yesterday’s post
Today’s news
Education secretary says mass layoffs first step toward shutting down DoE
The big picture: Education Secretary Linda McMahon confirmed to Fox News the action was the first step toward President Trump's plans for a total shutdown of the agency.
Trump floated the idea of "disbanding" the agency on the 2024 election campaign trail.
"That was the president's mandate," McMahon said on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle." "His directive to me, clearly, is to shut down the Department of Education which we know we'll have to work with Congress to get that accomplished."
State of play: "Reduction in Force" notices started to go out to impacted employees at 6pm ET Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Those staff members will be placed on administrative leave beginning March 21, the department said.
Every part of the department is expected to be impacted.
However, the agency said it will continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under its purview — including formula funding, student loans, Pell Grants, funding for special needs students and competitive grant-making.
Zoom in: Among the 2,183 workers being laid off is almost 600 staffers who agreed to resign or retire over the past seven weeks. These include:
259 employees accepted the Deferred Resignation Program.
313 employees accepted the Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment.
Continue reading at Axios
Judge declines to block DOGE from taking over African development agency
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon declined a motion attempting to keep USADF’s chair, Ward Brehm, in his job and prevent Peter Marocco, the deputy acting head of the U.S. Agency for International Aid (USAID), from taking control of the foundation.
Leon said Brehm didn’t show he would suffer irreparable harm in the case of his motion not being granted, which is required to get a temporary restraining order.
“The heart of the problem is that Brehm has not identified any cognizable irreparable harm to himself as opposed to potential harm to the agency and its partners,” Leon wrote in the Tuesday filing.
“At the outset, his loss of employment in and of itself is not irreparable harm. Should he eventually succeed on the merits, the Court could remedy any harm by reinstating him to his position and ordering back pay,” he added.
Leon also declined to stop the appointment of Marocco “or any other person” in the roles of a USDAF board of directors acting member, Brehm’s position instead of him “or otherwise recognize any other person as a member of the Board of USADF absent Senate confirmation or as President of USADF absent appointment by a lawfully-constituted Board.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Lutnick says Trump tariffs ‘worth it’ even if they lead to recession
In an interview that aired Tuesday, CBS News’s Nancy Cordes asked Lutnick whether the tariffs will “be worth it if they lead to a recession, even a short-term recession.”
Lutnick responded: “These policies are the most important thing America has ever had.”
“So it is worth it?” Cordes pressed.
“It is worth it,” he said.
Lutnick quickly added: “The only reason there could possibly be a recession is because of the Biden nonsense that we had to live with.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump’s Ukraine ceasefire plan: What we know so far
Here’s what we know so far about the proposed Russia-Ukraine truce agreed between Marco Rubio and Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s team in Saudi Arabia.
After more than three years of war, Ukraine has agreed to a U.S. proposal for an immediate ceasefire. The 30-day truce will come into effect if Russia signs up to the same terms, according to a joint statement from the Ukrainian and American governments.
The outline of a deal followed eight hours of talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between teams including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and on the Ukrainian side, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak.
Writing on X, Zelenskyy explained the plan would involve “a 30-day full interim ceasefire, not only stopping missile, drone, and bomb attacks, not only in the Black Sea, but also along the entire front line. Ukraine is ready to accept this proposal — we see it as a positive step and are ready to take it. Now, it is up to the United States to convince Russia to do the same.”
U.S. President Donald Trump said he will speak to Russian leader Vladimir Putin about accepting the ceasefire plan. “It takes two to tango,” he said.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
EU wields ‘sledgehammer’ against Trump tariffs
Brussels strikes back against the U.S. president’s 25 percent levies on steel and aluminum.
BRUSSELS — The European Union hit back hard as U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 25 percent global steel and aluminum tariffs on Wednesday, announcing a two-stage retaliation covering €26 billion in EU exports that far exceeded a trade fight that blew up in his first term.
The European Commission said it would, from April 1, reimpose tariffs in response to €8 billion in U.S. tariffs — including on iconic American products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles, bourbon and jeans. And, from mid-April, it will set further countermeasures over €18 billion in new U.S. tariffs, subject to the approval of EU member states.
“We deeply regret this measure,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in an early-morning statement.
“Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy. Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States. The European Union must act to protect consumers and business.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
EU announces $28 billion in counter tariffs on U.S. goods
The European Union announced Wednesday counter tariffs of 26 billion euros ($28.33 billion) on U.S. goods, "matching the economic scope" of President Trump's levies.
The big picture: Trump's 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports took effect earlier on Wednesday.
Driving the news: The EU will end on April 1 the suspension of countermeasures the bloc announced during the first Trump administration, per a Wednesday statement from the European Commission.
"These countermeasures target a range of US products that respond to the economic harm done on €8 billion of EU steel and aluminium exports," according to the statement.
"Second, in response to new U.S. tariffs affecting more than €18 billion of EU exports, the Commission is putting forward a package of new countermeasures on US exports" that will "come into force by mid-April, following consultation of Member States and stakeholders."
What they're saying: "Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump’s 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports go into effect
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump officially increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25% on Wednesday, promising that the taxes would help create U.S. factory jobs at a time when his seesawing tariff threats are jolting the stock market and raising fears of an economic slowdown.
Trump removed all exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on the metals, in addition to increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10%. His moves, based off a February directive, are part of a broader effort to disrupt and transform global commerce. The U.S. president has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging “reciprocal” rates starting on April 2.
Trump told CEOs in the Business Roundtable on Tuesday that the tariffs were causing companies to invest in U.S. factories. The 8% drop in the S&P 500 stock index over the past month on fears of deteriorating growth appears unlikely to dissuade him, as Trump argued that higher tariff rates would be more effective at bringing back factories.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Mike Johnson gets candid about Elon Musk
"I just run around all day and make sure everybody's happy," Johnson says of working with House Republicans, President Donald Trump and Musk.
Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday gave his most candid assessment yet of billionaire Elon Musk's influence in Congress and the potential threat he poses to legislative dealmaking: "He can blow the whole thing up."
Johnson, during a fireside chat at Georgetown University's Psaros Center, described his work as speaker as managing a "giant control panel" with dials for his GOP members, one for President Donald Trump and one for Musk.
"Elon has the largest platform in the world, literally," Johnson said of the X owner and head of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency. "And if he goes on and says something that's misunderstood or misinterpreted about something we're doing, he can blow the whole thing up."
"So I spend a lot of time working with all these dials and all these folks, and I just run around all day and make sure everybody's happy," he added.
Johnson knows the depths of Musk's influence from personal experience. In December, Musk helped tank a bipartisan government funding bill that the speaker negotiated, triggering chaos on Capitol Hill just before the holidays.
Continue reading at Politico
Senate Democrats appear ready to back down in government shutdown fight
Senate Democrats say the six-month government funding resolution that passed the House Tuesday is a “horrible” bill, but there’s growing sentiment within the Senate Democratic conference that it would be too risky to block the legislation and risk a government shutdown that could drag on for weeks.
Senate Democrats battled behind closed doors Tuesday over how to handle the House bill, with a number of Democrats — especially those in swing states — arguing that a government shutdown must be avoided, even if it means reluctantly voting for a House GOP-drafted bill.
Several centrists warned that there’s no clear end game for ending a government shutdown if Democrats defeat the House-passed measure, which would increase defense spending by $6 billion, boost funding for border security and cut non-defense programs by $13 billion.
The bill passed the House 217-213 Tuesday afternoon with only one Democrat voting in favor. But the political calculus is different for Democrats in the Senate because their votes will be needed to avoid a shutdown.
Continue reading at The Hill
Note from Rima: see my opinion piece linked above
Trump, Musk fuel fears of Social Security cuts with ‘fraud’ talk
President Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk are ratcheting up false rhetoric about Social Security, repeatedly claiming the program wastes hundreds of billions of dollars in fraudulent payouts that need to be eliminated.
Their position is confounding experts and worrying advocates, who fear the claims are a pretext for massive cuts to the program down the road.
Trump, Musk and the administration’s allies insist they are targeting waste, fraud and abuse and are not going after benefits.
In an interview Monday with Larry Kudlow, who served as Trump’s chief economic adviser in his first term, Musk suggested Social Security and other entitlement programs are rife with fraud and a prime target for cuts.
“Most of the federal spending is entitlements. So that’s the big one to eliminate,” Musk said on Kudlow’s Fox Business show, adding there’s possibly $500 billion to $700 billion in potential cuts there.
Continue reading at The Hill
The US is short nearly 4 million homes
New construction did not close housing gap
Housing shortage gap hit young households the hardest
Builders face many barriers making it hard to make affordable housing
The housing gap continues to persist as the nation is short nearly four million homes.
While new home construction picked up for the first time since 2016 last year, the housing gap totaling 3.8 million remains, according to a new analysis from Realtor.com.
The company measured the housing supply gap using data on new home construction, household formations and pent-up housing demand.
The analysis found that more than 1.6 million homes were completed in 2024, the highest level in nearly 20 years.
However, despite reaching this notable increase, the housing gap “persisted due to the magnitude of the historical gap and ongoing pent-up household demand,” the report stated
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump administration halts $1 billion program that keeps aging affordable housing livable
The Trump administration is halting a $1 billion program that helps preserve affordable housing, threatening projects that keep tens of thousands of units livable for low-income Americans, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.
The action is part of a slew of cuts and funding freezes at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, largely at the direction of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, that have rattled the affordable-housing industry.
Preserving these units gets less attention than ribbon-cuttings, but it’s a centerpiece of efforts to address the nation’s housing crisis. Hundreds of thousands of low-rent apartments, many of them aging and in need of urgent repair, are at risk of being yanked out from under poor Americans.
The program has already awarded the money to projects that would upgrade at least 25,000 affordable units across the country, and details of how it will be wound down remain unclear.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Rubio emerges as major Trump World player
Rubio is not a dyed-in-the-wool member of the MAGA movement, having run against President Trump in 2016.
Some in MAGA World had hoped to see Ric Grenell tapped as secretary of State instead. An image of Rubio sunken into an Oval Office couch as Trump sparred with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went viral, with some suggesting the secretary was trying to disassociate amid the chaos.
But Rubio has proven his loyalty to Trump and emerged as one of the most crucial Cabinet officials in the early weeks of Trump 2.0 as he seeks to carry out the president’s high-stakes foreign policy agenda. And Trump has made a point of signaling his secretary of State has his full support.
“If you’re in this administration, [Trump] trusts, respects and knows you, otherwise you wouldn’t be there,” said Matt Terrill, who served as chief of staff during Rubio’s 2016 White House bid. “It’s not like Secretary Rubio evolved overnight to be someone who’s a big supporter of Trump and his agenda.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Progressives sound alarm over detention of Palestinian activist
Progressives have emerged as the most aggressive voices condemning the detention of Palestinian activist and U.S. green card-holder Mahmoud Khalil, arguing that Democrats must unite in denouncing the Trump administration’s move.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Khalil, a recently graduated Master’s student at Columbia University, on Saturday over the administration’s allegations that he supports Hamas despite Khalil being a legal permanent resident who hasn’t been accused of any crime. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration would move to deport additional “Hamas supporters” in the country on visas or green cards.
Influential figures on the left have quickly united behind Khalil’s cause, arguing his detention is a clear violation of free speech and that Democrats must unite on the issue.
Continue reading at The Hill
Newsom, Ocasio-Cortez lead Democrats searching for an audience
When California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) launched his podcast last week, his comments on transgender athletes made headlines.
Republicans used it to mock how far left Democrats have become. And the podcast, aptly named “This is Gavin Newsom,” also sparked backlash from Democrats.
But the point is, it got some attention — and that’s exactly what Democrats are seeking to do on the heels of their loss in November.
Since then, Democrats have been trying to reclaim the political conversation, anxious to reconnect with voters not just behind a podium or in social media posts. They’re “creating moments,” as one strategist put it, in other ways.
While Newsom, widely seen as a presidential contender for 2028, launched a podcast, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is hitting the road in the coming weeks alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). The duo is expected to speak not just to Democrats but Republicans as well.
Continue reading at The Hill
Elon Musk’s White House role weighs on business empire
Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration is complicating his business ventures, as the tech billionaire pushes forward with efforts to slash the federal government and budget in the face of mounting criticism.
Tesla’s stock has plummeted more than 50 percent since late last year, while demonstrations are popping up at the electric vehicle company’s outlets across the country in protest of President Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk has also faced backlash, especially in Europe, for his criticism of the Ukrainian government and support for far-right political parties on the continent.
The Tesla CEO admitted on Monday he is having “great difficulty” running his various companies while juggling the work of DOGE and called the backlash a “tough setting.”
As he spends more time in Washington with a focus on DOGE, investors are taking note while critics are taking out their frustrations on his companies.
“The DOGE efforts have now intertwined Tesla into a brewing political firestorm,” Wedbush Securities analysts wrote in an investor note on Tuesday.
Continue reading at The Hill
On the EU’s tariff hit list: American chicken wings, motorbikes and … women’s négligées?
The European Commission is seeking feedback on a 99-page hit list and respondents have until March 26 to reply.
