Things Musk (and Trump) Did... Day 77 | Blog#42
On trade, it's Trump's way no matter what the Musks say...
Yesterday's post
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Yesterday’s news worth repeating
Bessent: Federal layoffs will help fill factory jobs created by Trump tariffs
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration is planning to boost U.S. manufacturing employment with policies meant to steer laid-off federal workers into factories.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson published Friday on the social platform X, the Treasury secretary said he believed the U.S. had enough workers to fill thousands of manufacturing jobs Trump hopes to create through steep import taxes.
“On one side, the president is reordering trade,” Bessent said. “On the other side, we are shedding excess labor in the federal government, and bringing down federal borrowings.”
“That will give us the labor that we need for the new manufacturing,” Bessent continued, arguing artificial intelligence and automation would limit how many workers needed to fill new jobs.
Continue reading at The Hill
A Former GOP Education Secretary Thinks People Will Notice Trump’s Demolition Job
Margaret Spellings says the president’s effort to slash the Education Department is a big mistake.
Donald Trump’s move to dismantle the Department of Education is often cast as the culmination of a five-decade-old fever dream among conservatives.
Not all conservatives, Margaret Spellings notes with a chuckle.
As Education secretary under President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2009, Spellings was a lead player in a Republican administration that saw a more muscular role for the Education Department as a way to pursue conservative policy goals.
Now the president of the nonprofit Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, the Texan and longtime Bush loyalist worries that Trump’s focus on gutting and reorganizing the bureaucracy — shifting the student loan portfolio to the Small Business Administration, shuttering remaining Bush-era accountability programs, laying off thousands — risks distracting policymakers’ attention from tanking student performance in reading and math, which accelerated during the Covid pandemic.
“We ought to just be on fire about it, but instead we’re going to see: Does the SBA know how to run a student loan portfolio?” Spellings told me in her downtown office, mementos of congressional passage of Bush’s signature “No Child Left Behind” law on the wall. “I’m not hearing a lot about that student performance issue.”
Continue reading at Politico
CNN to hold town hall Thursday with battleground House members
Four members of Congress representing some of the most competitive House districts will participate in a Thursday town hall on CNN.
Republican Reps. Mike Lawler (N.Y.) and Ryan Mackenzie (Pa.) and Democratic Reps. Jahana Hayes (Conn.) and Derek Tran (Calif.) will participate in the event, the network said in an announcement on Monday. CNN hosts Jake Tapper and Kaitlan Collins will moderate.
Mackenzie and Tran are both freshmen members who defeated incumbents of the opposing party in the 2024 election, with Mackenzie unseating former Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.) and Tran defeating Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.).
Lawler is a second-term member who is also considering a gubernatorial run. Hayes is in her fourth term.
Continue reading at The Hill
Note from Rima:
Anderson Cooper will be holding a CNN town hall with Senator Bernie Sanders on Wednesday night at 9:00pm EST
Today's news
Democratic News Corner
House Democrats targeting 35 Republicans in 2026
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee rolled out a list of 35 House Republicans it plans to target in the 2026 midterms on Tuesday.
The list, which the DCCC called its Districts in Play, includes Alaska Rep. Nick Begich (R); Arizona Reps. David Schweikert (R), Eli Crane (R) and Juan Ciscomani (R); California Reps. David Valadao (R), Young Kim (R) and Ken Calvert (R); Colorado Rep. Gabe Evans (R); and Florida Reps. Cory Mills (R), Anna Paulina Luna (R) and Maria Elvira Salazar (R).
The committee is also targeting Iowa Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R), Ashley Hinson (R) and Zach Nunn (R); the open seat in Kentucky’s sixth congressional district; Michigan Reps. Bill Huizenga (R) and Tom Barrett (R); the open seat in Michigan’s 10th congressional district; Missouri Rep. Ann Wagner (R); Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon (R); New Jersey Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R); and New York Rep. Mike Lawler (R ).
The final names on the list are Ohio Reps. Max Miller (R), Mike Turner (R) and Mike Carey (R); Pennsylvania Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R), Ryan Mackenzie (R), Rob Bresnahan (R) and Scott Perry (R); Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles (R); Texas Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R); Virginia Rep. Rob Wittman (R); and Wisconsin Reps. Bryan Steil (R) and Derrick Van Orden (R).
Rep. John James (R-Mich.), who is running for governor, currently holds Michigan’s 10th congressional district, while Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), who is running for Senate, represents Kentucky’s sixth congressional district.
Continue reading at The Hill
Andy Beshear on how Dems can hammer Trump over tariffs
After urging Canadian officials to pull back tariffs on liquor, he conceded governors don’t have much power when it comes to trade.
For months, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear warned that the Trump administration’s imposition of tariffs stands to harm his state’s economy, including its bourbon, auto and aerospace industries. Now that Trump is ratcheting them up, the Democratic governor said the impacts will be “devastating” not just for the Bluegrass state, but for the entire country.
In an interview with POLITICO on Monday, Beshear, a potential 2028 presidential contender, said there isn’t much Democratic governors can do when it comes to international trade, even as another potential presidential candidate, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, pressed trading partners to spare California-made products from retaliatory measures.
Instead, Beshear argued Democrats’ best recourse is to wage a public information campaign against Trump’s trade agenda, highlighting how the president was elected on a promise to lower costs but instead may make life more expensive for Americans. Democrats need to hammer the point that “he and he alone is making this decision, and he’s out there owning it,” Beshear said.
That recommendation comes as Beshear works to raise his own national profile, with frequent appearances on cable news and a podcast launching on Tuesday.
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Continue reading at Politico
Democrats reveal their top targets to flip in 2026
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s list includes 10 seats that President Donald Trump won by 10 percentage points or more.
The list includes 10 seats that Trump won by 10 percentage points or more in 2024 — with House Democratic leaders projecting the environment will be favorable enough to catapult them even in heavily Republican territory. Some will likely be massive lifts for Democrats, and part of their expansive list may be for show. But Democrats are zeroing in on members like Reps. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Andy Barr of Kentucky and Monica De La Cruz of South Texas. All three hold districts that Trump carried by between 15 and 18 points last year.
“House Republicans are running scared, and they should be. They’re tanking the economy, gutting Medicaid, abandoning our veterans, and making everything more expensive. In short, they’ve lost the trust of their constituents, and it’s going to cost them the majority,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene said in a statement.
The list includes the seats of some obviously endangered Republicans, such as Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.), the three members representing districts that Vice President Kamala Harris won in November. It also names several members who hold seats that are competitive every two years, such as Reps. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.); David Valadao (R-Calif.); Young Kim (R-Calif.); Gabe Evans (R-Colo.); Tom Kean Jr. (R-N.J.); Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.); Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.); and Jen Kiggans (R-Va.).
Continue reading at Politico
National Security
Trump, Hegseth promise record $1 trillion Pentagon budget
The surprise announcement comes as the Defense Department prepares to lay off tens of thousands of civilians.
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pledged a first ever $1 trillion defense budget proposal on Monday, a record sum for the military.
Trump, during a press event with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the upcoming budget would be “in the vicinity” of $1 trillion.
Hegseth went further in an X post on Monday evening, saying Trump “is rebuilding our military — and FAST.”
“COMING SOON: the first TRILLION dollar @DeptofDefense budget,” Hegseth posted from his personal account. “(PS: we intend to spend every taxpayer dollar wisely — on lethality and readiness).”
The number would be a significant increase from the $892 billion funding Congress allocated for national defense programs this year, which includes the Pentagon, nuclear weapons development and security programs at other agencies. It also comes as the armed services seeks to cut 8 percent of their individual budgets and reinvest the money in modernization efforts.
Hegseth is also planning to slash tens of thousands of department civilian employees across the globe as the Pentagon starts work on what is expected to include consolidation of domestic and overseas bases.
Their comments came as a surprise since the rollout of the federal budget isn’t expected until late May.
Continue reading at Politico
The House Democrat who actually loves Trump's tariffs
Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) is perhaps the only Democrat on Capitol Hill willing to defend President Trump's new tariffs to the hilt. In fact, his main concern is that the president will back down from his trade policy.
Why it matters: It's one vote House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) can't count on as he makes opposition to the tariffs a new centerpiece of House Democrats' anti-Trump messaging.
Jeffries said Monday that he hasn't "heard any opposition" among House Democrats to Rep. Greg Meeks' (D-N.Y.) measure to effectively kill Trump's new across-the-board tariffs.
But Golden told Axios in an interview on Capitol Hill: "I'd be a 'no' on that."
What he's saying: "My biggest worry is that they're going to do this and lose faith and political will and back away," Golden said.
The Maine Democrat also dismissed the stock market turmoil that has accompanied Trump's tariffs: "The vast majority of Americans have no stocks."
Continue reading at Axios
How firing the NSA leader could lead to Cyber Command's split
The surprise firing of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command's top leader last week may open the door for the Trump administration to split up the two agencies' long-shared leadership structure.
Why it matters: Detaching the military command could unleash its operatives for more offensive cyber strikes against foreign adversaries — and also risk crippling the country's own espionage efforts.
Driving the news: Gen. Timothy Haugh, who led the NSA and Cyber Command for a little over a year, was fired Thursday night with zero explanation — spurring outrage from lawmakers in both parties.
The head of NSA and Cyber Command isn't a typical political appointee, and it's normal to see the same person lead these offices across several administrations.
Haugh took over after Gen. Paul Nakasone retired following six years in the position.
The big picture: The NSA and Cyber Command have shared a director since the command was established in 2010.
While the NSA is known for its spying and surveillance operations, the Cyber Command is a military unit that carries out a mix of offensive and defensive cyber operations.
Continue reading at Axios
Gabbard creates task force to probe intelligence community
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced Tuesday that she was creating a task force to investigate the intelligence community to increase “transparency and accountability.”