BRUSSELS — The European Commission has published a list of U.S. products that could be subject to retaliatory tariffs after the Donald Trump administration on Wednesday imposed 25 percent global tariffs on steel and aluminum.
The 99-page list is dominated by meat, poultry, fruit and vegetables and alcoholic beverages — and includes chewing gum, communion wafers, nicotine vapes and patches, and ... women’s négligées.
Other items read like an attack on the American way of life — including outdoor wear, tents, workshop tools and household appliances. And then there are heavy-duty items like plant machinery, snowplows and motorcycles.
Such lists are typically designed to cause economic pain in the home states of Republican lawmakers who could influence Trump to abandon his trade war. Usually straight-laced trade bureaucrats will admit if pressed that compiling them is the most fun part of their job.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Commission announced a two-stage retaliation covering €26 billion in EU exports that far exceeded a trade fight that blew up in Trump’s first term.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
It Really Is Trump’s Party Now
With Tuesday’s spending vote, the president vanquished some of his final foes inside the GOP.
A year and half ago, a small group of House Republican hard-liners ousted a speaker for the first time in history. His hanging offense: passing a “continuing resolution,” or CR, to fund the government for six weeks.
Fast-forward to Tuesday: Not only did many of those same hard-liners back a GOP speaker’s CR — this one for six months, not weeks — but the “hell no” House Freedom Caucus even endorsed the move, with many members voting for a funding extension for the first time.
For those of us who have covered Hill Republicans for years, it’s like up is now down and down is now up.
There’s only one explanation for this topsy-turvy new reality in the Capitol, and it’s President Donald Trump.
Seven weeks into his second term, Trump is redefining GOP orthodoxy in so many ways it’s difficult to keep track. He has shattered Republicans’ long history of muscular globalism in favor of an “America First” posture, sidelining an entire wing of the GOP. He’s leaned into protectionist economics in a way Republicans have long shunned and somehow convinced longtime free market champions to defend his policies as smart negotiating.
Continue reading at Politico
EU wields ‘sledgehammer’ against Trump tariffs
Brussels strikes back against the U.S. president’s 25 percent levies on steel and aluminum.
BRUSSELS — The European Union hit back hard as U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 25 percent global steel and aluminum tariffs on Wednesday, announcing a two-stage retaliation covering €26 billion in EU exports that far exceeded a trade fight that blew up in his first term.
The European Commission said it would, from April 1, reimpose tariffs in response to €8 billion in U.S. tariffs — including on iconic American products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles, bourbon and jeans. And, from mid-April, it will set further countermeasures over €18 billion in new U.S. tariffs, subject to the approval of EU member states.
“We deeply regret this measure,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in an early-morning statement.
“Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers. These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy. Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States. The European Union must act to protect consumers and business.”
Speaking before the announcement, one European steel industry representative said that Brussels would “go full sledgehammer because they are so fed up with Trump.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Rahm Wants to Run. Yes, For the Presidency.
The former Chicago mayor is already on the hustings, finding new ways to attack Trumpism from the center.
Rahm Wants to Run.
Yes, that Rahm. And, yes, for that office — the presidency.
“I’ve only been back two months, I have no idea what I’m doing,” Rahm I. Emanuel, operative-turned-politician-turned-diplomat told me before adding his stock line since returning from serving as ambassador to Japan. “I’m not done with public service and I’m hoping public service is not done with me.”
Ignore that evasion. Rahm Emanuel is voting with his feet.
Since coming home in January from his stint in Tokyo — a job he repurposed to be American envoy to all of Asia — Emanuel has been as visible as any other Democrat. Never mind that he currently holds no office and hasn’t been on a ballot for a decade.
Name the political podcast and Emanuel has likely been on it or will be shortly. He immediately snagged a CNN contract and regular Washington Post column, no small accomplishment for a former official at a moment of retrenchment for news organizations.
He’s also hitting the lecture circuit, appearing for paid and gratis gigs before audiences such as the Realtors and the Chicago Economic Club. Emanuel is pointedly avoiding Ivy League campuses and later this month will make his first stop on a service academy tour when he speaks at West Point.
Continue reading at Politico
Exclusive: Top CEOs mark down economic outlook
Top corporate leaders' boost of economic exuberance that followed the November elections has receded, according to a new survey of major-company CEOs obtained exclusively by Axios.
Why it matters: The data from the Business Roundtable is the latest sign that a volatile policy environment is dampening the outlook in Corporate America — and these survey results were mostly collected before last week's on-then-off tariffs and ensuing stock market volatility.
President Trump met with BRT members — the CEOs of America's largest companies — yesterday afternoon.
By the numbers: The group's economic outlook index fell 7 points from its December release. At 84, the level is now about the same as it was in the first half of last year and in line with its historical average, implying steady overall growth ahead.
The survey results dipped most for hiring expectations, with that sub-index falling 13 points to 54 — barely in expansion mode.
Continue reading at Axios
MAGA's antisemitism divide
Antisemitic conspiracy theories are flooding America's most popular pro-Trump podcasts, exposing deep political and moral fissures at the heart of the new MAGA coalition.
Why it matters: At a moment of record-high antisemitism in the U.S., an astonishing split screen has emerged between the Trump administration and prominent influencers that reliably spread MAGA's message.
President Trump has prioritized cracking down on antisemitism and criticism of Israel on college campuses, including by revoking federal funding and arresting pro-Palestinian activists.
But many of the podcasts Trump appeared on during the campaign are simultaneously platforming far-right provocateurs who are openly hostile toward Israel and use racist tropes about Jewish influence.
Driving the news: Conspiracy theories about Israel, Jeffrey Epstein and Jewish elites dominated four MAGA-friendly podcasts last week that had previously hosted Trump. All came out within the same 48-hour period.
Continue reading at Axios
Republicans' "not-in-my-backyard" strategy on DOGE cuts
As Elon Musk's slash-and-burn budget cuts hit Republican and Democratic areas alike, some GOP lawmakers are privately back-channeling with the Trump administration to try to shield their constituents from the fallout.
Why it matters: Republicans have largely cheered on DOGE in public — but behind the scenes, many of President Trump's allies fear potential political backlash to the cuts, and are scrambling to limit the damage.
Of the 60 congressional districts with the most federal workers, a slight majority are represented by Republicans, Axios previously reported.
What we're hearing: Several House Republicans told Axios they have succeeded in — or at least contributed to — getting DOGE to reverse certain cuts through private back-channeling.
Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-Ore.) said he raised concerns about job cuts at the Bonneville Power Administration: "Whether it was my remarks back to DOGE or somebody else's, it got fixed. They ... hired back 30 people."
Said Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa): "When we have heard from constituents who have been directly impacted by this in a way that harmed them, I have reached out directly to the agencies and teams."
Continue reading at Axios
Chaos will delay unemployment for federal workers, states say
States are warning that huge headaches are on the way as a wave of fired federal workers try to file for unemployment insurance.
Why it matters: Tens of thousands of probationary workers were abruptly fired across multiple federal agencies, without severance. Many may struggle financially, with broader ripple effects on local economies.
Unemployment insurance can be a lifeline.
Where it stands: State attorneys general laid out the situation in a lawsuit over the firings filed last week.
Because the firings happened without any advance notice and in a "chaotic" manner, they're exacerbating strains on state unemployment systems, per the lawsuit.
States are getting inundated with claims. Maryland now sees 30 to 60 new claims every day. In the first quarter of last year, the state received only 189 jobless claims for federal workers.
The firings "impose a significant strain" on the Maryland department's resources, per the lawsuit. The effects will stretch beyond unemployment claims to other areas of state business, the lawsuit warns.
The big picture: State agencies are underfunded and underresourced, particularly at this moment when overall joblessness is low, says Michele Evermore, a senior fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance, who worked on unemployment insurance in the Biden administration.
Continue reading at Axios
What to know about Trump's plan to eliminate the Department of Education
The Department of Education announced Tuesday it was laying off nearly half of its staff, in what appears to be the first step in President Trump's plan to shutter the agency altogether.
Why it matters: The Department of Education plays a crucial role in making education access and quality more equitable for students nationwide.
Abolishing the department and the accompanying changes are "an effort to strip the federal government of any ability to do good ... as a way to justify further defunding our public schools and colleges," Kelly Rosinger, an associate professor of education and public policy at Penn State, told Axios last fall.
The latest: Almost half of the department's more than 4,100 employees will be placed on administrative leave starting March 21, the department said Tuesday.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon told Fox News the cuts were meant to reduce "bureaucratic bloat" in the agency and align with Trump's goal to close it entirely.
The big picture: Trump administration officials are discussing an executive order that would abolish department programs that aren't explicitly written into law, the Wall Street Journal reported last month.
Continue reading at Axios
The second Great Disruption
By Felix Salmon
Five years after the coronavirus pandemic turned the world on its head, Donald Trump is doing the same thing.
Why it matters: This time, it's on purpose.
The big picture: The lives of thousands — possibly millions — are at stake.
There's a massive geostrategic reconfiguration, an unprecedented flood of government spending (albeit in Germany) and, underneath it all, the hope and possibility that by burning everything down, something better will be able to grow in its place.
What they're saying: House Speaker Mike Johnson used a billiards analogy in a press conference yesterday to explain that President Trump's strategy is a bit like the break at the beginning of the game.
"You hit it as hard as you can," he said, adding that "is what's required to start the process of repairing and restoring the American economy."
Flashback: A "shake up," to use Johnson's term, is what the pandemic provided.
My book, "The Phoenix Economy," tells the story of how the death and disruption of the pandemic created a more uncertain and volatile world, with both bigger downsides and bigger upsides.
For Trump supporters, it didn't go far enough.
Where it stands: It's an article of faith among the two wings of the MAGA party — the Bannonites and the Muskites — that America, under successive Democratic and Republic regimes, has become sclerotic, complacent and overly risk-averse.
Continue reading at Axios
Trade war threatens to rekindle inflation that economists believe ticked lower last month
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. inflation may have cooled a bit last month but it could be a short reprieve as President Donald Trump’s tariffs are widely expected to keep prices elevated in the coming months.
On Wednesday, the Labor Department is expected to report that in February the consumer price index rose 2.9% from a year ago, according to economists surveyed by FactSet. That would be down slightly from 3% in January and the first drop in five months. It fell to a 3 1/2 year low of 2.4% in September.
Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, are also expected to slip to 3.2%, down from 3.3% in January. Economists watch core prices closely because they often provide a better read on where inflation is headed.
Yet both measures have largely become stuck at the levels reached last summer, when a retreat in inflation largely stalled after dropping steeply its peak of 9.1% in June 2022. Stubborn inflation would create political problems for Trump, who promised as a candidate to “knock the hell out of inflation.”
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Researchers are learning the Trump administration axed their work to improve vaccination
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is canceling studies about ways to improve vaccine trust and access, a move that comes in the midst of a large measles outbreak fueled by unvaccinated children.
Researchers with grants from the National Institutes of Health to study why some people have questions or fears about vaccines and how to help those who want to be vaccinated overcome barriers are getting letters canceling their projects.
The step — first reported by The Washington Post, which cited dozens of expected cancellations — is highly unusual, as entire swaths of research typically aren’t ended mid-stream.
“It is the policy of NIH not to prioritize research activities that focuses gaining scientific knowledge on why individuals are hesitant to be vaccinated and/or explore ways to improve vaccine interest and commitment,” say NIH letters sent to two researchers with different grants.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
CVS goes small in latest retrenchment move
Retail pharmacies are embracing the idea that less is more as they grapple with online competitors, lagging reimbursement, sluggish consumer demand and employee burnout.
Driving the news: CVS Health this week confirmed it's rolling out roughly a dozen downsized stores, testing the theory that getting back to the basics of dispensing drugs will be more sustainable than selling greeting cards and cosmetics.
The approach isn't without precedent. Before declaring bankruptcy, Rite Aid tried opening a handful of 3,000-square-foot stores, calling it the "apothecary model," saying it was trying to address pharmacy deserts.
The big picture: National retail pharmacies are struggling to find a winning business model in an increasingly challenging environment.
They've laid off thousands of employees and closed hundreds of locations, struggling with oversized store footprints in a shifting landscape that's weakened "front of store" sales — once a key driver of profits.
CVS Health is shedding 270 stores around the country this year.
"There is a lot of concern about how CVS is going to navigate its way out of its own challenges," Peter Bonis, chief medical officer at Wolters Kluwer Health, told Axios.
Continue reading at Axios
1 big thing: Pint-sized pharmacies
Retail pharmacies are embracing the idea that less is more as they grapple with online competitors, lagging reimbursement, sluggish consumer demand and employee burnout.
Driving the news: CVS Health is rolling out roughly a dozen downsized stores, testing the theory that getting back to the basics of dispensing drugs will be more sustainable than selling greeting cards and cosmetics.
The big picture: National retail pharmacies are struggling to find a winning business model in an increasingly challenging environment and amid weakening "front of store" sales.
CVS Health alone is shedding 270 stores around the country this year.
"There is a lot of concern about how CVS is going to navigate its way out of its own challenges," Peter Bonis, chief medical officer at Wolters Kluwer Health, told Axios.
State of play: CVS plans to begin opening 5,000-square-foot stores, which will be about one-half to one-third the size of the current average location. Each will feature a full-service pharmacy with limited over-the-counter products available for purchase, the company said.
And each "will be designed to meet the community's specific pharmacy needs," officials told Axios in a statement.
CVS officials also plans to open 30 additional locations this year, including inside Target stores.
Continue reading at Axios Vitals
2. AI failed to detect critical health conditions
AI systems designed to predict the likelihood of a hospitalized patient dying largely aren't detecting worsening health conditions, a new study found.
Why it matters: Machine learning models trained exclusively on existing patient data didn't recognize about 66% of injuries that could lead to patient death in the hospital, according to the research published in the journal Nature Communications Medicine.
Hospitals increasingly use tools that harness machine learning, a subset of AI, to predict how patient conditions will change.
Zoom in: Researchers looked at several machine learning models commonly cited in medical literature for use in predicting patient deterioration and fed them publicly available sets of data about the health and metrics of patients in ICUs or with cancer.
The researchers then created test cases for the models to predict potential health issues and risk scores if some patient metrics were altered from the initial data set.
Continue reading at Axios
Playbook (newsletter)
The unofficial guide to official Washington, every morning and weekday afternoons.
Playbook: Tariff wars go global
Top of the morning to you! With deeply awkward timing, Trump will welcome Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin to the White House this morning for his annual trip to D.C. ahead of St Patrick’s Day — and Ireland, in case you hadn’t noticed, is very much a member of the EU. Trump and Martin should both take brief questions from journalists at the top of the meeting at 10:45 a.m., and then again later on at a St. Patrick’s Day reception at 5 p.m. (No prizes for guessing what’ll be top of journos’ minds.) Martin starts his day with breakfast with VP JD Vance. Let’s hope he remembers to wear a suit.
This all follows yesterday’s extraordinary on-off row with Canada, which saw Trump threaten to double the tariffs on Canadian metals to 50 percent in response to Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s tariff on U.S. electricity exports. Both sides eventually backed down, and Ford will meet with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for further talk tomorrow. It’s this kind of uncertainty that is sending investors through the roof.
Speaking of Lutnick: He defended Trump's economic policies in a CBS News interview yesterday, insisting tariffs are “worth it” even if they lead to a recession. “These policies are the most important thing America has ever had,” Lutnick told CBS when asked whether they would be worth it if they lead to a recession. “It’s worth it.” Lutnick quickly then tried to blame Joe Biden for any future recession … but that won’t stop Dems showing the clip on repeat if the economy goes downhill in the months ahead.
Knives out: Moments like this from Lutnick are now unsettling those around Trump, POLITICO’s Megan Messerly, Dasha Burns, Ari Hawkins and Daniel Desrochers scooped last night. “White House and administration officials, as well as Trump’s outside allies, are growing increasingly frustrated with Lutnick, privately complaining about the close proximity he has to the president and the counsel he is giving him on economic issues. It’s an exasperation compounded by recent television appearances, they say, that suggest a lack of understanding of even the basics about how tariffs and the economy work.”
Howard’s end? “Those factors, coupled with an abrasive personality, have left Lutnick with few friends in the administration,” Megan and co. add, “and a growing consensus within it that he could be forced to take the fall for the economic turmoil generated by the president’s unsteady tariff policies.”
And there’s more: Clashes between Lutnick and other administration officials also appear prominently in a damning new WSJ piece on the state of Trump’s economic operation. But their bigger target is the scattershot approach taken by Trump himself. “Senior officials, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, have received panicked calls from chief executives and lobbyists, who have urged the administration to calm jittery markets by outlining a more predictable tariff agenda,” the Journal’s Brian Schwartz, Gavin Bade and Josh Dawsey report. “Many in the business community have abandoned efforts to get the president to reverse course on trade, instead pleading with the White House for clarity on his approach.”
Continue reading the Politico Playbook newsletter (twice daily)
Inflation cools in February after string of hot reports
Inflation eased in February: the Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% last month, while the gauge that excludes food and energy prices increased by a similar amount, the Labor Department said on Wednesday.
Why it matters: Inflation cooled as tariffs began to take effect, though economists warn about higher consumer prices and an economic slowdown as the trade war intensifies.
By the numbers: The overall index's monthly increase was a welcome pullback after three straight months of increases.
In the 12 months through February, CPI rose 2.8%, down from 3% the prior month.
Core CPI rose 3.1%, compared to the 3.3% in January.
The big picture: President Trump imposed 10% tariffs on all Chinese goods imported to the U.S. last month — on top of existing tariffs that lingered from his first term.
The administration has since doubled those tariffs, effective earlier this month — as well as 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports this week.
What to watch: Fallout from the trade war has made the Federal Reserve's inflation battle more complicated.
Continue reading at Axios
News Alert: US inflation cooled in February, but Trump’s tariff plans and trade war loom
Inflation slowed in February for the first time in four months, but that progress may be short-lived as President Donald Trump ramps up his trade war, which threatens to increase prices for Americans.
The Consumer Price Index, which measures price changes across commonly purchased goods and services, was 2.8% for the 12 months ended in February, a cooldown from the 3% annual rate notched in January, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.2%, versus 0.5% in January.
Economists were expecting inflation to slow for the month amid falling gas prices and continued disinflation in housing-related costs.
Continue reading at CNN
Jeanne Shaheen won’t seek reelection
She’s the third Senate Democrat to announce their retirement ahead of the midterms.
New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen will not seek reelection, she announced Wednesday, becoming the third Senate Democrat to announce their retirement ahead of the midterms.
Shaheen, who is 78 and was first elected to the Senate in 2008, said she made the “difficult” decision to step aside: “It’s just time.”
“There are urgent challenges ahead, both here at home and around the world, and while I’m not seeking reelection, believe me I am not retiring,” Shaheen said in a video.
New Hampshire will be a critical battleground in the fight over control for the Senate, but it was already a challenging map for Democrats to retake the majority even before the retirements.
Continue reading at Politico
Fetterman on Trump tariffs: We don’t have to ‘punch’ allies ‘in the mouth’
“Truthfully, I don’t understand why President Trump is picking all of these kinds of tariffs with our allies. I mean, I — Canada’s never going to become our 52nd state and — or 51st, 51st. And I don’t support these kinds of things because we have these incredible allies,” Fetterman said during a Tuesday appearance on MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour with Stephanie Rule.”
“And there might be issues like fentanyl or some of those, but that doesn’t mean we have to punch them in the mouth, because that’s not making America great,” he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
House GOP campaign arm rolls out ad targeting Democrats over shutdown vote
The National Republican Congressional Committee rolled out an ad Wednesday targeting House Democrats who voted against a measure on Tuesday to fund the government through September and avoid a shutdown.
The 30-second digital spot accuses the House Democrats who voted against the measure of cutting off paychecks for the military and TSA agents and freezing veterans benefits, small business loans.
“House Democrats just threw a tantrum at the expense of the American people,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement. “Shutting down the government and creating potentially dangerous consequences for every single American. After months of failure, they’ve learned nothing and doubled down on their embarrassing dysfunction.”
Continue reading at The Hill
56 percent disapprove of Trump handling of economy: Survey
The CNN poll, released Wednesday, found that 56 percent of respondents disapprove of the way Trump has handled the economy since returning to office, while 44 percent say they approve, and 1 percent say they don’t have an opinion on the matter.
The results are statistically similar to survey respondents’ general approval of the way Trump is handling his job as president, with 54 percent disapproving, 45 percent approving and 1 percent saying they are not sure, the survey shows.
Among self-identifying Republicans and 2024 Trump voters, however, support for the president overall eclipses support of his handling of the economy.
While 92 percent of Republicans say they approve of Trump’s handling of the presidency overall, 88 percent say the same about his handle on the economy. Similarly, 91 percent of Trump’s 2024 voters say they support the work he’s done in his second term so far, but 87 percent approve of his economic moves.
Continue reading at The Hill
RFK Jr. says Trump ‘lost 30 pounds’ even with all the ‘crap that he eats’
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested President Trump has lost 30 pounds, while commenting on the unhealthy foods the president eats.
Kennedy, during an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity, said he saw Trump the day before, adding, “I think he’s lost 30 pounds.” His comment came after the news host said the president “is getting healthier.”
“He looks great. And he told me, he’s not using … for example, if he has a burger now, he usually doesn’t have it with a bun,” Hannity said.
Kennedy replied, “Oh, I didn’t know that he was actually changing his diet.”
“I have to say this … and even with all the — can I say — crap that he eats,” the recently confirmed secretary added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Education secretary: Mass layoffs first step toward total shutdown
“Actually, it is, because that was the president’s mandate,” McMahon told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham on Tuesday. “His directive to me, clearly, is to shut down the Department of Education, which we know we’ll have to work with Congress, you know, to get that accomplished,”
“But what we did today was to take the first step of eliminating what I think is bureaucratic bloat and that’s not to say that a lot of the folks, you know, it’s a humanitarian thing to a lot of the folks that are there… They’re out of a job,” she added in her interview on the “The Ingraham Angle.”
The department terminated almost half of its workforce — some 1,315 staffers — on Tuesday and will now only have about 2,183 employees left.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump administration to start fingerprinting, registering some Canadian visitors
Canadians staying in the U.S. for longer than 30 days — a norm for many snowbirds who spend their winters south of the border — will have to register and submit fingerprints with U.S. immigration enforcement.
Why it matters: It marks yet another escalation in the friction between the U.S. and its northern neighbors, as President Trump pushes an on-again, off-again trade war with Canada and taunts the U.S. ally with annexation.
The new interim rule expands enforcement of existing law that requires foreign nationals 14 or older not already registered with the U.S. government to register and be fingerprinted if they plan to stay in the country for 30 days or longer.
But the rule has not been consistently applied to Canadians, according to the New York Times.
Driving the news: The new rule published in the Federal Register Wednesday and set to take effect April 11 implements part of a day-one executive order in which Trump called for previously unregistered foreign nationals to comply with the law.
Continue reading at Axios
CIA director and Russian counterpart speak amid ceasefire push
CIA director John Ratcliffe spoke by phone Tuesday with the head of the Russian foreign intelligence agency (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin, a source familiar with the call confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: This was the first call between the spy chiefs since President Trump assumed office. It came a day after Ukraine endorsed a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire and U.S. officials said the onus was now on Russia.
The source said the purpose of the call was to establish a line of communication between Ratcliffe and Naryshkin.
It is also part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to engage with Russia and improve relations with Moscow.
The big picture: The call was one of several conversations between U.S. and Russian officials expected to take place over the next few days.
Continue reading at Axios
Live updates: Canada will announce more than $20 billion in tariffs in response to Trump’s metal tax
Canada will announce Canadian $29.8 billion ($20.7 billion) in retaliatory tariffs in response to the 25% steel and aluminum tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump has leveled, a senior Canadian government official said Wednesday.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Most AAPI adults oppose eliminating federal agencies: Survey
A majority of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and Native Hawaiians disapprove of eliminating federal agencies and mass layoffs of federal workers, according to a poll.
Nearly 60 percent of those surveyed in the group said they “strongly” or “somewhat” oppose eliminating entire federal agencies, according to AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research’s poll released Wednesday.
Only 12 percent were in favor of eliminating whole agencies.
About half of respondents opposed mass layoffs, while only about one-quarter were in favor.
Continue reading at The Hill
CNBC reporter: Trump’s tariffs moves ‘absolutely insane’
CNBC reporter Steve Liesman blasted President Trump over his trade policies and broader economic strategy in the wake of a struggling stock market this week.
“I’m going to say this at the risk of my job, but what President Trump is doing is insane,” Liesman, CNBC’s senior economics reporter, said during a segment on the cable channel Tuesday. “And now he’s saying he’s putting 50 percent tariffs on Canada unless they agree to become the 51st state. That is insane. There’s just no other way of describing it.”
Trump’s demand of Canada, Liesman added, “shows there are no bounds around President Trump from the first administration,” where there were people around him that would “smooth over some of the edges.”
The longtime financial news analyst said Trump’s posture toward “the Constitution and the rule of law” could also be “bad for the attraction of capital.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Ruth Marcus explains Washington Post exit
Marcus wrote in an essay published by The Atlantic that she resigned from the Post after publisher Will Lewis killed a column she submitted days earlier criticizing Bezos’s wish to see Post op-eds focus solely on “free markets and personal liberties.”
“He announced a change in direction, and we should take him at his word, not assume that it was meaningless, or that he would forget about the idea,” Marcus wrote. “And my point was not only about what columns would get through the filter, once installed; it was about maintaining the trust of our readers.”
In her column, which the Post did not publish but The Atlantic did, Marcus wrote that “an owner who meddles with news coverage, especially to further personal interests, is behaving unethically.”
“Shaping opinion coverage is different, and less problematic,” she continued in the spiked column. “But narrowing the range of acceptable opinions is an unwise course, one that disserves and underestimates our readers.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Canada will level $20B in tariffs in response to Trump moves on steel, aluminum
Canada is expected to impose $20.7 billion in retaliatory tariffs after President Trump decided to enforce a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum, which went into effect Wednesday.