The Director’s Initiatives Group (DIG) has plans to execute President Trump’s executive order “aimed at rebuilding trust” in the intelligence community, according to a statement from Gabbard.
The group will be “investigating weaponization, rooting out deep-seeded politicization, exposing unauthorized disclosures of classified intelligence, and declassifying information that serves a public interest.”
The group will target “wasteful spending” in addition to “streamlining outdated processes, reviewing documents for declassification, and leading ongoing efforts to root out abuses of power and politicization,” Gabbard said.
So far, the task force is “well underway” reviewing documents for potential declassification on various topics including the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation, Anomalous Health Incidents, the Biden administration’s “domestic surveillance” and censorship against Americans.
Continue reading at The Hill
Economics
China says it will ‘fight to the end’ after Trump threatens to impose still more tariffs
BEIJING (AP) — China said Tuesday it would “fight to the end” and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports.
The Commerce Ministry said the U.S.‘s imposition of “so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’” on China is “completely groundless and is a typical unilateral bullying practice.”
China, the world’s second-largest economy, has taken retaliatory tariffs and the ministry hinted in its latest statement that more may be coming.
“The countermeasures China has taken are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests, and maintaining the normal international trade order. They are completely legitimate,” the ministry said.
“The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this. If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end,” it added.
Continue reading at the AP
EU agonizes over using its trade ‘bazooka’ to hit back at Trump’s mega tariff
As the European Commission plans levies of up to 25 percent on many exports from the U.S., it holds an olive branch in one hand and its Anti-Coercion Instrument in the other.
LUXEMBOURG — The European Union is negotiating with a trade bazooka in its hand, but can’t agree on whether to pull the trigger just yet.
Beyond a carefully crafted message of a “proportional” and “united” response from all of the bloc’s trade ministers at their meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, the key question of how to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade broadside threatens to open cracks in the bloc’s fragile cohesion.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking in Brussels just as the trade ministerial was wrapping up, made it clear that the EU wants first to negotiate. The bloc was offering a “zero-for-zero” tariff scheme on industrial goods, she said, covering cars, drugs, chemicals, plastics and machinery among other things.
That’s the carrot. (And it's a fairly easy carrot to dangle as transatlantic industrial tariffs have traditionally been low.)
When it comes to sticks, the EU wants to create the impression of negotiating from a position of strength (while hoping that the financial market turmoil unleashed by Trump’s tariff broadside will sap his fighting spirit). But EU capitals are divided over exactly which stick they should use.
The Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), a nuclear option that has yet to be deployed, would empower the EU executive to hit U.S. service industries such as tech and banking.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Farm-state Republicans rocked by tariffs fear Trump lacks exit strategy
GOP senators from states such as Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota are bracing for the next phase in Trump’s escalating trade war, which they fear will be a wave of retaliatory tariffs that will hit Americans hard.
Republican lawmakers are warning that senior Trump officials need to have a plan in place to respond to the growing economic turmoil, and the possibility that countries could respond by slapping steep tariffs on American exporters before agreeing to any concessions with the United States.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a top political target of Democrats in 2026, said farmers in his state are “very concerned” about how Trump’s trade war may play out, and for how long.
“We’re already hearing threats about curbing imports,” he said of threats from trading partners to source agricultural products from other countries.
“Now we know pork’s going to be 34 percent more expensive” in China, he said, referring to the 34 percent tariff Trump has imposed on that country, which imports billions of dollars’ worth of American soybeans, wheat, corn, beef and pork.
Continue reading at The Hill
Germany’s finance minister warns of recession risk due to Trump tariffs
Jörg Kukies says German exports to the U.S. will decline by 15 percent if tariffs remain in place.
BERLIN — Germany’s acting finance minister Jörg Kukies warned that U.S. President Donald Trump’s "Liberation Day" tariffs could inflict serious damage on Germany’s export-driven economy and significantly increase the risk of recession.
“If things stay as they are, our exports to the U.S. will decline by about 15 percent,” Kukies said in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF late Monday, referring to data from the Munich-based research institute Ifo. “Our growth prospects would deteriorate, and the risk of recession would increase.”
Trump last week dumped the European Union in the worst category of America’s trade partners Wednesday, hitting the bloc with a 20 percent tariff on all imports. If the tariffs remain in place, they will hit the German economy particularly hard; the U.S. is Germany’s largest export destination outside the European Union.
Kukies dismissed the idea that Washington has gained the upper hand in trade talks after announcing the latest tariffs.
“The willingness to negotiate existed long before the tariffs were announced,” he said. “I don’t see that the U.S. has gained any great advantage.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Don't panic about your 401(k)
Chart: Performance of a 60/40 retirement portfolio
It's been an awful stretch for stock market investors who've seen trillions of dollars evaporate after the dramatic sell-off last week.
Why it matters: A majority of Americans hold stocks, including half the private sector workforce, which is saving for retirement through 401(k) investment accounts.
The number of Americans in the stock market surged in recent years, as pandemic-era gains attracted more entrants and new laws pushed more workers into 401(k)s through auto-enrollment.
Between the lines: The stock market can get very volatile. The recent bout of upheaval has led to a lot of anxiety and questions, particularly for those who may not have experienced this kind of rollercoaster before.
"People are scared. They're emailing me," says Justin Wolfers, an economist at the University of Michigan who regularly appears on TV news. Folks see him on air and send him a line asking what they should do with their 401(k).
The big picture: This feels bad, but it really doesn't change things for most people, says Stephen Kates, a financial analyst for Bankrate.
Continue reading at Axios
Charted: Stock market performance under Trump 2.0
Chart: S&P 500 during presidents' tenure
The S&P 500 has fallen more than 15% since Donald Trump's inauguration, the worst showing for a new administration since George W. Bush was in office during the dot-com bust.
Why it matters: Trump usually touts stock market performance as an indicator of his success, and in his first term as president, he backed off on policies that sparked market sell-offs.
But not this time around Trump has so far doubled down on his tariff moves, even as the market has sunk.
By the numbers: Since there was a break between Trump's first stint in the White House and his current one, Axios compared the S&P 500 at the start of Trump 2.0 to other presidents in their first terms in office, including Trump 1.0.
The market rose a bit during Trump's first time in the Oval Office, rising 4.1%, from inauguration day through April 7.
It was higher, rising 7.4%, for former President Biden.
Between the lines: When Biden was in office, Trump took credit for stock market gains, and blamed losses on the former president.
Continue reading at Axios
Welcome to radical uncertainty
We're now squarely in a world of stories, emotion and guesswork. Or, as economists call it, radical uncertainty.
Why it matters: The move from the quantifiable world of risk is both enormous and profound.
We got a glimpse Monday morning, when the stock market whipsawed, moving more than 8% in half an hour on little more than a rumor about President Trump's state of mind.
The big picture: Economist Frank Knight elucidated the key distinction in his 1921 book "Risk, Uncertainty and Profit."
Risk, Knight said, applies to situations where different outcomes can be assigned various probabilities, which can then be calculated and priced.
Uncertainty is where those outcomes cannot be assigned numerical probabilities, but they can still be modeled and analyzed by using stress tests, history, storytelling, scenario analysis, and other tools. This is the world of educated guesses.
Radical uncertainty, as described in the eponymous 2020 book by John Kay and Mervyn King, is closer to pure guesswork. It describes a world where we don't have a grasp of what the possible outcomes even are, let alone what kind of probability to assign to each one.
Zoom out: Trump's trade policy is unpredictable, with tariffs being set and changed constantly.
Continue reading at Axios
As China and the US spar, countries brainstorm over how to cope with the trade war
China said it will “fight to the end” and take countermeasures against the United States to safeguard its own interests after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports in retaliation for Beijing’s backlash against the 34% tariffs he ordered on his April 2 “Liberation Day.”
“The U.S. threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement read on state-run broadcaster CCTV.
When asked about the possibility of talks between Washington and Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said “I think what the US has done doesn’t reflect a willingness for sincere dialogue. If the US really wants to engage in dialogue, it should adopt an attitude of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit.”
Meanwhile, Chinese state-run companies were told to help support the country’s financial markets after they were hit by massive saves of selling on Monday.
Continue reading at the AP
Navarro: ‘I guarantee no recession, okay?’
White House senior trade adviser Peter Navarro attempted to assure the American public that the country will not plunge into a recession sparked by President Trump’s recent sweeping tariffs, suggesting Wall Street’s 500 biggest corporations will lead the economic turnout.
Navarro said the market is “finding a bottom now. It’s finding a bottom now, but it … look, here’s the thing … it’s going to shift over and it’s going to be companies in the S&P 500 who are the first to produce here. Those are the ones are going to lead the recovery.”
“And it’s going to happen, Dow 50,000, I guarantee that, and I guarantee no recession, okay? Why? Because when we pass the biggest, broadest tax cut in history within a matter of months, that’s going to be a great stimulus,” he said Monday during an appearance on Fox News’s “The Ingraham Angle.”
“There’s not going to be any inflation,” Navarro told host Laura Ingraham. “We’ve already had a significant drop, a huge drop in oil prices, Laura. That’s like a point off the CPI. We’re going to have lower yields and mortgage.”
Continue reading at The Hill
EU pencils in China summit for July
News slipped in at the end of the read-out of a call between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
BRUSSELS — The European Union aims to host Chinese dignitaries in July for its annual summit with Beijing, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced after a call on Tuesday with Premier Li Qiang.
Von der Leyen called Li to discuss EU-China relations amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war against virtually the whole world. She “stressed the responsibility of Europe and China, as two of world’s largest markets, to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field,” the Commission said.
The Commission almost hid the news of the July summit timing, mentioning it only at the bottom of a read-out of the Brussels-Beijing phone call.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Trump pushes France to reassess trade alternatives — even the Mercosur deal?
“This is a wake-up call on trade agreements,” French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin tells POLITICO.
EPERNAY, France — As Donald Trump launches a full-scale trade war, France wants to replace the United States with other trade partners. Does that mean Paris is ready to accept a massive trade deal between the European Union and South America it has excoriated for years?
French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin told POLITICO on Friday that he hopes the 20 percent tariffs Washington slapped on all EU goods Wednesday would motivate the European Union to seek trade deals with other countries.
“This is a wake-up call on trade agreements,” the minister said.
“Diversifying our trade outlets must be a priority if we want to make Europe not only a power ready for a showdown with the United States, but also a power open to other regions of the world. Mercosur is one of them, but the agreement just has to be acceptable. As it stands, it still isn’t.”
Saint-Martin said he hoped that the European Commission would quickly make tweaks France has long been asking for in the pact struck between the EU and Mercosur — a South American trade bloc that groups Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
“The Mercosur deal is a good agreement if, and only if, we manage to have mirror clauses,” Saint-Martin added, referring to France’s long standing push for imported agricultural goods to meet the same production standards imposed on EU farmers.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Bessent: Tariff negotiations result of ‘massive inflow’ of calls, not markets
In an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” co-host Joe Kernen asked Bessent about reporting that the secretary went to Florida this weekend to stress to Trump that the markets “needed to hear that negotiations about these tariffs were in play.”
“Lo and behold, we did see a bounce,” Kernen said. “Is that a fair assessment? Do you think that’s what happened?”
Bessent pushed back, saying, “it’s not a fair assessment of what happened over the weekend,” adding, “I went down to see President Trump, as I do many weekends.”
Bessent stressed that the decision to signal publicly a willingness to engage in negotiations was Trump’s alone and that it followed an influx of calls from countries rushing to the negotiating table.
Continue reading at The Hill
House GOP leaders won’t bring up District of Columbia funding fix bill this week
There was hope that Speaker Mike Johnson would hold a vote before the recess.
Speaker Mike Johnson and District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser spoke Monday on a call to discuss a path forward on legislation to restore the capital city’s spending powers, according to one person granted anonymity to share details of the private conversation.
Still, there are no plans to bring the bill to the House floor in the coming days before the chamber leaves for a two-week recess, said three people with direct knowledge of the schedule.
That will keep city officials in further limbo as they soon need to make decisions about whether to wait for congressional action or move ahead with plans to account for a looming budget shortfall of as much as $1.1 billion — requiring dramatic mid-fiscal-year cuts to law enforcement, infrastructure improvement efforts and public education.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump, defiant on tariffs, claims trade deals are imminent
The president is foreshadowing deals with multiple trading partners in an apparent effort to quell economic anxiety and prove his tariff plan is working.
President Donald Trump barreled forward with his ongoing trade war Tuesday, saying that his administration is making progress toward deals with international partners in an effort to calm markets and show that his tariff plan is working.
As those markets enjoyed a small reprieve Tuesday morning, Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previewed what they claimed would be major deals coming in the next few days between the U.S. and South Korea, Japan and Vietnam, as well as other “big trading partners.”
Trump’s aggressive plan, which has sparked historic market chaos and inspired panic on Wall Street and beyond, hinges on the willingness of trading partners to negotiate to escape the brunt of the sudden, heavy import taxes. While the president is claiming early wins by floating what he says will be major deals with certain partners, those deals have yet to materialize — and major economic players like China remain resolute in the face of Trump’s aggression.
In a post on Truth Social Tuesday morning, Trump claimed that a “great deal” between the U.S. and South Korea was imminent after holding a call with the country’s acting president. Trump said that South Korea, which he slammed with a 25 percent tariff, would fly a team of negotiators to the U.S. to finalize “the confines and probability of a great DEAL for both countries.”
Continue reading at Politico
‘He’s just not going to change my mind’: Freedom Caucus chair defies Trump on budget
Rep. Andy Harris said he would not attend a White House meeting amid arm-twisting campaign.
The chair of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump won’t be able to sway him in favor of the budget plan GOP leaders are pushing for Trump’s “big, beautiful” domestic policy bill.
“There’s nothing that I can hear at the White House that I don’t understand about the situation,” Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) told reporters, confirming he was declining an invitation to meet with Trump Tuesday afternoon.
Trump, he added, should “spend time with people whose minds he might change. He’s just not going to change my mind.”
The president and GOP leaders are pressing House members to advance a reworked, Senate-approved budget plan as soon as Wednesday, and they are preparing to use brute political force to do it. Tuesday’s White House meeting is seen as part of the arm-twisting campaign, with many of the holdouts livid over the modest spending cuts in the plan that the Senate approved Saturday — and leadership’s mounting pressure to back it.
In spurning the invitation, Harris said he did not believe Trump would be able to sway enough holdouts to get the budget framework adopted in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson, with his 220-213 majority, can lose no more than three members on a full party-line vote.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump tariffs leave global corporations with nowhere to hide
Global corporations rushed out of China to dodge tariffs during President Trump's first term. This time around, they have nowhere to hide — and policy is changing faster than supply chains can.
Why it matters: With high tariffs set to go into effect Wednesday in nearly every nation, there is no shield to be had (barring last-ditch negotiations or suspensions). It means multinational companies can't duck import taxes by rerouting goods.
Companies will look to adapt their sourcing to minimize tariffs. But the trade policy landscape is shifting day by day, and complex multinational supply chains take much longer to redesign.
That makes some hit to prices and/or corporate profits inevitable, even if over time there are opportunities to shift activity to lower-tariff countries.
What they're saying: "Once the dust settles, I think you're going to see companies looking at basically tariff arbitrage possibilities," Bill Reinsch, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told reporters at a briefing on Monday.
Continue reading at Axios
Trade negotiations had "nothing to do with the market," Bessent says
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said trade negotiations can lead to "good deals," but insisted that a posture of being open to those talks had nothing to do with last week's stock market plunge.
Why it matters: The market doesn't much care about the motivations — the mere fact that the conversations are happening at all is causing stocks to surge after days of uncertainty and mounting recession fears.
Catch up quick: After a wild three days of trading that cost investors trillions of dollars, President Trump on Monday said negotiations would soon begin with Japan and other countries on the sweeping reciprocal tariffs he imposed last week.
Politico later reported that Bessent had traveled to Florida over the weekend and urged Trump to give markets the message that there was an "end game" to the tariffs.
Continue reading at Axios
News Alert: Tariffs on China set to rise to at least 104% on Wednesday, White House says
President Donald Trump is set to impose an additional 84% in levies across all Chinese imports on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Tuesday. That will mean all goods from the country are subject to a tariff of at least 104%.
China was already set to see tariffs increase by 34% on Wednesday as part of Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs package. But the president tacked on another 50% after Beijing didn’t back off its promise to impose 34% retaliatory tariffs on US goods by noon Tuesday
Continue reading at CNN.com
Tariffs could jumpstart Beijing's global spying efforts, executive warns
Escalating U.S.-China trade tensions are likely to fuel a surge in Beijing-backed cyber espionage, a top security executive warns.
Why it matters: U.S. companies and government agencies were already grappling with an unprecedented wave of hacking activity linked to the Chinese government.
New tariff threats could intensify that pressure.
Driving the news: President Trump threatened on Monday to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods starting Friday. The warning followed Beijing's move to implement its own 34% retaliatory tariff.
"All talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated until such time as the tariffs are removed," Trump said.
Threat level: The escalation gives Chinese operatives a stronger incentive to gather intelligence from U.S. politicians and global companies about how seriously to take the tariff threats, Levi Gundert, chief security and intelligence officer at Recorded Future, told Axios.
Continue reading at Axios
"Boys will be boys," White House says, as Musk calls Navarro "moron"
Elon Musk escalated his war of words with Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro on Tuesday, calling him "truly a moron" and "dumber than a sack of bricks" over comments about Musk's businesses.
Why it matters: The gloves are off, and Musk — who has already challenged Trump's trade policy publicly — is now getting increasingly personal with the architect of that policy, too.
The big picture: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, asked for comment on the Musk-Navarro spat at the daily press briefing, replied with a smile: "Boys will be boys, and we will let their public sparring continue."
Musk, the 53-year-old Tesla CEO, is worth $350 billion and has unprecedented influence over the mechanics of government.
Navarro, 75, is leading the administration's effort to re-wire the global economy.
Catch up quick: It all started last Saturday, when a poster on X defended Navarro's intellect as a voice on trade. Musk replied that Navarro's Harvard Ph.D. suggested he had more ego than brains, and that he "ain't built s--t."
Continue reading at Axios
Oil prices falling into zone that discourages production growth
President Trump's social media celebration of falling oil prices highlights how — intentionally or not — his policies favor lowering fuel costs over boosting output. For now, anyway.
Why it matters: The swoon should send consumer gasoline costs downward, which Trump ran on.
But oil prices are falling into a zone that discourages production growth — especially if a prolonged trade war badly dims the global economic and demand outlook.
Friction point: "The oil industry expected strong support from this White House, but there's no way production will grow at $60" per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil, energy analyst Ben Cahill of UT-Austin told Axios via email.
Exploration and production companies "have to worry about a recession, so they'll take a cautious approach to [capital expenditure] and planning. Production growth is off the table unless the macroeconomic outlook improves," he said.
Yes, but: An Energy Department spokesperson said Trump's lowering energy costs by cutting "red tape."