The Associated Press said a senior Canadian government official confirmed the move Wednesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak ahead of an announcement.
Canada supplies more steel and aluminum to the U.S. than any other nation.
The new, federal-level tariff comes on the heels of a tariff spat between the U.S. and Ontario this week.
The province placed a surcharge on electricity supplied to New York, Michigan and Minnesota. In response, Trump vowed to double the 25 percent metals tariff. Ontario Premier Doug Ford then said he would hold off on the electricity surcharge ahead of a Thursday sit-down with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Continue reading at The Hill
Boebert on Al Green ‘pimp cane’ remark: ‘I stand by it’
In a Tuesday interview with Real America’s Voice, Boebert brushed off Rep. Chrissy Houlahan’s (D-Pa.) censure resolution, which quotes Boebert saying, “For him [Green] to go and shake his pimp cane at President Trump was absolutely abhorrent.”
The censure resolution describes Boebert’s remarks as “disparaging, derogatory, and racist toward another colleague, and are a breach of proper conduct and decorum of the U.S. House of Representatives.”
Boebert mocked her colleague in response.
Continue reading at The Hill
Kinzinger rips Newsom’s ‘stupidity’ for inviting Bannon on podcast
“I am in shock at the stupidity of [Newsom] inviting Steve Bannon on his podcast,” Kinzinger wrote in a social media post on Wednesday. “Many of us on the right sacrificed careers to fight Bannon, and Newsom is trying to make a career and a presidential run by building him up.”
The lawmaker-turned-CNN-commentator called the booking by Newsom “unforgivable and insane.”
Newsom’s podcast has fueled speculation he is eyeing a run for president in 2028 and irked some Democrats with guests he has hosted and some comments he has made on issues such as transgender athletes.
Continue reading at The Hill
Cruz cancels migrant-related subpoena vote, but pledges more subpoenas to come
The Senate Commerce Committee will continue to have to grapple with partisan subpoenas.
Senate Commerce Chair Ted Cruz canceled a scheduled vote on Wednesday to subpoena the Massachusetts Port Authority for sheltering migrants in Boston's Logan International Airport, announcing that the authority — known as Massport — complied with his request for information at the last minute.
“This is a win for the federal taxpayers and airline passengers who thought their money was going to pay for services at Logan but instead financed a dormitory for illegal aliens," the Texas Republican said at the start of a committee meeting.
The conclusion allowed both parties to stand down after last week's unusually fiery committee hearing for the panel that has historically prided itself on bipartisanship. Democrats accused Cruz of acting too quickly to use the subpoena power without their buy-in, while Cruz argued it was necessary given Massport’s then-lack of compliance.
“It turns out even the threat of subpoenas work,” Cruz said Wednesday. He had just one week earlier also withdrawn two other slated subpoena votes for the online service provider Bonterra — which he argues has deplatformed conservatives — and for the consulting firm Newpoint Strategies — related to diversity training for federal workers — after both companies turned over the materials requested.
Continue reading at Politico
Pappas considering Senate run after Shaheen announces retirement
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen announced her retirement on Wednesday.
Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas is considering a run for Senate after Sen. Jeanne Shaheen announced her retirement Wednesday, while former Rep. Annie Kuster told POLITICO she would take a “serious look” at the seat if he doesn’t run.
Pappas has long been considered a likely contender for an open Senate seat, and was floated by several New Hampshire Democratic operatives Wednesday. Kuster said, “If Pappas doesn’t run, I would take a serious look at the race.”
Continue reading at Politico
Keir Starmer’s trade chief seeks Trump deal in Washington
Visit by Jonathan Reynolds comes ahead of Trump’s next round of tariffs slated for April 2.
The hope is a deal would get the U.K. out from under Trump's looming tariffs after British industry was hit early Wednesday by Trump’s 25 percent global levies on steel and aluminum.
Trump said he wanted to strike "a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn't be necessary" when Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited him in the White House last month.
In parliament Wednesday, Starmer said the U.K. is “negotiating an economic deal which covers and will include tariffs if we succeed.” But the U.K. — which has so far avoided retaliation on Trump's metals tariffs — will “will keep all options on the table," he said.
“We are focused on a pragmatic approach and are rapidly negotiating a wider economic agreement with the U.S. to eliminate additional tariffs and to benefit U.K. businesses and our economy,” Reynolds said soon after Trump's metal tariffs took effect.
“Next week you can expect the business secretary to go to Washington to discuss the wider economic deal,” a No. 10 spokesperson told reporters Wednesday. “Getting the right deal is the most important thing, and we'll be working towards that,” they added.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Putin’s soldiers squeeze Ukraine out of main Kursk stronghold
Moscow’s forces push to recapture lost ground in southwestern Russia.
Moscow’s forces are close to encircling around 10,000 elite Ukrainian troops as they look to recapture the town of Sudzha in southwestern Russia.
Kremlin-allied military bloggers on Wednesday shared videos of soldiers unfurling a Russian flag in Sudzha’s central square, which had been occupied by Kyiv’s forces since August 2024.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Telegram that “the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to defeat Ukrainian Armed Forces formations on the territory of the Kursk region.”
Ukraine has been under intense pressure in the Kursk region — which it attacked last summer to boost domestic morale and use as a potential bargaining chip in possible peace negotiations — after Russian and North Korean troops launched a fierce counteroffensive.
The Ukrainians now face a tricky, narrow exit from Sudzha, the biggest foothold seized in their lightning raid, as Russian forces look to envelop the town.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Russia posed spy as Belarusian refugee to set Warsaw mall on fire, prosecutors say
The man filmed the fire to “document the act of sabotage,” according to Polish prosecutors.
An alleged Belarusian refugee is accused of setting fire to a Warsaw hypermarket on behalf of Russian intelligence, Polish prosecutors say.
The fire, which broke out on April 13, 2024, was deliberately set by Stepan K., a man described as a Belarusian political refugee living in Poland, prosecutors said.
The incident is the latest in a growing number of suspected Russian-orchestrated sabotage efforts in Europe, fueling concerns that Moscow is increasingly deploying hybrid warfare tactics across the continent.
According to Polish investigators, Stepan K. used remote-controlled devices to start the fire after dousing a hardware store with flammable liquid.
Przemysław Nowak, spokesperson for the National Prosecutor’s Office, told Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita that the man filmed the fire with his cellphone, allegedly to “document the act of sabotage,” some of which appeared on Russian propaganda channels and in Russian-language media outlets.
Investigators say Stepan K. was acting on behalf of Russian intelligence, and despite being disguised as a Belarusian opposition activist, has once visited Russia.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Wall Street keeps shaking, and stocks lose a big morning gain as Trump’s trade war escalates
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street keeps shaking because of tariffs. After jumping to a big early gain on an encouraging inflation update, the U.S. stock market lost all of it after other countries announced their retaliations following President Donald Trump’s latest escalation in his trade war.
The S&P 500 was down 0.3% in midday trading after erasing an initial leap of 1.3%. The unsettled trading comes a day after the index briefly fell more than 10% below its all-time high set last month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average also swung sharply, pinging between a gain of 287 points and a loss of 423. It was down 346 points, or 0.8%, as of 11:15 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher. The Nasdaq held up much better because of gains for Nvidia, Tesla and AI-related companies.
Dragging the market lower were U.S. companies that could be set to feel pain because of Trump’s trade war. Brown-Forman, the company behind Jack Daniel’s whiskey, tumbled 7%, and Harley-Davidson sank 5.1%.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Schools use AI to monitor kids, hoping to prevent violence. Our investigation found security risks
One student asked a search engine, “Why does my boyfriend hit me?” Another threatened suicide in an email to an unrequited love. A gay teen opened up in an online diary about struggles with homophobic parents, writing they just wanted to be themselves.
In each case and thousands of others, surveillance software powered by artificial intelligence immediately alerted Vancouver Public Schools staff in Washington state.
Vancouver and many other districts around the country have turned to technology to monitor school-issued devices 24/7 for any signs of danger as they grapple with a student mental health crisis and the threat of shootings.
The goal is to keep children safe, but these tools raise serious questions about privacy and security — as proven when Seattle Times and Associated Press reporters inadvertently received access to almost 3,500 sensitive, unredacted student documents through a records request about the district’s surveillance technology.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
“The President Wanted It and I Did It”: Recording Reveals Head of Social Security’s Thoughts on DOGE and Trump
In a recording obtained by ProPublica, acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek portrayed his agency as facing peril, while also encouraging patience with “the DOGE kids.”
Since the arrival of a team from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, Social Security is in a far more precarious place than has been widely understood, according to Leland Dudek, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration. “I don’t want the system to collapse,” Dudek said in a closed-door meeting last week, according to a recording obtained by ProPublica. He also said that it “would be catastrophic for the people in our country” if DOGE were to make changes at his agency that were as sweeping as those at USAID, the Treasury Department and elsewhere.
Dudek’s comments, delivered to a group of senior staff and Social Security advocates attending both in person and virtually, offer an extraordinary window into the thinking of a top agency official in the volatile early days of the second Trump administration. The Washington Post first reported Dudek’s acknowledgement that DOGE is calling the shots at Social Security and quoted several of his statements. But the full recording reveals that he went much further, citing not only the actions being taken at the agency by the people he repeatedly called “the DOGE kids,” but also extensive input he has received from the White House itself. When a participant in the meeting asked him why he wouldn’t more forcefully call out President Donald Trump’s continued false claims about widespread Social Security fraud as “BS,” Dudek answered, “So we published, for the record, what was actually the numbers there on our website. This is dealing with — have you ever worked with someone who’s manic-depressive?”
Throughout the meeting, Dudek made alarming statements about the perils facing the Social Security system, but he did so in an oddly informal, discursive manner. It left several participants baffled as to the ultimate fate of the nation’s largest and most popular social program, one that serves 73 million Americans. “Are we going to break something?” Dudek asked at one point, referring to what DOGE has been doing with Social Security data. “I don’t know.”
Continue reading at ProPublica
Senate Democrats take stock of their shutdown pickle
Key senators are keeping their options open ahead of a Friday midnight deadline.
Senate Democrats are grappling with whether or not to support a House GOP funding patch less than three days before a possible government shutdown.
With 52 Republicans expected to back the House-passed stopgap, eight Democrats would need to help advance it to a final Senate vote. So far only one — Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania — has indicated he'll support it. Other key swing voters are on the fence.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) told reporters Wednesday that he remains undecided on the seven-month funding bill, which passed the House mostly along party lines Tuesday. Asked when he would make a decision, he quipped he'd make up his mind before the end of the Senate vote on the bill, which hasn’t yet been scheduled.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) also didn’t rule out voting for the bill during a brief interview but said that he’s in talks with leadership about trying to get amendment votes to make changes to the legislation.
“We need to try to get some amendments to make it better,” he said.
Continue reading at Politico
Newsletter
Playbook PM: Dems search for a shutdown strategy
THE DEMOCRATIC DIVIDE: Senate Republicans need to win the support of eight Democrats in the chamber to advance the stopgap spending bill that House Republicans passed yesterday and avoid a shutdown later this week. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has already said he’ll vote with Republicans. One down, seven to go.
The usual suspects: As of today, there’s not a clear indication how the traditional swing votes are leaning.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) told reporters he remains undecided on the seven-month stopgap funding bill. Asked when he would make up his mind, he said before the end of the yet-to-be-scheduled Senate vote.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) also didn’t rule out voting for the bill during a brief interview, but said he’s in talks with leadership about trying to secure amendment votes.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said he won’t help pass the bill. “I do not want to shut down our government, I want to improve it, streamline it and ensure it delivers services our communities need,” he said in a statement.
Let it linger: The “lingering indecision” comes as Senate Democrats are set to meet this afternoon for a closed-door lunch where they are expected to discuss their strategy ahead of the shutdown deadline that looms at the end of the week, POLITICO’s Jordain Carney and Joe Gould write. “They face growing pressure from the left flank of their party to oppose the House bill, but it’s not clear any Plan B could pass in time to avoid a shutdown. House GOP leaders adjourned the chamber Tuesday night, with members not due to return to Washington until March 24.”
That was fast: The NRCC is already up with a round of 35 identical digital ads in districts represented by vulnerable House Democrats next year over their votes against the CR, Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser reports.
SHAHEEN RETIRES, DEMS PERSPIRE: New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen announced this morning that she won’t seek reelection next year, opening up a seat in a perennial battleground state that is expected to draw competitive primaries in both parties.
Immediately, Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas (who has long been seen as a contender for a Senate run) said he is considering a bid. Add former Rep. Annie Kuster to that mix, too: She told POLITICO this morning that she would take a “serious look” at the seat if Pappas doesn’t run. There’s also freshman Rep. Maggie Goodlander, who could launch a bid and crowd the Democratic primary. More from POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky, Nicholas Wu and Andrew Howard
Continue reading at Politico Playbook PM newsletter
Senate Finance Republicans to huddle with Trump on taxes
It comes as Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee have also been working through their tax agenda.