Continue reading at Axios
White House insists Trump won’t budge on 104 percent China tariff
The White House on Tuesday insisted that President Trump won’t back down on his threat to impose a more than 100 percent tariff rate on China, significantly escalating the trade war between the two nations hours before the deadline approaches.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked what it would take for Trump to come to any sort of negotiating ground with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“It was a mistake for China to retaliate. The president, when America is punched, he punches back harder. That’s why there will be 104 percent tariffs going into effect on China tonight at midnight, but the president believes that Xi and China want to make a deal,” White House press Leavitt said, referring to an April 9 deadline for the tariffs to be imposed. “They just don’t know how to get that started.”
“If China reaches out to make a deal, he will be incredibly gracious,” Leavitt added.
Continue reading at The Hill
These American companies are in big trouble from Trump tariffs
Chart: Change in Apple, Nike, Best Buy, Lululemon and Abercrombie & Fitch stock prices
President Trump's imposition of global tariffs is immediately pounding a slew of American businesses that depend on cheap international labor.
Why it matters: The tariffs were more severe than investors were anticipating — and stocks are consequently getting crushed.
Between the lines: The list of losers is long, including:
Nike: The apparel maker produces 28% of its Nike brand goods in Vietnam, 16% in China and 15% in Cambodia, according to an SEC filing.
All three countries are getting hit hard by Trump's new tariffs.
Other apparel companies: The Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, Macy's, Lululemon and Boot Barn experienced steep stock declines during trading.
Investors fear that Trump's tariffs will lead to significant price hikes for clothes.
Apple: The tech giant relies heavily on contract manufacturing from the likes of iPhone maker Foxconn in Asia, with "substantially all" of its production in China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, according to an SEC filing.
Continue reading at Axios
Live updates: US stocks drop again as uncertainty reigns about Trump’s tariffs
U.S. stocks dropped after a second day of stunning reversals. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% Tuesday after wiping out an early gain of 4.1%, which had it on track for its best day in years. That brought the index nearly 19% below its record set in February.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 320 points after giving up an earlier surge of 1,460, while the Nasdaq composite lost 2.1%. Uncertainty is still high about what President Donald Trump will do with his trade war. The latest set of tariffs, including a massive 104% levy on Chinese imports, are scheduled to kick in after midnight.
Continue reading at the AP (Note: this is their live update page for this topic)
Conservative group launches ads supporting ACA tax credits
A conservative group is launching new ads targeting GOP senators, urging them to extend ObamaCare subsidies that help people afford health insurance.
Plymouth Union Public Advocacy (PUP Advocacy) — a conservative group founded by former heads of the Republican Governors Association, Republican State Leadership Committee and Republican Attorneys General Association — is spending six figures to air ads on TV and digital platforms this week in Washington, D.C., Idaho, Maine, North Carolina, Alaska, South Dakota and West Virginia.
The group argues permanently extending the subsidies should be part of President Trump’s “affordability agenda,” just like extending his 2017 tax cuts. GOP leaders in the House and Senate are working to pass a party-line bill to extend the tax cuts and other Trump priorities.
The 30-second ad plays to Republicans’ loyalty to President Trump.
“We know we can rely on Trump. But we need Congress to act. Some things are too important,” the ad says. “Congressional Republicans, don’t let us down. Don’t drive up health care costs.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump says he’s for ‘major spending cuts’ after meeting with House GOP on budget proposal
President Trump said Tuesday he’s supportive of “major spending cuts” after a meeting with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Republicans who have expressed skepticism about a budget resolution to proceed with his legislative agenda.
“I had a very good meeting today with the Speaker of the House and some of our more Conservative Members, all great people,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“I let them know that, I AM FOR MAJOR SPENDING CUTS! WE ARE GOING TO DO REDUCTIONS, hopefully in excess of $1 Trillion Dollars, all of which will go into ‘The One, Big, Beautiful Bill,'” Trump added.
The president said he would “be pushing very hard” to get those cuts, but urged lawmakers to approve the budget resolution that is on the table in the meantime.
Continue reading at The Hill
‘We are all waiting for a reply.’ Countries say White House hasn’t responded on tariff talks.
The lack of engagement is one signal the White House is still far from reaching substantive trade deals ahead of the midnight deadline for stepped-up global tariffs to kick in.
President Donald Trump and his top trade officials say they are negotiating with trading partners to reduce the steep tariffs scheduled to go into effect on Wednesday. But many foreign governments who want to talk are still waiting by the phone.
The Philippines is still waiting for a reply to its request for a meeting, according to one official from the country. The United Kingdom pitched the White House on a framework for a trade deal but failed to avoid the tariff increases. Another foreign diplomat said their government was reaching out to various Trump aides at all levels, but many either were not responding or were unwilling to do anything beyond listen.
On top of that, Trump officials have not spelled out exactly what concessions the administration is seeking that could pave the way for a negotiated solution.
It’s a sign that even as the administration tries to reassure financial markets, business leaders and fellow Republicans that they have an end game for the market-shaking duties, the White House is still very far from reaching any substantive trade deals with major foreign partners. Rapid progress will be even harder because now the administration is trying to negotiate bilateral deals with nearly 100 countries simultaneously to achieve a murky set of goals.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump savages "rebel" Republicans trying to quash his tariff powers
President Trump on Tuesday ripped into Republican members of Congress who are trying to give Congress the ability to block him from unilaterally instituting tariffs.
Why it matters: The president's remarks during a speech to the National Republican Congressional Committee laid bare divisions within the GOP over the administration's hardline protectionist trade policies.
At least a dozen House Republicans are considering supporting Rep. Don Bacon's (R-Neb.) bill to sunset a president's tariffs after 60 days unless Congress passes a resolution of approval, Axios reported Tuesday.
In the Senate, more than half a dozen Republicans have signed onto Sen. Chuck Grassley's (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell's (D-Wash.) version.
What he's saying: "I see some rebel Republican, some guy who wants to grandstand, say, 'I think that Congress should take over negotiations.' Let me tell you, you don't negotiate like I negotiate," Trump said.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump’s massive ‘reciprocal’ tariffs are now in place, upending global trade
New York (CNN) — Despite rattled financial markets, threats of retaliation and some of President Donald Trump’s biggest supporters encouraging him to back off his signature economic policy, he didn’t give in. His administration piled on heaps of new “reciprocal” tariffs Wednesday on dozens of American allies and adversaries alike, aiming to — as he claims — restore fairness and boost American manufacturing.
Goods from China, by far the biggest target, are now subject to at least a 104% tariff. Trump tacked on even higher tariffs than initially announced after Beijing didn’t back off its promise to impose 34% retaliatory tariffs Tuesday.
The reciprocal rates, which aren’t exactly reciprocal, were calculated by dividing a country’s trade deficit with the US by its exports to the country and multiplying by 1/2. They range from 11% to a whopping 50%. Barring Mexico and Canada, America’s other top trading partners were hardly spared in this round. The EU was hit with a 20% reciprocal tariff, China at 34%, Japan at 24%, Vietnam at 46% and South Korea at 25%.
Continue reading at CNN.com
Health and Science News
Texas measles outbreak cases surpass 500
The outbreak has produced 505 identifiable cases of measles “since late January” and 57 hospitalizations, according to a Tuesday update.
“There have been two fatalities in school-aged children who lived in the outbreak area. The children were not vaccinated and had no known underlying conditions,” the update reads. “Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreak area and the surrounding communities.”
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine as the “most effective” way to prevent the spread of measles in a post on the social platform X on Sunday.
Continue reading at The Hill
Europe records warmest March ever, EU scientists say
World continues to get hotter.
It's been a record-breakingly warm early spring, the European Union's Copernicus climate monitoring service said Tuesday in its monthly bulletin.
"March 2025 was the warmest March for Europe highlighting once again how temperatures are continuing to break records," said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the climate change service for the EU.
"It was also a month with contrasting rainfall extremes across Europe with many areas experiencing their driest March on record and others their wettest March on record for at least the past 47 years," she added.
Globally, this year's March was the second-warmest ever, exceeded only by March 2024, the scientists said. The global average temperature in March was 1.6 degrees Celsius hotter than in preindustrial times.
Chart: March is the hottest month (so far)
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Trump gives Medicare Advantage a big pay boost
Private Medicare plans will get a more than $25 billion increase in federal payments for the 2026 plan year, according to a policy finalized by the Trump administration Monday.
Why it matters: The more than 5% payment bump is an unexpectedly big win for UnitedHealth Group, Humana, CVS Health and Elevance, among other big insurers.
State of play: The final 2026 Medicare Advantage payment rate is significantly higher than what the Biden administration proposed shortly before leaving office.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a news release that the boost is mostly due to updated data on health spending that wasn't available when the proposal was released in January.
Still, analysts said the difference between the proposed and final payment rates was surprising and far higher than the historical average.
"This leads one to believe DOGE does not care about MA," Chris Meekins, managing director at Raymond James, wrote in a client note.
What they're saying: "We applaud the Trump administration for protecting seniors and fully funding Medicare Advantage," Mary Beth Donahue, CEO of the Better Medicare Alliance, said in a statement.
Continue reading at Axios
China is beating U.S. in biotech advances, report warns
China has pulled ahead of the United States in key areas of the life sciences, and the U.S. may only have a handful of years to regain dominance in the sector, according to an independent commission's report sent Tuesday to Congress and the White House.
Why it matters: Advanced biotechnology is critical to national security, public health and the ability to continue feeding the population.
The U.S. slipping as the world's biotechnology leader "would signal a global power shift toward China," says the report from the congressionally appointed National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology.
State of play: China has made biotechnology a national priority over the past two decades, and U.S. biotech companies are struggling to attract investors in the current market.
China's ability to use artificial intelligence to notch new biotech wins is accelerating and contributing to its rise in the space — and making it increasingly harder for the U.S. to keep up.
Continue reading at Axios
What your gut wishes you knew before Passover
A gut check ahead of Passover: Are you getting enough fiber?
Why it matters: Lots of matzo can back you up.
During Passover, sundown April 12 to sundown April 20 this year, observers eat matzo and other unleavened breads as a way to remember that the Jews fled Egypt so fast that their dough didn't have time to rise.
What we're hearing: "Matzo can have an extremely binding effect," says dietitian and author Tamara Duker Freuman, who's Jewish. "Its ingredient list essentially reads the same as a can of Play-Doh."
A sheet of matzo is "equivalent to two slices of bread, flour-wise," she says, and people tend to eat multiple sheets, without getting enough fluids.
"Anecdotally, here in New York we even see an uptick in bowel obstructions among observant Jews who have a history of Crohn's disease," Freuman tells Axios.
To avoid matzo constipation:
Continue reading at Axios
FDA cuts threaten user fee programs
The upheaval at the FDA is threatening to cripple the user fee system that funds reviews of new drugs, devices and diagnostic tests, according to four recently dismissed agency officials who are familiar with the process.
Why it matters: Drug and device manufacturers pump billions of dollars into the system to ensure their products get timely reviews. The collapse of that process could return the FDA to the early 1990s, when patients faced long waits before they could access promising treatments and devices.
The concern is acute because Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pointed to the fees as a sign of what he contends is coziness between the agencies and the industry.
"It would be catastrophic," said one official, who said 83% of the payroll for the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) is covered by user fees.
Continue reading at Axios
Johnson says fluoride should get a second look
It “may be having a negative effect” on children, the speaker says.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said fluoride levels in water deserve “real evaluation” on Tuesday, a day after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would direct the CDC to stop recommending fluoridating drinking water.
“I think it deserves, from what I’ve read and from what I understand, it deserves real evaluation,” he said during a leadership press conference on Capitol Hill. “There’s a concern that it may be having a negative effect on the health of children.”
Kennedy spoke to reporters in Utah on Monday afternoon after it became the first state to remove fluoride from public drinking water. He praised the decision and said he would direct the CDC to stop recommending fluoridating drinking water and that he is assembling a task force on the issue, pointing to some evidence that high levels of fluoride exposure is associated with lower IQ in children.
Continue reading at Politico
Polling- Surveys
Americans pan some of Trump’s biggest foreign policy moves in new poll
Data released shows skepticism about foreign policy and tariff strategy
Some of President Donald Trump’s foreign policy moves — including his handling of the Ukraine-Russia war and threats to annex Greenland — aren’t sitting well with the public, according to a new poll.
Trump is below water with Americans on new foreign policy and trade actions and efforts to tackle ongoing conflicts, the Pew Research Center found in a poll released Tuesday.
The poll conducted last month found that 43 percent of Americans believe Trump has been too supportive of Russia in his efforts to pressure Ukraine and its leader, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to accept an agreement to end the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II.
It also found that just over half of Americans believe that the president’s tariffs on China will be bad for the country, a question that was asked before this week’s huge selloff in the financial markets and predictions of recession as a result of the looming trade war.
Around a quarter of those polled said the tariffs will have a positive impact on the country.
Americans are cool to his proposals to annex Greenland and take control of Gaza and transform it into a Mediterranean destination. By more than a two-to-one margin, Americans oppose taking over either of the territories.
Public opinion was more divided on the broader conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Thirty-one percent say Trump is too aligned with Israel, while 29 percent say that he has struck the right balance.
Continue reading at Politico
More Americans say Trump is favoring Russia too much in new poll
More Americans view President Trump as favoring Russia too much in negotiations to end the war with Ukraine, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center and published on Tuesday.
Overall, Americans gave a mixed or negative review of the president’s foreign policy during the first couple months of his administration.
On Ukraine peace talks, 43 percent of respondents said Trump is favoring Russia too much. A majority of Republicans said Trump is striking the right balance (57 percent), compared to 72 percent of Democrats who say the president is favoring Russia too much.
The survey was conducted at the end of March, after the contentious Oval Office meeting between Trump and Zelensky, which resulted in a temporary shut off of U.S. military aid and intelligence sharing, critical assistance in Kyiv’s defense against Russia.
Continue reading at The Hill
Read at Pew Research Center
Consumer sentiment plunged on Monday amid tariff chaos
U.S. consumer sentiment index
Daily; Nov. 1, 2024, to April 7, 2025; Above 100 indicates positive sentiment
Consumer confidence dropped precipitously on Monday, as Americans absorbed news on stock market plunges and sky-high tariffs.
Why it matters: The index, from Morning Consult, follows other data pointing to a growing negative vibe throughout the economy.
Small-business optimism also just took its sharpest drop since 2020, per National Federation of Independent Business data out Tuesday.
Zoom out: Confidence peaked on January 21, after Pres. Trump took office, as Republicans were super-optimistic about the economy's prospects.
Republicans are still broadly optimistic, per the data from Morning Consult. But among Democrats it's "approaching lows observed during the pandemic."
How it works: Morning Consult measures sentiment by asking people questions about both current economic conditions (good or bad?) and their expectations for the future ( better or worse?).
They roll those results up into an index; any number more than 100 is positive.
By the numbers: Confidence fell to 90.6 on the index Monday — down five points from a week ago.
Continue reading at Axios
The Courts
Supreme Court says Venezuelans Trump wants to deport must be able to ‘actually seek’ relief before being deported
But the court ruled 5-4 to lift a blanket block on all deportations under Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act.
Venezuelans in the United States labeled by President Donald Trump as “alien enemies” must be given a chance to challenge their deportations before being expelled from the country, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday.
But the justices, in a 5-4 split, scrapped a trial judge’s order that had imposed a sweeping block on all deportations under Trump’s invocation of the two-centuries-old Alien Enemies Act, a rarely used law meant to guard against foreign invasions in wartime.
The decision will shift litigation over the issue from a class-action lawsuit in Washington, D.C., to federal courts in Texas, where the detainees are being held. There, the detainees can file individual petitions challenging their detentions.
Courts in Texas may not be especially receptive to such petitions. Any appeals will be heard by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, the nation’s most conservative federal appeals court.
Still, the Supreme Court’s ruling appears to deal a setback to Trump’s attempt to swiftly deport alleged members of a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, under powers used only three prior times in U.S. history, most recently in World War II.
Continue reading at Politico
Supreme Court scraps one judge’s block on Trump’s firings of probationary workers
But a second judge’s block on many of those firings remains in place.
The Supreme Court has lifted a judge’s order blocking the Trump administration from firing thousands of probationary employees at six federal Cabinet departments.
The high court ruling is a preliminary win for President Donald Trump’s efforts to rapidly downsize the federal workforce, but the decision’s ultimate impact is murky because another federal judge has issued a separate order reinstating many of the same probationary workers.
The Supreme Court’s order Tuesday said nonprofit groups lacked legal standing to bring lawsuits challenging the firings of probationary workers at the departments of Defense, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
The justices acted in response to an emergency appeal from the Trump administration in a lawsuit brought in California.
The Supreme Court has not yet been asked to weigh in on the other lawsuit involving the firings of probationary federal workers. In that lawsuit, a Maryland-based judge ordered 18 agencies to reinstate probationary workers who had been fired — but that judge later narrowed his order to apply only in 19 states and Washington, D.C.
Continue reading at Politico
2 Venezuelans file new case in New York challenging Trump’s ‘alien enemies’ deportation policy
The Supreme Court had assumed much of the legal fight would play out in Texas, where courts may be less receptive to the detainees.
Advocates for men targeted for deportation under President Donald Trump’s invocation of wartime powers against a Venezuelan gang are trying to move their legal fight to Manhattan, even though the Supreme Court expected it would play out in Texas.
The unexpected development may mean that some of the litigation over Trump’s deportation bid will occur before a Clinton-appointed judge and an ideologically mixed federal appeals court in New York, rather than under the purview of the most conservative appeals court in the country.
Lawyers for Venezuelan nationals living in the United States initially filed a class-action lawsuit in Washington, D.C. and obtained a broad court order blocking deportations under the two-century-old Alien Enemies Act. But the Supreme Court lifted that order Monday and, in doing so, likely shut down the Washington-based case.
Now the question is how — and where — further legal challenges will proceed.
The Supreme Court, voting 5-4, said lawsuits seeking to block the deportations had to be filed in the places where the detainees are jailed. The administration gathered hundreds of would-be deportees in detention centers in south Texas last month, prior to a series of planned deportation flights, so the high court assumed federal courts there would be the correct venue.
Continue reading at Politico
Immigration judge to rule Friday on possible release of detained Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil
At a hearing Tuesday in Louisiana, Judge Jamee Comans gave the federal government until Wednesday to turn over its evidence gathered against Khalil.
JENA, La. (AP) — An immigration judge in Louisiana said she will decide later this week whether the government can continue to detain Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University activist facing deportation for his role in pro-Palestinian campus protests.
At a hearing Tuesday in Louisiana, Judge Jamee Comans gave the federal government until Wednesday to turn over its evidence gathered against Khalil, a 30-year-old legal U.S. resident who has been held in a remote detention facility in Louisiana for the last month.
“I’d like to see the evidence,” Comans said. If the government cannot produce justification for removing Khalil, she added, “then I am going to terminate the case on Friday.”
Appearing by video conference, Khalil’s California-based attorney, Marc Van Der Hout, told the judge he had “not received a single document” in response to his request for “evidence and assertions” in the case. “We cannot plead until we know what the specific allegations are,” Van Der Hout said.
Khalil, who wore a navy blue T-shirt over a beige sweatshirt, spoke only briefly to ask that the judge permit his wife to follow the proceeding virtually. The judge obliged, noting that more than 600 people had requested access to the hearing through a virtual lobby. “This is highly unusual,” Comans said.
Continue reading at Politico
Anti-DEI-Whitewashing
NPS restores Underground Railroad history after outcry
The National Park Service rewrote — then restored — the Underground Railroad story and reposted a deleted photo of abolitionist Harriet Tubman.