Senate Finance Committee Republicans will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday to discuss the path forward for crafting legislation to enact broad swaths of the administration's domestic agenda.
"The president has invited us to join him tomorrow at the White House," Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, who sits on the panel, told reporters Wednesday.
One Republican granted anonymity to discuss the agenda for a private meeting said one topic of the conversation will be on whether to use the so-called current policy baseline to extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts. That accounting method would make it appear as though extending those tax cuts costs nothing. But it's a controversial tactic among fiscal conservatives who worry that leadership is using it to hide the cost of the party-line bill they want to pass through budget reconciliation — and reduce the need for steep spending cuts to finance that bill.
The meeting also will focus on larger tax policy priorities, the Republican said. Senate Republicans, after initially favoring a two-track approach through reconciliation that would front-load border security, defense and energy policies in one bill before focusing on tax cuts in the next, are now moving towards embracing the House GOP's approach, which would roll those policies with tax cuts into a single piece of legislation.
Leaders of both chambers are expected to discuss how to resolve differences between their budget resolutions in the coming weeks. The House and Senate each needs to pass the same resolution before the reconciliation process can begin in earnest.
Continue reading at Politico
T-Mobile customers to get payments up to $25K next month after data breach: Here’s who qualifies
(NEXSTAR) – The $350 million T-Mobile agreed to pay in a 2022 class action settlement will finally start going out to customers next month.
The class action lawsuit came after a cyberattack in August 2021 compromised the personal data of 76 million T-Mobile customers in the U.S. The data that was breached included customers’ names, addresses and Social Security numbers.
T-Mobile denied any wrongdoing in the data breach, but agreed to the $350 million payout to settle the lawsuit.
Continue reading at The Hill
Settlement website by the Kroll law firm
Iran calls Trump's offer to negotiate a new nuclear deal "a deception"
President Trump's letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was delivered on Wednesday by a senior adviser to the President of the United Arab Emirates, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman told Axios.
Why it matters: Trump said last week that he sent a letter to Khamenei, proposing direct negotiations between the countries on a new nuclear deal.
Iran said for several days that they haven't received such a letter.
Behind the scenes: According to a source familiar, Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff visited Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and met with Emirati President Mohammed Bin Zayed.
The source said Witkoff gave the letter to the Emiratis so they could deliver it to the Iranians.
An Emirati official declined to comment. The White House and the State Department didn't immediately respond to questions.
What they're saying: Emirati diplomatic adviser Anwar Gargash met with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi this afternoon, Iran Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ismail Baghaei said.
Gargash carried the letter from Trump to Khamenei.
Continue reading at Axios
Heritage Foundation report calls to wind down military aid to Israel
The Heritage Foundation is proposing that the U.S. wind down military aid to Israel as part of a strategy to “re-orient its relationship” with the country over the next two decades, a notable stance for the prominent conservative think tank given the long and deep support for Israel among conservatives and Republicans.
The Heritage report on moving the U.S.-Israel strategy, “From Special Relationship to Strategic Partnership,” was crafted by its defense experts and released on Wednesday.
“Just as Israel once advanced from a financial assistance recipient to an economic partner of the United States, so, too, should it move from a military financing recipient to a security partner,” the report says.
The report outlines a broad strategy that, while calling to wind down military aid, seeks to keep a strong long-term U.S.-Israel relationship, in part through strengthening trade and imposing sanctions on its adversaries.
Release of the report was accompanied by Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter canceling a scheduled appearance at a Heritage Foundation event scheduled to promote the new report, as first reported by Jewish Insider.
A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy told The Hill that the embassy “greatly values” its “working relationship and friendship” with the Heritage Foundation, attributing the cancellation to a “miscommunication.”
“Due to a miscommunication regarding the format for the event, the ambassador regrettably will not be able to attend, but looks forward to future engagement,” a spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy said in a statement.
Continue reading at The Hill
White House reporter asks Irish PM why he ‘let’ Rosie O’Donnell move to his country
A reporter covering the Wednesday White House meeting between President Trump and Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin asked the prime minister why he allowed American comedian Rosie O’Donnell to move to the country.
“Ireland is known for very happy, fun loving people,” Brain Glenn, a reporter for the conservative digital media company Real America’s Voice, began a question to Martin. “Why in the world would you let Rosie O’Donnell move to Ireland?”
“Thank you, I like that question,” Trump interjected as Martin nervously laughed while seated next to the president in the Oval Office. “Did you know you have Rosie O’Donnell? Do you know who she is?”
Martin did not respond before Trump added, “You’re better off not knowing.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil will remain in ICE detention in Louisiana after first court hearing
Prominent Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil will remain in an ICE detention facility in Louisiana for now following a procedural hearing in New York, days after he was arrested by federal officials at his Columbia University residence in an attempt by the Trump administration to deport him.
Khalil was arrested and detained on Saturday over his role in protests against the Israel-Hamas war at Columbia last spring. His green card was revoked by the Trump administration, his lawyer said, but New York federal judge Jesse Furman blocked any immediate effort to deport Khalil until his attorneys and the federal government appear in court.
Continue reading at CNN
CNN Military Analyst, Colonel Cedric Leighton USAF (ret)
Focus: Ukraine and Russia , Deal or no Deal? If not, then what ?
Trump says tariff approach shows ‘flexibility’ not ‘inconsistency’
“There’s no inconsistency,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I have the right to adjust.”
The president recounted his decision to exempt car parts from tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month after the big three U.S. automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — reached out to raise concerns.
“And I’m not like a block that just, ‘I won’t delay.’ It’s called flexibility, it’s not called inconsistency,” Trump said in response to a question about tariffs being “on and off.”
“I’ll always have flexibility. But there will be very little flexibility once we start. April 2 is going to be a very big day for the United States of America,” he added, referencing the date on which he has said the U.S. will impose reciprocal tariffs on all nations that have duties on American goods.
Trump’s tariff policy has zigzagged in his first weeks in office, and the unpredictability has contributed to concerns among traders and a downturn in the stock market this week.
Continue reading at The Hill
Rubio says Canada takeover won’t be on G7 agenda
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that talk around the U.S. acquiring Canada will not be a topic of discussion when the G7 nations meet later this year in Quebec.
Asked about President Trump’s push for Canada to become the 51st state, Rubio brushed off the notion, suggesting that more serious topics such as ending the Russia-Ukraine war would take priority at the meeting of foreign ministers on Thursday.
“That’s not what we’re going to discuss at the G7 and that’s not what we’re going to be discussing in our trip here,” Rubio told reporters. “They’re the host nation. And I mean, we have a lot of other things we work on together.”
“We defend North America through NORAD and the airspace of our continent together, so not to mention the issues of Ukraine and other commonalities. So, we’re going to be focusing the G7 on all of those things,” he continued. “That’s what the meeting is about. It is not a meeting about how we’re going to take over Canada.”
The G7 meeting brings together diplomats from Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Germany, the U.S. and the United Kingdom. They will meet in Charlevoix, Quebec, from March 12-14, the first gathering of the group of seven diplomats since Trump returned to the Oval Office in January.
Continue reading at The Hill
FCC unveils sweeping deregulation effort
The FCC said it is seeking public comment on “every rule, regulation, or guidance document that the FCC should eliminate for the purposes of alleviating unnecessary regulatory burdens.”
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the Administration is unleashing a new wave of economic opportunity by ending the regulatory onslaught from Washington,” Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement. “For too long, administrative agencies have added new regulatory requirements in excess of their authority or kept lawful regulations in place long after their shelf life had expired.”
Current regulations, Carr argued, “only create headwinds and slow down our country’s innovators, entrepreneurs, and small businesses.”
Carr, a close ally of President Trump, has spoken critically of mainstream news outlets and tech companies he and many other Trump supporters have said worked during previous administrations to undermine conservative viewpoints.
Continue reading at The Hill
Education Department documents detail massive scope of agency worker terminations
The Trump administration’s steep workforce cuts at the Education Department include hundreds of attorneys, student aid workers and civil rights office staff, according to agency documents obtained by POLITICO.
Lawyers who worked on regulatory, legislative and education programs in the department’s general counsel’s office are expected to be terminated alongside policy staff and technical workers in special education and information technology offices. In some cases, human resources departments for satellite locations will be hollowed out, and information technology specialists let go.
The documents, which provide a detailed view of the unprecedented wave of Education Department employee terminations, account for nearly 1,000 planned staff terminations. One of the documents is an organizational chart indicating which offices the staff cuts would hit. The agency is among the first federal agencies to announce their plans for a reduction in force following President Donald Trump’s broader effort to slash the ranks of government service.
On Tuesday, an agency official said the cuts would hit about 1,300 people out of the roughly 4,130 people employed at the department, on top of the hundreds of others who took separate buyout and “deferred resignation” offers.
Just hours before the reductions were announced, agency leadership directed their workers to leave government buildings and not return until Thursday.
The cuts also targeted workers in the department’s finance and operations office, which supervises the department’s financial management, accounting and training operations.
Further cuts at the department’s office of Federal Student Aid included specialists responsible for reviewing financial assistance programs at colleges and universities — including in major regional offices in New York, Boston, Dallas and Kansas City. FSA’s technology services, vendor performance and executive divisions were also expected to get significant cuts.
Continue reading at Politico
House GOP tax writers maintain radio silence on their plans
Details of their strategy to extend expiring tax cuts and add others are sparse as they go behind closed-doors to hash things out.
“I hope you’re not finding anybody who is willing to talk.”
Moore’s comments came as lawmakers on the Ways and Means Committee try to hash out their draft of a plan to address the expiration of some 40 expiring tax credits, along with additional tax proposals offered by President Donald Trump.
They met Monday for a lengthy policy session, amid Chair Jason Smith’s desire to get a bill — which would also include Trump’s energy, border and defense priorities — to the president’s desk quickly. The Senate, though, is just getting started.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump set to name Bowman as Fed’s top bank cop
If confirmed, Bowman will face a tough road in loosening restrictions on the largest banks because the majority of the Fed board was appointed by Biden.
President Donald Trump is set to nominate Federal Reserve board member Michelle Bowman to the central bank’s top job overseeing banks, a White House official confirmed to POLITICO, paving the way for a more industry-friendly approach to financial regulation.
Bowman, a fifth-generation community banker initially nominated to the Fed by Trump during his first term, was previously Kansas state banking commissioner. During her tenure at the central bank, she has been deeply focused on regulatory issues relating to the country’s largest banks, which are all overseen by the Fed.
She has also been a regular counterweight to Michael Barr, who stepped down last month from the role she stands to inherit: vice chair for supervision. Bowman would become only the third person to hold the job, created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act.
Barr’s move to relinquish his regulatory position was intended to head off a potentially lengthy legal fight over whether he could be demoted from that position, an option Trump advisers were actively considering.
If confirmed, Bowman will still face a tough road in loosening some restrictions on the largest banks because the majority of the board was appointed by President Joe Biden, including Barr, who remains as one of the board’s seven current members.
Continue reading at Politico
Judge temporarily blocks parts of Trump order targeting Perkins Coie
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, an appointee of former President Obama, temporarily blocked the administration from preventing Perkins Coie personnel from entering federal government buildings and requiring government contractors to disclose if they do business with the firm.
Howell said Trump’s order likely violates the First Amendment for retaliating against protected speech and that it also likely runs afoul of due process protections and the Perkins Coie’s clients’ Sixth Amendment right to counsel.
She compared the president to the Queen of Hearts in “Alice in Wonderland,” noting that the rash queen’s outbursts — “Off with their heads!” — are entertaining to read about but “cannot be the reality we are living” under our Constitution.
Continue reading at The Hill
Senate Democrats insist on voting on 30-day government funding bill
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) announced on the floor that Democratic senators would not vote to advance the House bill — at least not now — and called for the Senate to instead pass a 30-day “clean” government funding stopgap.
“Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input, any input from congressional Democrats. Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR [continuing resolution],” he said.
“Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass. We should vote on that. I hope, I hope our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday,” Schumer added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Democratic leaders amp up pressure on Senate colleagues to oppose GOP spending bill: ‘Stand with us’
Huddled at their annual strategy retreat in Leesburg, Va., the leaders implored their Senate counterparts to use their filibuster power to sink the bill when it comes up for a vote later this week.
“House Democrats are very clear: We’re asking Senate Democrats to vote no on this continuing resolution, which is not clean, and it makes cuts across the board,” Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.), the vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, told reporters at the Lansdowne Resort.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said the lobbying is happening not only through the press. House Democrats are also in direct talks with Senate Democrats ahead of the vote in the upper chamber, he said.
“Our ongoing conversations with Senate Democrats, from the leadership all the way through the members of the Senate that we regularly work with, are continuing,” Jeffries said. “The House Democratic position is crystal clear as evidenced by the strong vote of opposition that we took yesterday on the House floor opposing the Trump-Musk-Johnson reckless Republican spending bill.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Nebraska lawmakers advance bill allowing parental notification for school library checkouts
The proposed legislation, which also would require public schools to create online databases of the books carried in their libraries, passed a crucial hurdle Tuesday, advancing out of the 49-member unicameral Legislature on a 25-2 vote, with 19 members present but not voting.
It would allow parents to opt in to receive electronic library notifications about the books their children acquire. The proposal must pass another debate and vote before it heads to Republican Gov. Jim Pillen’s desk.
A similar effort failed in Nebraska last year, as state senators opted instead for broader parental involvement legislation.
State Sen. Dave Murman, who sponsored the revived parental book notification bill, said it would give parents an opportunity to know whether the books their children are reading align with their values.
Continue reading at The Hill
Johnson weighs options after ‘stubborn’ Luna forces vote on ‘unconstitutional’ parental proxy voting
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is weighing his options after a bipartisan group led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) garnered enough support to force a floor vote on legislation to allow proxy voting for new parents — an idea the Speaker called “unconstitutional.”
A discharge petition to force a floor vote on Rep. Brittany Pettersen’s (D-Colo.) bill to allow proxy voting for new parents hit the minimum 218 signatures needed Tuesday, setting the stage for the legislation to come to the floor.
Pettersen gave birth to a son in January and brought him to the Capitol for two high-profile votes in recent weeks. Luna had a son in 2023, months into her first term in the House.
Continue reading at The Hill
NYC mayoral candidate confronts Trump border czar over ICE arrest of Columbia graduate
New York State Assembly member and mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani confronted President Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, in Albany on Wednesday over the recent arrest of Columbia University graduate and green card holder Mahmoud Khalil by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Do you believe in the First Amendment?” Mamdani yelled as he tried to approach Homan at the New York state Capitol, where the border czar had come for a meeting with state lawmakers from the GOP to discuss immigration. Security personnel kept the candidate from getting to Homan.
Taking to the social platform X following the incident, Mamdani shared a clip of him challenging Homan.
“Today I confronted ‘border czar’ Tom Homan who came to Albany to do Trump’s bidding — push for mass deportations, carry out the assault on working class New Yorkers, and justify the unjustifiable detention of legal permanent resident and father-to-be, Mahmoud Khalil,” he wrote in the X post.
Continue reading at The Hill
EPA signals it will slash climate and pollution rules, including for cars and power plants
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicated Wednesday that it will slash a broad suite of rules and determinations that aim to cut pollution or mitigate climate change — including from cars and power plants.
The EPA announced that it will consider rolling back Biden-era regulations that are expected to sharply increase the number of electric vehicles sold as well as speed coal plant closures.
It will also reconsider the finding that climate change poses a threat to the public — which in turn lays regulatory groundwork for further climate action.
It is also considering rolling back regulations on the neurotoxin mercury coming from power plants and general air pollution limits for deadly soot.
Additionally, the agency indicated it would close offices dedicated to fighting pollution in underserved and minority communities around the country.
The moves on cars and power plants are not necessarily a surprise, as President Trump said during the campaign trail that he would eliminate both rules, particularly criticizing Biden’s auto emissions rule as an “EV mandate.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump makes third term remark during event with Irish prime minister
The remark came during the annual “Friends of Ireland” gathering during which Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) hosted Trump, Irish leader Micheál Martin — known as the taoiseach — and other lawmakers for a luncheon at the Capitol.
“Taoiseach, I want to just thank you once again for being here, it’s an honor, and hopefully we’re gonna be doing this at least three more times, OK. We’re gonna be doing this three more times, at least,” Trump said.
“When I say at least they go absolutely crazy,” Trump added, referring to the press, which elicited laughs in the room. “So thank you very much for being here.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Texas measles outbreak linked to cases in New Mexico, Oklahoma
The measles outbreak in the South Plains region of Texas has been linked to confirmed cases in New Mexico and Oklahoma.
The outbreak in West Texas is centered in Gaines County, which neighbors Lea County, across the border in New Mexico.
Gaines has reported 156 confirmed cases, more than two-thirds of Texas’s total of 223 cases. Across the border, Lea County has reported 32 of New Mexico’s 33 total confirmed cases.
When Lea County reported its first cases of measles this year, officials said they were not immediately able to confirm the connection to the outbreak in Texas. Measles is extremely contagious among unvaccinated individuals.
New Mexico’s Department of Health said it considers the outbreaks to be connected, referring to the ongoing situation as a “regional outbreak in New Mexico and Texas.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump adding copper to trade protections, Commerce secretary says
“The president wants steel and aluminum in America. And let me be clear, nothing’s going to stop that until we’ve got a big, strong domestic steel and aluminum capability,” Lutnick said Wednesday on Fox Business Network’s “Varney & Co.”
“And, by the way, he’s going to add copper to that mix too,” he continued.
No date was given for the levies, but the president is expected to announce a new round of reciprocal tariffs on April 2.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump says McMahon made decisions on mass layoffs at Education Department
“When we cut— we want to cut— but we want to cut the people that aren’t working or not doing a good job. We’re keeping the best people. And Linda McMahon is a real professional, very, actually very sophisticated business person. She cut a large number, but she kept the best people, and we’ll see how it all works out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“The Department of Education, maybe more so than any other place, has a lot of people that can be cut. They’re, number one, not showing up to work. Number two, they’re not doing a good job,” he added.
The Department of Education announced Tuesday it was firing nearly half of its workforce, slashing 1,315 staffers who received notification earlier that day.
Continue reading at The Hill
US and Russian spy chiefs speak amid Ukraine war talks
“During their conversation, the parties discussed the issues of interaction of both intelligence agencies in areas of common interest and the settlement of crisis situations,” the SVR press office told state-run TASS news agency.
The office also said in the statement that the two sides agreed “on maintaining regular contact between the SVR and CIA directors with the aim of facilitating international stability and security and reducing confrontation in relationships between Moscow and Washington.”
The CIA declined to comment on the record.
Continue reading at The Hill
Poland’s Tusk wants Turkey to take a leading role in ending Ukraine war
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged Russia to accept a ceasefire deal with Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he reached a “historic breakthrough” with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday, as he tried to convince the Turkish president to play a role in securing peace between Ukraine and Russia.
"I approached President Erdoğan with an unequivocal proposal that Turkey should take as much co-responsibility for the peace process as possible," Tusk said.
His visit to Ankara follows Tuesday's meeting between Ukrainian and United States officials in Saudi Arabia, where the two countries agreed on a proposal for an immediate 30-day ceasefire as long as Russia accepts.
"Turkey and Poland want a just peace to be concluded, we all know what a just peace is about, we identically view the results of the first phase of the talks that ended in Saudi Arabia between our American and Ukrainian friends," Tusk said.
Erdoğan added: “We must bring about a just end to the war. We are ready to provide a place for peace talks and all possible assistance.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Russia is conducting ‘state-sponsored terrorism’ against Europe, EU chief diplomat warns
Investigation showed pro-Russia groups were offering crypto payments in exchange for hybrid attacks across Europe.
European public broadcasters revealed Tuesday that pro-Russia hacktivist groups were actively approaching people on social media site Telegram to conduct sabotage and vandalism and support disruptive operations across Europe.
Journalists saw and directly received requests to carry out various acts of sabotage, including plastering the EU quarter with anti-NATO stickers and collecting the email addresses of 30 Belgian journalists seen as sympathetic toward the Ukrainians. Participants were promised payments in cryptocurrencies in exchange for the support.
"This is the war that is going on in the shadows," EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas told Belgian broadcaster VRT in response.
Recent incidents across Europe range from cyberattacks and espionage to targeted arson, undersea cable sabotage and GPS jamming.
These attacks “against us are on the rise,” Kallas said.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Senate GOP advances Trump’s latest budget pick as Dems deem him a Vought ‘acolyte’
The Senate is expected to vote in the next few weeks to confirm Dan Bishop to be deputy director of the White House budget office.
In a 11-10 vote, the Senate Budget Committee backed Dan Bishop’s nomination to serve as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. The Senate is expected to vote to confirm Bishop in the next few weeks, officially seating him as right-hand man to OMB Director Russ Vought.
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the committee’s top Democrat, said before the Wednesday committee vote that Democratic senators are “troubled” by Bishop’s support for Trump’s orders to freeze funding Congress previously passed into law. Merkley also questioned Bishop's promise to follow the direction of Vought, who led OMB in withholding aid to Ukraine and other efforts during Trump’s first presidency.
“What I did witness through his testimony is that he’s an acolyte of Vought, and Vought is a determined Trumpian minion who will follow Trump's direction to break the law and the Constitution,” Merkley said.
Continue reading at Politico
How many GOP senators ‘support DOGE’? Rand Paul pushes to vote on it
The Kentucky Republican's request could slow debate on the funding patch ahead of the Friday night government shutdown deadline.
Sen. Rand Paul wants to force the Senate to vote on codifying President Donald Trump’s cuts to foreign aid, a potential hitch for Republican leaders working to pass a bill to prevent a government shutdown Friday night.
Paul wants the Senate to vote on an amendment that would cut foreign aid grant funding by 83 percent, which would enact the reductions Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the president’s Department of Government Efficiency are already making. The Kentucky Republican predicts that about half of Republican senators would oppose the amendment, putting them on record against the Trump administration’s work.
“My vote will be an example of how many people support DOGE,” Paul told reporters on Wednesday. “No Democrats, obviously. But on the Republican side, how many people actually would cut any money from foreign aid? I think you'll be surprised, or maybe you won't.”
Paul has a reputation for sticking with his threats to drag out debate on funding bills if he doesn’t get his way. He spurred a brief government shutdown in 2018 because Republican leaders denied him a vote to tweak a budget agreement. But he won’t say whether he'd go to the same lengths this week, as GOP leaders try to speed up final passage of the seven-month funding patch House Republicans sent over Tuesday night.
“That’s top-secret,” Paul said.
Continue reading at Politico
Wyden negotiating with Republicans on standalone health package
Lawmakers had agreed to extend expiring laws and regulations in December before Trump killed the deal.
Senate Republicans and Democrats are in talks to pass a health care bill that was dropped from a broader December funding package, according to a key lawmaker.
Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee who is leading the talks on reviving the bill, said in an interview Wednesday he’s hopeful Republicans are now ready to pass it.
“They really know it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “They just are debating their internal politics.”
The bipartisan deal, which was scrapped at the last minute from a year-end government funding package, would have reupped the opioid-fighting SUPPORT Act and the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act.
Continue reading at Politico
Senate Dems form plan to avoid a shutdown
Chuck Schumer is hoping Democrats can get an amendment vote that would ease the way for his members to agree to a GOP-led government funding effort.
Senate Democrats want a vote on an alternative stopgap funding bill as they look for leverage against Republicans with two days to go until a government shutdown.
The lawmakers emerged from a closed-door lunch on Wednesday and said that they would not help advance the House GOP-passed, seven-month funding measure unless Republicans would agree to give them amendment votes — including on a 30-day, alternative short-term funding bill.
Democrats do have some leeway to make demands, despite being in the minority: In order to meet the Friday night deadline to avoid a shutdown, Republicans will need an agreement from all 100 senators to speed up consideration of the House GOP funding bill, which would otherwise take days to get through the chamber.
Republicans also need at least eight Democrats to join them in overcoming procedural hurdles to be able to move to a final vote on the funding bill known as a continuing resolution, or CR. Republicans can ultimately pass the funding bill by a simple majority, meaning they would not need Democratic votes for the final step.
“Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR. Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11 CR,” Schumer said during a Senate floor speech.
“We should vote on that,” Schumer said. “I hope — I hope — our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday.”
Continue reading at Politico
Senate Democrats embrace hardball on government shutdown
Senate Democrats left a private meeting Wednesday saying there aren't enough votes to advance the short-term funding bill that passed the House on Tuesday.
Why it matters: This raises the chances of a government shutdown this weekend. Democrats are in the unusual position of being willing to risk a shutdown to negotiate a better deal with Republicans.
"Democrats had nothing to do with this bill. And we want an opportunity to get an amendment vote or two. So that's what we are insisting on to vote for cloture," Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told reporters after the meeting.
"There are not the votes right now to pass it," Kaine said.
Republicans will need at least eight Senate Dems to vote for the bill to move it forward, as 60 votes are needed to advance most Senate legislation.
Zoom in: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer spent weeks pushing his caucus to keep their powder dry on a shutdown. He privately counseled them that advocating for a shutdown was bad politics for Democrats.
But he has also insisted that any legislation to keep the government open must be done in a bipartisan manner. The bill passed by the House on Tuesday was written exclusively by Republicans.
Continue reading at Axios
Israel critic tapped for top intelligence job under Gabbard
Daniel Davis has described U.S. support for war in Gaza as a “stain” on the nation.
The Trump administration has tapped Daniel Davis, a staunch critic of Israel who has condemned U.S. support for the war in Gaza, to serve as deputy director of national intelligence for mission integration.
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, confirmed that the Trump administration has said it intends to appoint Davis to the post, which does not require Senate confirmation.
Davis, a fellow at Koch-funded Defense Priorities think tank, has accused the United States and Israel of forcing Iran to race to build a nuclear weapon and has described Tehran as a “marginal regional power.”