Why it matters: The initial rewriting of abolitionist sites and history, first reported by the Washington Post, comes amid a massive purge of articles about people of color on government websites following President Trump's executive order ending federal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The big picture: It also comes as the administration is reinterpreting Civil Rights-era laws and history to focus on "anti-white racism" rather than discrimination against people of color.
It follows President Trump's order to review monuments toppled in the wake of George Floyd's murder, targeting what he calls a "concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation's history."
That executive order takes aim at what he called a "revisionist movement" that he says has infiltrated the Smithsonian Institution and other federal sites dedicated to America's history.
Zoom in: The National Park Service initially removed from a webpage an introductory quote from Tubman about being a conductor in the secret network and replaced it with postal stamps of white and Black people working together — sparking pushback from groups including the National Parks Conservation Association.
Continue reading at Axios
Air Force pulls back ban on personal pronouns in emails
In a news release published April 3, the Air Force said it has “rescinded” an earlier “directive to cease the use of ‘preferred pronouns’ (he/him, she/her, or they/them) to identify one’s gender identity in professional communications.”
Airmen and civilian employees may now include their preferred pronouns in email signature blocks, memoranda, letters, papers, social media, official websites and any Department of the Air Force official correspondence, the news release said.
The original ban was announced on Feb. 4, in guidance on President Trump’s executive order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”
Military.com reported that the ban reversal came after the Air Force learned that a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law in 2023, said the defense secretary “may not require or prohibit a member of the armed forces or a civilian employee of the Department of Defense to identify the gender or personal pronouns of such member or employee in any official correspondence of the Department.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Top NATO officer Trump’s latest ‘DEI’ firing: Meet 5 ousted top brass
President Trump has fired a top U.S. military officer at NATO, Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, a termination that caused swift rebuke from Democrats in Congress.
Chatfield was the country’s top representative to NATO’s military committee. Her firing marks the latest casualty of Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s purge of military officials seen as part of past diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
That campaign against “woke” culture in the military has led to the ouster of three barrier-breaking women in top military roles, as well as the removal of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. C.Q. Brown and top lawyers in multiple branches of the armed services.
Hegseth, an ex-Minnesota National Guard officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, has long railed against DEI efforts in books and on Fox News, where he was a longtime weekend host.
During an appearance on “Shawn Ryan Show” podcast shortly before his nomination to lead the Pentagon, Hegseth said any “general, admiral, whatever — that was involved in any of the DEI woke s‑‑‑ has got to go.”
Here are five top brass who have been ousted since Trump’s return to the Oval Office:
Continue reading at The Hill
General News
Scoop: Rattled Wall Street donors enlist GOP lawmakers on Trump tariffs
Republicans acknowledge the stress they're feeling from President Trump's tariffs. Their Wall Street donors are feeling it too, with some giving top GOP lawmakers an earful this weekend.
Why it matters: Trump is making it clear he won't tolerate any limits on his ability to impose tariffs, Axios scooped Monday. But rattled GOP donors wanted lawmakers to help convince the president that tariffs are crushing the economy.
Trump was rankled by the introduction of such a bill by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). His veto threat sent a message to any Republican senators thinking about signing onto it: Don't even think about it.
"I don't think that has a future," Senate GOP leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said of the bill.
Lawmakers declined to cite specific donor conversations, but their level of concern is high after three days of stock market chaos.
The other side: Some Republican senators, notably Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), are openly critical of Trump's tariffs, insisting they are a tax on American consumers.
Continue reading at Axios
Elon Musk's brother bashes Trump tariffs as tax on consumers
Elon Musk's brother Kimbal bashed President Trump's sweeping tariff regime on Monday as a tax on American consumers.
Why it matters: The Musk family is making their feelings very publicly known on the president's signature policy — the widest chasm yet between Trump and his "first buddy."
What they're saying: "Who would have thought that Trump was actually the most high tax American President in generations," Kimbal Musk posted on X. "Through his tariff strategy, Trump has implemented a structural, permanent tax on the American consumer."
An entrepreneur and chef, Kimbal Musk sits on Tesla's board.
Zoom out: It wasn't just the broad attack on the idea of tariffs — he also took aim at Trump's strategy of using them to encourage manufacturers to re-shore in the U.S.
Continue reading at Axios
Germany’s Merz weakened already — as he battles party dissatisfaction
The incoming chancellor vowed to be a strong leader for Europe, but coalition talks may leave him focused on damage control at home.
BERLIN — Friedrich Merz has yet to begin his chancellorship, but he’s already in big political trouble.
The incoming leader is facing slumping approval ratings and a barrage of criticism from parts of his conservative base who believe he is yielding to the will of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) during coalition talks. Merz’s critics say he is failing to make good on pre-election vows to move his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) sharply to the right in key policy areas.
The dissent within the ranks has spilled out into the open in recent days after members of the conservative bloc’s youth organization in the city of Cologne wrote a letter to Merz venting their dismay.
“Mr. Merz, we believed in your political leadership. We trusted you. And we have fought for you,” the letter read. “But we are now asking the question: for what? For a CDU that submits to the left-wing mainstream?”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Republicans rattled by tariff troubles begin to push back on Trump
Seven Republican senators signed on to a bill led by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Senate’s president pro tempore, and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) that would require the president to give Congress 48 hours notice of new tariffs, make them subject to congressional approval after 60 days, and allow Congress to rescind tariffs.
The legislative effort, which has emerged as a proxy fight for those against the tariffs, became a quick flashpoint on Monday the number of cosponsors grew and the White House threatened to veto the bill.
The attempt by the White House to nip the push in the bud only hours before lawmakers returned to the Capitol has not stemmed the concern among GOP lawmakers who worried that the economy could continue to tumble after Wall Street saw a third straight day in the red to open the week.
“It’s very hard to overturn a veto. … It doesn’t mean the battle isn’t worth having,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has not signed onto the bill, but has emerged as a leading voice against Trump’s widespread tariffs. “Win or lose, it’s worth the debate.”
Paul noted that he spoke over the weekend to a room of roughly 1,000 GOP voters in South Carolina, where he showered praise on Trump and his team but made clear that support did not extend to these extensive levies.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump vs. the Ivy League: ‘These are elite institutions and blue states’
President Trump’s administration has taken its fight with the Ivy Leagues to new heights, detaining student activists, launching investigations, pulling hundreds of millions in funding and giving even some conservatives pause.
Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Brown University and others are all feeling the heat over their alleged inaction over campus antisemitism and policies around transgender athletes.
Trump’s tactic to halt federal funding has been called illegal by opponents, though he had long pledged to go after what he called “woke” colleges. The administration has also attacked schools not in the Ivy League — particularly the University of Maine after a public spat with the state’s governor — but the elite conference of eight private schools is clearly a prime target.
“He’s not going after every highly selective, well-resourced institution. He’s going after highly selective, well-resourced institutions that happen to be in Rhode Island and Massachusetts and New York. These are in blue states. They’re name-brand institutions that a lot of Americans recognize. They are institutions that the president has spent two years trying to stereotype and caricature as being out of touch with American values,” said Jon Fansmith, senior vice president for government relations and national engagement at the American Council of Education.
Continue reading at The Hill
‘The opposite of what Americans voted for’: Market turmoil causes Trump backlash
With the markets in chaos as a result of Trump’s tariffs, the president is facing the most sustained criticism of his term from within the GOP.
Trump won in November because many voters saw him as an antidote to their economic malaise; as a candidate, he frequently promised to lower Americans’ everyday prices. But as president, he has chosen instead to plunge the country into fresh financial chaos, while insisting the market losses as a result of his tariffs are “medicine” Americans need to take.
“Trump was elected in part to lower inflation and juice the economy,” said GOP pollster Whit Ayres. “Higher prices and slower growth are exactly the opposite of what Americans voted for.”
The economic turbulence unleashed by the White House’s blanket tariffs is sending shudders through every level of the Republican Party. Alarmed officials worry the administration is driving the U.S. toward recession and dooming the GOP’s midterm chances — yet they have no idea what will convince Trump to change course.
Wall Street executives who cheered on Trump’s election in hopes he would boost the economy are starting to fret, publicly urging the White House to rein in its trade war. Republican lawmakers watching the daily stock market volatility are bracing for the political fallout, as constituents’ retirement funds dry up and employers slow their hiring.
And in some parts of Trump’s orbit, there is growing fear that if the president refuses to abandon his tariff policies soon, a chunk of his voter base will abandon him.
Continue reading at Politico
Casey DeSantis’ Hope Florida program set for more lawmaker scrutiny over links to state health agency
The program, led by first lady Casey DeSantis, aims to connect eligible residents in need with resources in the community.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Hope Florida will face further scrutiny this week over its relationship with the state Agency for Health Care Administration, with state lawmakers probing newly enacted requirements for Medicaid operators that include sharing patient data, incentivized participation and the transfer of $10 million last year.
The program, led by first lady Casey DeSantis, aims to connect eligible residents in need with resources in the community. Gov. Ron DeSantis asked the Legislature this year to etch Hope Florida into state law, spurring questions about the organization and how it receives and spends its funding.
Hope Florida had already partnered with the Florida Department of Children and Families, providing agency staffers to help take calls from eligible residents. The flagship initiative for Casey DeSantis, who is widely thought to be considering a run for governor next year, also received a tremendous lift from AHCA. The agency, which oversees most of the Medicaid program, has made participation in Hope Florida a contractual requirement for insurance companies that provide managed care coverage for the majority of the state’s more than 4.3 million Medicaid enrollees.
A copy of minutes from an Oct. 14 Hope Florida Foundation Board meeting obtained by POLITICO includes an item about a resolution in a longstanding dispute with AHCA that resulted in a $10 million allocation to the Hope Florida Foundation.