In an episode of his YouTube show in January, Davis described the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel as “convenient” to justify the “wanton destruction” of Gaza. He has also described U.S. support for the war as a “stain on our character as a nation.”
His views put him at odds with much of the Trump administration, which has been strongly supportive of Israel’s war against Hamas and has reimposed a campaign of “maximum pressure” on Iran in a bid to prevent the country from developing a nuclear weapon.
Continue reading at Politico
Florida Republicans turn on DeSantis administration in DOGE-like quest to cut spending
“We are the guardians of the taxpayer,” state House Speaker Daniel Perez said during the opening day of the legislative session.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Gov. Ron DeSantis has frequently praised Elon Musk and his efforts to find waste in federal government spending. He’s repeated how Florida was “DOGE before DOGE was cool” — a reference to the Department of Government Efficiency led by the billionaire.
But key Florida House Republicans are now calling out the DeSantis administration on spending and hiring decisions. They criticized one agency because it can’t tell legislators how many cars the state owns. Agency secretaries were found to be working remotely even though their main headquarters are in Tallahassee. And a House panel discovered one agency spent tens of thousands of dollars on travel expenses for four state employees who aren’t living in Florida.
Continue reading at Politico
How Starmer saved Ukraine’s ceasefire as Trump and Zelenskyy raged
The U.K. prime minister and his top security adviser worked intensively to rescue the broken relationship between Kyiv and Washington, drafting a truce plan that might one day pave the way for peace.
LONDON — On Tuesday evening, Keir Starmer tapped out two WhatsApp messages, one to Donald Trump and the other to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He congratulated them both on agreeing to a ceasefire plan between Ukraine and Russia and on restoring the vital flow of military aid and intelligence from Washington to Kyiv.
It was a brief moment of relief for the British prime minister, who has spent the past two months trying to rally allies to Kyiv’s cause. And it would almost certainly not have happened without him.
What few realised was that Starmer and one of his most trusted advisers had been working intensively behind the scenes for the past week on a draft of the ceasefire deal. Critically, they first had to persuade Trump and Zelenskyy to set aside their explosive Feb. 28 Oval Office argument and look again toward peace.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Border Czar Homan lauds Adams in deep blue Albany
Trump’s border czar repeatedly praised the Democratic mayor of the nation’s largest city and blasted New York’s governor.
Homan ostensibly visited Albany to rail against New York’s Green Light Law, a 2019 measure the Trump administration is suing to stop. The measure allows undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses and blocks federal authorities from accessing the DMV database.
Trump’s border czar also voiced support for a New York version of the Laken Riley Act, which faces little possibility of becoming law. That bill would allow New York law enforcement to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
And he used the appearance to praise Trump-friendly New York City Mayor Eric Adams — who he’s reportedly expected to meet later this week — and take aim at Hochul for exploring whether to fire Adams. Homan sees Adams, a Democrat, as a partner in his work to deport dangerous undocumented immigrants.
Continue reading at Politico
Vance gets the tough jobs as he works to gain Trump’s trust
The vice president has sought to build clout without overshadowing the boss.
The challenging jobs include brokering a sale of TikTok to a U.S.-based buyer — a goal that has eluded both Trump in his first term and former President Joe Biden — and working behind the scenes to push the White House’s agenda through a chaotic, Republican-led Congress, according to two people familiar with the matter. And he’s continuously demonstrated a willingness to stick his neck out for the administration in public displays that garner intense backlash while riling up the base on social media, in speeches and in an Oval Office tiff with the Ukrainian president.
Vance’s allies dismiss the difficulty and instead see the tough jobs as a sign of clout.
“The real takeaway here is this speaks to the trust they clearly have for him, because you don’t give these things to somebody you don’t have trust in,” said one longtime Vance adviser, granted anonymity to speak freely.
Vance is doing all that under two gargantuan shadows: Trump, who constantly commands a global spotlight, and billionaire Elon Musk, who is often by the president’s side and is hell-bent on breaking the bureaucracy. And the challenge every vice president faces — to maintain popularity, relevance and power — weighs especially heavy on Vance, the 40-year-old No. 2 behind a term-limited Trump.
Continue reading at Politico
Who’s in Elon’s ear — and DMs
Musk’s most trusted advisers remain a tight-knit group of executives who have followed him from his companies but lack political experience.
Among the politicos, Musk is particularly close with his top political advisor, Chris Young, the former GOP field organizer who was originally brought in to advise Musk during Trump’s campaign and currently serves as treasurer of America PAC. Young has turned into Musk’s right hand on all things Washington — from penetrating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to handling personal logistics.
Upon Musk’s request, Young procured a massive TV for Musk’s office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building so he could play video games, according to a person familiar with the situation granted anonymity to speak freely.
Musk is also advised by Katie Miller, who served in Trump’s first administration, and he maintains a close relationship with Generra Peck, Musk’s contact on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign. Peck, DeSantis’ former campaign manager, ran America PAC last summer and continues to oversee it.
Continue reading at Politico
Inside Mark Cuban’s quest to ‘out-Elon’ Elon Musk
But can he do it?
Billionaire business mogul Mark Cuban is aiming to clean up after the Department of Government Efficiency.
The longtime critic of Donald Trump is fielding business pitches from former and current federal staffers at the General Services Administration and White House to fill tech gaps that federal workforce layoffs have left, he told POLITICO.
He is effectively looking to back new companies that would sell back technology skills to the government that the U.S. Digital Service — and a small tech-focused department called 18F — offered before the offices were rocked by voluntary departures and mass terminations.
“I think it’s possible to out-Elon, Elon, because the people he will bring in don’t know what they don’t know,” the billionaire told POLITICO.
GSA’s 18F tech unit was charged with modernizing and building the government’s critical tech services like Login.gov, the central login system for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other programs. And the USDS, housed in the White House, was responsible for streamlining processes for recruitment, digital service procurement and modernizing government sites.
Continue reading at Politico
Democrats are heading to GOP districts for town halls: ‘We’re filling a void’
House Democrats are heading to Republican districts to conduct town halls — a strategy designed to highlight the moratorium on those public events recently suggested by the head of the GOP’s campaign arm.
“We’re filling a void,” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), who is planning “a few” town halls in Republican districts, told reporters during the Democrats’ annual retreat in Leesburg, Va.
“We’re filling a void that’s left open by our Republican colleagues who are too scared to show up to town halls in their own districts because they’re doing things that are not popular.”
Earlier in the month, Rep. Richard Hudson (N.C.), the head of the Republicans’ campaign arm, advised House Republicans to avoid in-person town halls in their districts. The advice came after several GOP lawmakers had staged public forums and found that many constituents were infuriated with the policies of President Trump.
Videos of those confrontations — which Republicans blamed on Democratic agitators — made their way online and quickly went viral.
Continue reading at The Hill
Monmouth University to shut down its renowned polling institute
“Following a year-long review of all of the University’s Centers and Institutes, I have made the decision, in close collaboration with our Board of Trustees, to close the Monmouth University Polling Institute, effective July 1, 2025,” Patrick F. Leahy, president of Monmouth University, said in a Wednesday statement to The Hill.
He lauded the institute’s achievements under the leadership of founding director Patrick Murray, who helped launch the university’s polling practices in 2005.
FiveThirtyEight, which is also set to close, recognized the institute as one of the top-five ranking independent election poll analysis sites for accuracy and transparency.
“At its height, the Institute played a prominent role in helping to elevate the University’s image and to amplify its reputation to households across the country,” Leahy said.
“However, the changing political and media landscapes have made it both more difficult and more expensive for polling organizations to operate. In addition, our efforts over the years to integrate the work of the Polling Institute with both the student experience and the broader academic enterprise at Monmouth University have been met with mixed results,” he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
New Jersey’s revered Monmouth University Polling Institute to shut down in July
The university’s president cited “changing political and media landscapes.”
The closing of the institute is the latest blow for the polling industry. Last week, FiveThirtyEight, the polling analysis and aggregation site, shut down as a result of cuts at ABC and Disney. FiveThirtyEight had consistently ranked Monmouth among the country’s top polling operations.
2024 proved to be a critical test for pollsters, especially after the polls in the 2020 presidential election were so off. Pollsters have made progress since 2020, but have still encountered challenges as skepticism of polling remains among the electorate.
The Monmouth University Polling Institute was established in 2005 and has been led by Patrick Murray. Leahy lauded Murray’s “skilled analysis and media aplomb” which “established the Monmouth University Poll as one of the top polls in the country for both accuracy and transparency.”
Continue reading at Politico
Senate Democrats struggle with funding dilemma as shutdown deadline looms
They held a second lengthy party luncheon in as many days on Wednesday in search of consensus on the best way out of the morass, and emerged with a plan to insist on a vote on a 30-day continuing resolution (CR) before they would consider voting for Republicans’ six-month plan.
The 30-day CR, however, is almost certainly not viable. And while Senate Democrats said Wednesday they won’t vote to advance Republicans’ bill, pressure on them will only increase.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sent the House home after the chamber passed the GOP six-month CR mostly along party lines on Tuesday. The House isn’t slated to be back until March 24, leaving Senate Democrats few options beyond eating the GOP’s stopgap measure or allowing the government to shut down.
Neither is palatable to them.
Continue reading at The Hill
NIH set to replace chief of staff with former Massie aide
The move is likely to tighten the Trump administration’s control over the public health agency.
The Trump administration plans to replace the National Institutes of Health’s longtime chief of staff with a political appointee, in a striking move likely to tighten its control over the public health agency.
John Burklow, a nearly 40-year veteran of the NIH, is being removed from his role, according to three people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity because the decision is not yet public.
The agency is expected to instead appoint Seana Cranston as the NIH’s new chief of staff, two of the people said, though they cautioned it is not final and could still change. Cranston is a former deputy chief of staff to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who also spent several years as the lawmaker’s legislative director.
Massie is known for opposing spending bills and this week was the only House Republican to vote no on legislation to avert a government shutdown.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump doesn’t want ‘to hurt Ireland’ — but he might
Ireland’s visiting prime minister endures an excruciating 45 minutes in Trump’s live-TV star chamber as the U.S. leader swings at Brussels, not Dublin.
DUBLIN — U.S. President Donald Trump says he doesn’t “want to do anything to hurt Ireland” — but that “fairness” might force his hand.
That was the big takeaway from Trump’s at-times-excruciating, 45-minute White House monologue Wednesday, with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin on hand for a St. Patrick’s Day-linked visit that was viewed back in Dublin with dread and anxiety.
Martin, a diplomatic veteran, spent long periods sitting in bemused silence, his hands clasped tightly on his thighs and a Mona Lisa smile on his face. Trump, beside him, spent much of their time bashing past U.S. presidents and Brussels, although aiming no direct hits at Ireland.
The U.S. president at times projected a confused understanding of Ireland’s enthusiastic place within the European Union, wondering why his own Irish golf resort should be subject to EU environmental laws.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Senate Democrats face ‘tough map’ as a slate of retirements hit Dem-friendly states
The embattled party has benches in the blue-leaning states, but every opening is a potential vulnerability.
Senate Democrats’ already difficult 2026 map just got even worse.
After losing the majority last November, the party faced a very narrow path out of the wilderness. Then Sen. Jeanne Shaheen piled on. The New Hampshire Democrat announced her retirement Wednesday, forcing the Democrats to defend a third Senate seat in 2026, in addition to retiring Sens. Gary Peters’ and Tina Smith’s seats in Michigan and Minnesota.
“It’s no secret that we face a tough map,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said, though he remained upbeat: “I don’t think you can read into losing one senator in a state where I think we will do very, very well.”
There might be more departures for Democrats to come, though in much bluer states: Sen. Dick Durbin is on retirement watch in Illinois and Sen. Michael Bennet is eyeing a possible run for governor in Colorado.
Durbin, who is 80, declined to share his own reelection plans on Wednesday but acknowledged that the party’s 2026 Senate map is “challenging.”
Democrats’ biggest challenge was always going to be a limited number of pick-up opportunities as they try to claw their way back to power: Sens. Susan Collins’ and Thom Tillis’ seats in Maine and North Carolina, respectively, are their best options. And, critically, winning both wouldn’t win back control of the Senate on their own — and neither are slam dunks for Democrats.
Continue reading at Politico
‘Be careful about this’: Warnings abound as GOP considers writing off tax cuts
Republicans will discuss the accounting maneuver with President Donald Trump on Thursday.
It’s the accounting maneuver that could break the Senate, upend the federal budget process and explode the national debt.
That’s according to critics of a fiscal tactic that congressional Republicans are now seriously considering as they struggle to figure out how to deliver on all of President Donald Trump’s policy demands.
Adopting the “current policy baseline,” as it’s called, could be the only way for the GOP to make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent and avoid painful cuts to federal programs, as well as pile on new income tax exemptions for tips, overtime and Social Security. Trump is expected to discuss the move with members of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee at a White House meeting Thursday.
If lawmakers adopt the change, it would essentially make it appear as though extending current tax rates, set to expire at the end of the year, would cost nothing rather than the roughly $4 trillion over 10 years that nonpartisan scorekeepers estimate.