Continue reading at Politico
Behind the Curtain: Trump vs. tech titans
Why it matters: The collision of those visions helps explain the most glaring private and public fights inside the Trump coalition over tariff strategy.
The tech vision: We're at the dawn of the AI Epoch — driven by a technology so all-powerful it will reorder markets, industries and nations.
The U.S. enjoys an early, decisive AI advantage that could fuel a manufacturing and middle-class renaissance. American-made chips, data, minerals and energy companies (and adjacent work) will proliferate and prosper. Lose this race and little else matters.
The Trump vision: America is in steep, perhaps fatal decline.
The country has been "looted pillaged, raped and plundered." Salvation demands brute, unapologetic force to erase trade deficits, and muscle a 1950s America back into existence. AI won't do that. Tariffs will.
Yes, it'll be painful. But big buildings, new factories and good-paying jobs will follow for millions of Americans. Some'll be AI jobs. Many others will be traditional gigs like line worker, plumber or electrician.
What they're saying: Steve Bannon — a White House official in Trump's first term, and now an influential MAGA podcaster — told us he sees tech bros as "narcissistic globalists that put their wealth and power first."
Continue reading at Axios
Exclusive: ICE decides who's linked to gangs, border czar says
Immigration agents are the "principal" deciders on whether a detainee is linked to a gang and should be deported immediately, border czar Tom Homan told Axios in an exclusive interview.
If agents determine the answer is yes, Homan said, the Trump administration believes that detainee's rights to due process are limited.
Not so fast, the Supreme Court said late Monday. The court signaled that detainees designated as "enemies" of the U.S. could be deported, but should have some way to challenge their removal.
Driving the news: Homan's comments to Axios came on a day when the Supreme Court began to sort out how far President Trump can go in his aggressive push to deport immigrants the administration sees as threats to the U.S.
In a separate decision, Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked a lower court's order that the U.S. return a Maryland man, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, whom the administration admits was mistakenly deported to a prison in El Salvador.
Garcia, a Salvadoran who had been in the U.S. since 2011 and was here legally, was among those swept up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in raids last month that officials say targeted alleged gang members and criminals.
Many of those arrested were men like Garcia who say they weren't in gangs or wanted for crimes, civil rights advocates and other critics say. Garcia's case has become a much-watched test of the White House's zealous push for deportations.
Zoom in: Homan declined to comment on Garcia's case. But he told Axios that Trump is simply "using the laws on the books" to quickly deport unauthorized and potentially dangerous immigrants under the rarely used Alien Enemies Act.
Continue reading at Axios
Trump envoy Witkoff to lead high-stakes nuclear negotiations with Iran
President Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff will lead the U.S. delegation for nuclear talks with Iran on Saturday in Oman, two sources familiar with the plan tell Axios.
Why it matters: President Trump surprised the world Monday by announcing the high-level meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials. If diplomacy fails, the next stage is likely war.
Between the lines: So far, there have only been negotiations about the negotiations — which don't yet seem to be resolved.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, whom Iranian press reports say will be Iran's chief negotiator, insisted the talks would be "indirect" — with Omani mediators passing messages between the sides.
Trump insisted the talks would be "direct." Two U.S. officials told Axios that is indeed the plan.
Whatever the format, the stakes are clear.
"If the talks aren't successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger," Trump said, when asked by Axios if he was prepared to use military force to destroy Iran's nuclear program. "You know, it's not a complicated formula. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon."
Continue reading at Axios
Exclusive: As Social Security services are cut back, millions of seniors face long drives
Chart: Share of seniors who live at least 46.6 miles round-trip from the nearest Social Security Field Office
In less than one week, many Americans will no longer be able to apply for Social Security benefits over the phone, setting the stage for disruptions and upheaval for millions of seniors.
Why it matters: The abrupt change, implemented at breakneck speed at White House request, increases the likelihood that some eligible people will miss out on benefits; others could simply not get them at all.
The big picture: "President Trump has repeatedly promised not to cut Social Security benefits — but his Administration's actions will effectively do just that," writes Kathleen Romig, director of Social Security and Disability Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, in a new analysis shared exclusively with Axios.
More than 4 in 10 retirees apply for benefits by phone, per agency data cited by the Center.
How it works: Right now, if applicants can't use the agency's website to apply for benefits or change their bank information, they can phone an 800 number or their local office.
Starting April 14, applicants for retirement benefits and those who need to change their direct deposit information must either go online or trek to an office. (Those applying for disability, supplemental security income and Medicare can continue to do so by phone.)
By the numbers: The Center looked at how far senior citizens will have to travel to apply for benefits. For millions it will be a journey.
Continue reading at Axios
GOP senator says he was joking about using violence against journalists
Markwayne Mullin told story about reporter, former rep getting into fight
There'd be 'fake news if we could handle our difference that way': Mullin
In response to local newspaper, senator said he was joking
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) suggested in a video posted over the weekend that a lot “less false stories” would be written by journalists if they got into physical altercations with politicians.
Mullin later said he was joking after The Oklahoman wrote a story about his remarks.
“Thanks for watching my videos. Imagine being a newspaper *this* out of touch with Oklahoma,” he wrote on social platform X, sharing a picture of a map of the state with every county shaded red.
In the video, which was posted Saturday, the Oklahoma Republican told the story about Charles Kincaid, a reporter who shot former Rep. William Talubee (D-Ky.) in 1890.
The two had a “volatile history” that started after Kincaid wrote a story about Taulbee having an affair, according to the History, Art and Archives page of the House of Representatives’ website. Taulbee decided not to run for re-election but became a lobbyist, so the two kept crossing paths and trading insults.
Continue reading at The Hill
China condemns JD Vance’s ‘peasants’ jibe
Beijing hammers US vice president as lacking “knowledge and respect” in escalating feud.
China on Tuesday branded U.S. Vice President JD Vance ignorant and disrespectful after he claimed that America was borrowing money from “Chinese peasants.”
Beijing “has made its position perfectly clear on its trade relations with the U.S.,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a press conference. “To hear words that lack knowledge and respect like those uttered by this vice president is both surprising and kind of lamentable,” he added.
Vance made the comments during an interview on Fox News last Thursday, while defending U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial tariff measures. In his remarks, he used the term “peasants” to refer to some Chinese people.
“I think it’s useful for all of us to take a step back and ask ourselves, what has the globalized economy gotten the United States of America?” Vance said.
“Fundamentally, it’s based on two principles, incurring a huge amount of debt to buy things other countries make for us … We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things that Chinese peasants manufacture,” he added.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Senate confirms Trump’s controversial pick for Pentagon No. 3 job
The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Elbridge Colby, President Trump’s “lightning rod” pick to serve as the Pentagon’s under secretary for policy, despite the private concerns of several Republican senators about Colby’s past statements and views.
The chamber voted 54-45 to confirm the nominee, who will hold the No. 3-ranking job at the Pentagon and be in charge of briefing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on all defense policy matters.
Notably, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), an outspoken advocate for projecting American military strength throughout the world and supporting NATO allies, voted against Colby.
Continue reading at The Hill
Grassley says Congress ‘delegated too much authority to the president’ on trade
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to limit President Trump’s trade authority, said Tuesday that he thinks Congress has “delegated too much authority to the president.”
“I made very clear throughout my public service that I’m a free and fair trader. The Constitution gives Congress the authority to regulate interstate and foreign commerce. I believe that Congress delegated too much authority to the president in the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and Trade Act of 1974,” Grassley said.
“That said, I support President Trump’s agenda to lower tariffs and non-tariff barriers other countries impose on American goods. I support President Trump’s agenda to get a better deal from China and other countries for our farmers and manufacturers,” he added.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump to sign executive order bolstering coal mining
President Trump on Tuesday is expected to sign an executive order aiming to bolster U.S. coal mining.
In the order, Trump will define coal as a “mineral,” allowing it to benefit from a previous executive order bolstering mining that — among other things — used presidential wartime authorities to expedite production.
That order also requires federal agencies to speed up approvals for mines and prioritize mining on federal lands — which may now extend to coal.
Under the new coal-specific order, the administration will also seek to exclude coal projects from environmental reviews. And it will direct the administration to prioritize coal production on federal lands
A White House fact sheet also says that the order pushes for coal to power artificial intelligence — but does not say how.
Continue reading at The Hill
DHS issues first waiver to speed border wall construction
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued the first waiver of the administration to speed President Trump’s border wall, bypassing environmental regulations to aid construction.
The waiver will allow for the construction of 2.5 miles of barrier outside of San Diego.
“To cut through bureaucratic delays, DHS is waiving environmental laws — including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) — that can stall vital projects for months or even years. This waiver clears the path for the rapid deployment of physical barriers where they are needed most, reinforcing our commitment to national security and the rule of law,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement.
The waiver could be the first of many after a Day 1 executive order from Trump declaring an emergency at the border in order to free funding and speed construction of the wall ignited under his first term in office.
Continue reading at The Hill
Iran nuclear deal must include destruction of facilities under US supervision: Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a potential nuclear deal with Iran must include the complete destruction of Tehran’s nuclear facilities under U.S. supervision and reiterated that the Islamic republic cannot have a nuclear weapon.
“We agree that Iran must not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. This can be achieved through an agreement — but only if it is a Libya-style agreement; one where the facilities are entered, dismantled, and destroyed under American supervision and execution — that’s good,” Netanyahu said in a video Tuesday, prior to departure for Israel, referencing the 2003 nuclear disarmament of Libya.
The prime minister said the “second option is that it won’t happen at all, and they will just drag out the negotiations.”