Continue reading at Politico
Study: 1 in 15 US adults has experienced a mass shooting firsthand
About 1 in 15 U.S. adults has been on scene at a mass shooting, a new University of Colorado Boulder study published in JAMA Network Open reveals.
Why it matters: The study underscores the pervasiveness of gun violence in the U.S. and the increasing likelihood that everyday Americans could be caught in the crossfire.
The big picture: "Our findings lend credence to the idea of a 'mass shooting generation,'" senior author David Pyrooz said in a statement.
"People who grew up in the aftermath of Columbine have these unique experiences that are really distinguishable from the older population," he said.
By the numbers: About 7% of 10,000 U.S. adults surveyed online in January 2024 said they had been present at a mass shooting — defined as an incident where four or more people were shot.
2% reported being injured, whether by gunfire, by shrapnel or in the chaos of people fleeing.
Among those uninjured, about 75% said they suffered psychological distress.
Continue reading at Axios Denver
Trump Medicare center to cancel some payment trials
The Trump Medicare innovation center plans to cancel a half dozen trials to change the way health providers are paid by the end of the year as it aligns itself with the goals of the MAHA movement, multiple people familiar with the plans told Axios.
The big picture: Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation leadership said they want to focus on models that are likely to meet criteria for expansion and that promote the goals of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s public health agenda, said a person with knowledge who was granted anonymity to speak freely.
What they're saying: CMMI "is committed to testing — and eventually scaling — innovative payment models that meet the statutory goals of reducing program spending while maintaining or improving quality of care," a CMS spokesperson said.
The center has completed a data-driven review of models based on their statutory mandate and identified some that will conclude as scheduled and others that should be terminated, the spokesperson said.
CMS estimates the changes will save taxpayers almost $750 million, though it did not specify how.
State of play: The innovation center will end two payment models focused on alternative ways to pay for primary care — Making Care Primary and Primary Care First — and an experiment to encourage at-home dialysis and kidney transplants known as End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices.
Continue reading at Axios
Walmart clashes with China after asking suppliers to absorb tariffs
The world's largest retailer is clashing with China over the company's efforts to reduce the impact of President Trump's increased tariffs.
Why it matters: Walmart — whose brand is inextricably linked to low prices — is trying to leverage its monumental size to mitigate its own costs from the billowing international trade war.
Driving the news: Officials from China's Ministry of Commerce met with Walmart executives on Tuesday to cry foul over the retailer pressuring local suppliers to absorb tariff hikes, according to a Chinese state media report.
The Ministry of Commerce called for Chinese and American companies to work together in response to the tariffs.
Threat level: "If Walmart insists" ... "then what awaits Walmart is not just talk," state broadcaster China Central Television said on social media Wednesday, according to the WSJ.
Continue reading at Axios
Another judge rejects Trump’s bid to fire a federal labor regulator
The judge ordered Susan Grundmann reinstated to her post on the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
resident Donald Trump suffered another legal loss Wednesday in his bid to fire leaders of the federal agencies that supervise labor disputes.
U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ordered the reinstatement of Susan Grundmann to her post on the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which referees disputes between the federal government and federal employees’ unions.
Sooknanan ruled that Trump’s firing of Grundmann violated federal laws and Congress‘ power to establish the independent body.
“The government’s arguments … threaten to upend fundamental protections in our Constitution,” the Biden appointee wrote in a 35-page ruling. “But ours is not an autocracy; it is a system of checks and balances.”
Continue reading at Politico
Judge slams EPA’s climate grant cancellations: ‘You have to have some kind of evidence’
Judge Tanya Chutkan offered significant criticism of EPA’s action but stopped short of saying she will side with the Climate United Fund.
A federal judge Wednesday lambasted the Environmental Protection Agency’s cancellation of $20 billion in climate grants after the Trump administration was unable to offer any evidence of wrongdoing.
But it was unclear whether the judge would take immediate action to offer relief to the grant recipients who warn they will have to start laying off workers and defaulting on financial agreements by the end of the week.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on Tuesday night terminated the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants, including a $7 billion award to Climate United Fund. That group had sued to access those funds, a request that became more complicated after EPA terminated the grant less than 24 hours before a hearing.
“Can you proffer any evidence that [the grant] was illegal, or evidence of abuse or fraud or bribery — that any of that was improperly or unlawfully done, other than the fact that Mr. Zeldin doesn’t like it?” asked Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Marc Sacks, a Justice Department attorney representing EPA, repeatedly pointed to the reasoning the agency used when notifying Climate United and other groups, stating that “the determination is based on the information contained in the termination letter.”
Continue reading at Politico
Judge finds Trump unlawfully fired head of federal employee labor board
U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan’s ruling in favor of Susan Grundmann, the Democratic-appointed chair of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), is the latest to push back on Trump’s efforts to consolidate control over independent agencies in an expanded view of presidential power.
“The Government’s arguments paint with a broad brush and threaten to upend fundamental protections in our Constitution. But ours is not an autocracy; it is a system of checks and balances,” wrote Sooknanan.
Federal law protects FLRA members like Grundmann from termination without cause. The White House did not purport to have cause when it fired Grundmann in a two-sentence email last month and instead, like it has in other cases, contended the removal protections are unconstitutional.
Continue reading at The Hill
Distilled Spirits Council CEO warns European whiskey tariff could be ‘very, very devastating’
The CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States on Wednesday warned that a European whiskey tariff would be “very, very devastating.”
“We’ve just gotten the news early, early this morning, that the [European Union (EU)] is poised to put a 50 percent tariff on American whiskey. That will be very, very devastating,” Chris Swonger told NewsNation’s Nichole Berlie.
The U.S. has recently been embroiled in trade battles with multiple countries across the globe, including Canada, Mexico and countries in Europe. In response to 25 percent tariffs from President Trump that took effect Wednesday, the EU swiftly shot back with a two-step approach.
Continue reading at The Hill
Chuck Schumer is in a real shutdown mess. Can he lead Democrats out of it?
Despite pressure from the left to hold firm, some Democratic senators seem headed for an off-ramp.
Publicly, the Senate minority leader and many of his fellow Democrats are vowing they won’t provide the votes to allow a House GOP funding bill to pass, while demanding a vote on a Plan B. Privately, though, Senate Democrats appear to be moving toward that potential offramp: Securing a vote on their preferred 30-day stopgap bill in exchange for helping the House bill, which funds government through September, clear the 60-vote filibuster hurdle — even if they ultimately oppose it on final passage.
The emerging strategy comes as Schumer has convened his caucus for a string of meetings that have grown so boisterous at times that they’ve been overheard outside the room where Senate Democrats have huddled.
It’s a significant moment for Schumer: He’s trying to bridge disagreement within his caucus over how hard to fight amid fears from some of his members that a shutdown would only empower President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Meanwhile, outside groups — and even their Democratic colleagues across the Capitol — are pressuring them to reject the House GOP funding bill even if it means shuttering the government.
Where Democrats end up will say a lot about how they intend to navigate the weak position in which they find themselves, with Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress and the presidency. They’re under immense pressure from the left to use the scant leverage they have to slow down Trump’s early-term blitzkrieg. But the party is wary of a shutdown that could be pinned on them — and exacerbate their political woes.
The first test for Schumer and Senate Democrats will come on Friday, when Republicans have teed up the first vote on advancing the House GOP bill. Democrats will need to either back up their statement that the House GOP bill can’t get the 60 votes needed to advance or Senate leaders will need to reach an agreement that Democrats can live with.
Continue reading at Politico
US considers writing off $4 trillion of tax cuts using budget trick
Republicans will discuss the accounting maneuver with President Donald Trump on Thursday.
It’s the accounting maneuver that could break the Senate, upend the federal budget process and explode the national debt.
That’s according to critics of a fiscal tactic that congressional Republicans are now seriously considering as they struggle to figure out how to deliver on all of President Donald Trump’s policy demands.
Adopting the “current policy baseline,” as it’s called, could be the only way for the GOP to make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent and avoid painful cuts to federal programs, as well as pile on new income tax exemptions for tips, overtime and Social Security. Trump is expected to discuss the move with members of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee at a White House meeting Thursday.
If lawmakers adopt the change, it would essentially make it appear as though extending current tax rates, set to expire at the end of the year, would cost nothing rather than the roughly $4 trillion over 10 years that nonpartisan scorekeepers estimate.
Continue reading at Politico
Italy, Spain back France’s plan to rescue EU chemicals industry
A ‘critical chemicals act’ would keep production of key molecules on EU soil, countries argue.
Seven European Union countries including Italy and Spain have joined France in calling for a “critical chemicals act” to protect Europe’s struggling chemicals sector.
The call builds momentum behind France’s original proposal, obtained by POLITICO last month, which called on the European Union to declare about 15 key chemical compounds “strategic.”
The idea is to protect the sector to ensure Europe remains self-sufficient in chemicals used in everything from fertilizer production to plastics, imitating similar rules for critical raw materials and medicines — the latter of which the European Commission released on Tuesday.
The Czech Republic, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania and Slovakia have also backed the latest chemicals proposal. Germany, the EU’s biggest chemical producer, has not signed up.
The latest proposal, first reported by POLITICO on Tuesday, adds a few more “strategic molecules” to the previous list, including toluene and xylene. Phenol and styrene also make the cut as key substances across a range of industries, from pharmaceuticals and adhesives to plastics and detergents.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Trump plans "law and order" speech at DOJ
President Trump is planning an unusual visit to the Justice Department on Friday to speak about his administration's plans on "restoring law and order," Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Trump's appearance will be the latest illustration of how he's taken a direct interest in the work of the DOJ, which he has stacked with allies while purging dozens of people who were deemed disloyal.
Those dismissed from the department since Trump took office included officials who worked on the department's two criminal prosecutions of Trump between his presidencies.
Zoom out: Trump, who also had two state criminal indictments filed against him after leaving office, spent much of the 2024 campaign railing against what he called the "weaponization" of the justice system.
After winning the 2024 election, Trump nominated Pam Bondi to be attorney general and Kash Patel to be FBI director, both of them longtime loyalists. Todd Blanche, one of Trump's personal attorneys, was named deputy attorney general.
Trump last month said he had ordered the firings of U.S. attorneys appointed by his predecessor, Joe Biden. "We must 'clean house' IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence. America's Golden Age must have a fair Justice System," Trump posted on Truth Social.
Most presidents historically have maintained at least the appearance of a Justice Department that operated independently of their political concerns.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump vows to take back ‘stolen’ wealth as tariffs on steel and aluminum imports go into effect
President Donald Trump openly challenged U.S. allies on Wednesday by increasing tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25% as he vowed to take back wealth “stolen” by other countries, drawing quick retaliation from Europe and Canada.
The Republican president’s use of tariffs to extract concessions from other nations points toward a possibly destructive trade war and a stark change in America’s approach to global leadership. It also has destabilized the stock market and stoked anxiety about an economic downturn.
“The United States of America is going to take back a lot of what was stolen from it by other countries and, frankly, by incompetent U.S. leadership,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “We’re going to take back our wealth, and we’re going to take back a lot of the companies that left.”
Trump removed all exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on the metals, in addition to increasing the tariffs on aluminum from 10%. His moves, based off a February directive, are part of a broader effort to disrupt and transform global commerce.
Continue reading at the Associated Press
Federal student loan site down Wednesday, a day after layoffs gutted Education Department
An hours-long outage Wednesday on StudentAid.gov, the federal website for student loans and financial aid, underscored the risks in rapidly gutting the Department of Education, as President Donald Trump aims to dismantle the agency.
Hundreds of users reported FAFSA outages to Downdetector starting midday Wednesday, saying they were having trouble completing the form, which is required for financial aid at colleges nationwide. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, a group of people who handle colleges’ financial aid awards, also received reports of users experiencing technical issues and having trouble completing the FAFSA.
“We’ve been trying to get more clarity on why it’s down,” said Allie Bidwell Arcese, a spokeswoman for NASFAA. The Education Department hadn’t shared any information on the outage, she said. “The maintenance and troubleshooting may be impacted by yesterday’s layoffs.”
Continue reading at the Associated Press
USDA ends program that helped schools serve food from local farmer
The U.S. Agriculture Department is ending two pandemic-era programs that provided more than $1 billion for schools and food banks to purchase food from local farmers and producers.
About $660 million of that went to schools and childcare centers to buy food for meals through the Local Foods for Schools program. A separate program provided money to food banks.
In Maine, the money allowed the coastal RSU 23 school district to buy food directly from fisherman, dairy producers and farmers for school meals, said Caroline Trinder, the district’s food and nutrition services director.
“I think everyone can say that they want kids at school to receive the healthiest meals possible,” Trinder said. “It’s the least processed, and we’re helping our local economy, we’re helping farmers that may be the parents of our students.”
Continue reading at the Associated Press
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Musical interlude
Art Blakey, drums
Thelonious Monk, piano
Kai Winding, trombone
Dizzy Gillespie, trumpet
Sonny Stitt, saxophone
Al McKibbon, bass
Newport Jazz Festival
October 31, 1971
De Doelen Rotterdam, The Netherlands.