“In that case, the option is military,” he said. “Everyone understands that. We discussed this at length.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Musk calls Navarro "moron" as trade spat intensifies
Elon Musk escalated his war of words with Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro on Tuesday, calling him "truly a moron" and "dumber than a sack of bricks" over comments about Musk's businesses.
Why it matters: The gloves are off, and Musk — who has already challenged Trump's trade policy publicly — is now getting increasingly personal with the architect of that policy, too.
The White House, asked for comment on the Musk-Navarro spat, pointed to a statement issued to CNBC, in which press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: "Whatever. We are the most transparent administration in history, expressing our disagreements in public."
Catch up quick: It all started last Saturday, when a poster on X defended Navarro's intellect as a voice on trade. Musk replied that Navarro's Harvard Ph.D. suggested he had more ego than brains, and that he "ain't built s--t."
Navarro, in TV appearances in recent days, pushed back, saying Musk wasn't a car manufacturer, just an assembler of parts.
Driving the news: Musk's had enough of that argument.
Continue reading at Axios
European dairies agree to mega-merger
Danish dairy Arla Foods has agreed to merge with German rival DMK.
Why it matters: This would create Europe's largest dairy cooperative, with more than 12,000 farmers and combined annual revenue of around €19 billion.
It also comes as the U.S. is expected to impose 20% tariffs on EU dairy imports, while the EU for now has removed dairy from its list of proposed tariffs on U.S. imports.
Continue reading at Axios
Ukraine captures 2 Chinese soldiers fighting for Putin, Zelenskyy says
Kyiv summons Chinese envoy to demand an explanation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Kyiv’s forces have captured two Chinese nationals who were fighting alongside Russian troops.
“We have information that there are much more than two such Chinese citizens in the occupier’s units,” Zelenskyy added.
Officially, China has claimed to be impartial about Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, calling for a “peaceful and diplomatic resolution of the conflict.” But in February 2022, a few weeks before the Kremlin’s troops launched their all-out assault, Moscow and Beijing announced a “no-limits partnership deal.”
According to Zelenskyy, the two soldiers were captured in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and possessed “documents … bank cards, personal data.”
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Democratic leader predicts GOP holdouts will cave and support Senate budget bill
The head of the House Democratic Caucus said Tuesday that he’s expecting conservative Republicans to cave and back a Senate-passed budget bill when it hits the floor of the lower chamber, which is scheduled to happen later this week.
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said Republicans frequently gripe privately about parts of President Trump’s agenda, but then drop their reservations under pressure from the president when it comes time to vote.
“It’s pretty clear that House Republicans generally say one thing when they’re in an elevator with us or with you,” Aguilar told reporters in the Capitol. “And then they do something else when they are given an opportunity to vote on the floor.”
Aguilar is predicting those dynamics will also govern the debate over the sweeping budget blueprint passed by the Senate last week, which has drawn howls from a number of House conservatives who fear it will pile trillions of dollars onto the national debt.
Continue reading at The Hill
Vance slams McConnell: Votes show ‘political pettiness’
Vice President Vance on Tuesday slammed former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) for voting against President Trump’s pick for a top Pentagon role, characterizing it as an act of “political pettiness.”
“Mitch’s vote today—like so much of the last few years of his career—is one of the great acts of political pettiness I’ve ever seen,” Vance said in a post on social media platform X.
McConnell was the only Republican to vote against Elbridge Colby to serve as undersecretary of policy at the Pentagon, the No. 3 role at the Defense Department.
Continue reading at The Hill
Note from Rima: Vance said: “Fundamentally, it’s based on two principles, incurring a huge amount of debt to buy things other countries make for us … We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things that Chinese peasants manufacture,”
Gallego rips Noem for rifle handling, deportations
“Human traffickers. Drug Smugglers. 18th Street Gang members,” Noem wrote in a post on the social media platform X. “Spent the morning in Phoenix with our brave @ICEgov and Arizona law enforcement arresting these dirtbags and getting them off our streets.”
Noem also shared a video of her holding a rifle and tactical gear standing alongside two law enforcement officers. The video and post were from a visit to Arizona, Gallego’s homre state.
Gallego, who is a Marine Corps veteran and served in Iraq, criticized Noem over the way she handled the gun in the video as well as the administration’s continued deportations.
“1. Close your ejection port,” Gallego said, referring to the rifle’s cartridge ejection area.
“2. If you have no rounds in the chamber why do you have a magazine inserted?” Gallego’s post continued.
“3. If you have rounds in the chamber or in the magazine why are you flagging the guy next to you?” he asked, noting that Noem in the video is pointing the barrel of the rifle in the direction of one of the law enforcement officer’s head.
Continue reading at The Hill
Keystone pipeline shut down after rupture
The Keystone oil pipeline was shut down Tuesday morning after a rupture in North Dakota halted the flow from Canada to U.S. refineries.
South Bow, which manages the pipeline, said the pipeline was shut down after a pressure drop was detected by the control center leak detection systems, The Associated Press reported.
“The affected segment has been isolated, and operations and containment resources have been mobilized to site,” the company said. “Our primary focus right now is the safety of onsite personnel and mitigating the risk to the environment.”
Continue reading at The Hill
Donald Trump Jr. to visit Romania right before contentious election
Trump Jr. previously criticized a Romanian court for canceling the 2024 presidential election.
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the United States president, will travel to Romania just six days before the first round of the country’s controversially delayed presidential election.
Trump Jr. will be attending a business event called Trump Business Vision 2025. He won’t have any private meetings or do any public events with government officials, said a person familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
In addition to Romania, he is expected to travel to other countries in Eastern Europe including Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria, the person confirmed.
Romania will hold the first round of the presidential election on May 4, with a runoff expected on May 18. Trump Jr.’s visit will be on April 28.
Continue reading at Politico
Hill Democrats take aim at Trump’s global tariffs
The bill would terminate emergency powers the president used to roll out his sweeping levies last week.
Democrats moved Tuesday to force a congressional votes on President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs — putting GOP leaders in a tough spot as the economic ramifications of the move continue to mount.
“Republicans can’t keep ducking the vote on these taxes,” said Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks of New York, Richard Neal of Massachusetts and Rick Larsen of Washington, introducing a House disapproval resolution Tuesday. “It is time they take a vote and show their constituents whether or not they support the ‘economic pain’ President Trump is inflicting on American families.”
Their measure would terminate the emergency authorities cited by Trump in implementing the broad tariffs that have rattled markets in recent days and sparked recession fears. The Senate last week approved a similar measure targeting an earlier emergency declaration used to justify levies on Canada.
Senators introduced their own measure targeting the global tariffs Tuesday, co-sponsored by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.).
Continue reading at Politico
What to know about the wave of student visa cancellations
The feds are expanding their revocation of student visas nationwide, sidestepping the regulations governing visa status, attorneys say.
The big picture: The Trump administration has moved beyond penalizing international students over pro-Palestinian activism and stripped scores of students' visas without explanation, university officials and attorneys say.
A student at Emerson College and a doctoral candidate at Dartmouth College who never partook in protests or had any criminal record were among those stripped of their visas.
Catch up quick: Schools across the country, including Boston University, Emerson and Harvard University, learned that some students abruptly had their visas revoked without explanation.
Continue reading at Axios
IRS agrees to share immigrants' data with ICE
The Internal Revenue Service has agreed to share the personal information of undocumented taxpayers with immigration authorities, a new court filing shows.
"DHS can legally request return information relating to individuals under criminal investigation, and the IRS must provide it," according to the document.
Why it matters: Immigrants without legal status contribute billions in tax revenue every year. The IRS has previously kept their tax returns, which include home and work addresses, private.
Sharing this information could help immigration enforcement agents find undocumented immigrants faster, and potentially help the Trump Administration achieve its deportation goals.
But it could also discourage undocumented immigrants from paying taxes and lead more to work in the informal economy.
Zoom in: Tax returns can only be requested in the context of a criminal investigation, and immigration authorities have to provide information about the specific individual in question and the reason tax details are relevant to the investigation, per the filing.
Continue reading at Axios
ACLU files suit to block Alien Enemies Act deportations
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a suit on behalf of two Venezuelan migrants who expect to be deported under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) and face possible removal to a Salvadoran prison.
The suit is the first in the wake of a Supreme Court decision lifting a temporary restraining order from a lower court that had blocked the Trump administration from using the law to deport people.
“The AEA has only ever been a power invoked in time of war, and plainly only applies to warlike actions: it cannot be used here against nationals of a country—Venezuela—with whom the United States is not at war, which is not invading the United States, and which has not launched a predatory incursion into the United States,” the ACLU wrote in the suit filed in New York.
A judge barred the Trump administration from removing the men before a hearing at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
The two men were parties to the original suit from the ACLU seeking to bar the Trump administration from using the Alien Enemies Act as a basis for deportations.
Continue reading at The Hill
A dozen House Republicans mull defying Trump on tariff bill
At least a dozen House Republicans are considering signing onto Rep. Don Bacon's (R-Neb.) bill to restrict the White House's ability to impose tariffs unilaterally, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: It's a significant break with President Trump, who has threatened to veto the bill should it pass Congress.
Bacon told Axios that two Republicans — Reps. Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) — and two Democrats have signed on to the bill as co-sponsors.
He added: "I have 10 others who want to do it but they want to talk to the trade representative first."
The details: The bill would cause any tariffs a president institutes to expire after 40 days unless Congress votes to pass a resolution of approval.
Continue reading at Axios
Democrats unveil legislation raising federal minimum wage to $17 an hour
Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the Raise the Wage Act of 2025 on Tuesday in both chambers with hopes of increasing the federal minimum wage.
The bill would raise the minimum wage to $17 by 2030 according to the Economic Policy Institute. The current federally mandated hourly wage is $7.25 and has not increased since 2009.
“No person working full-time in America should be living in poverty. The Raise the Wage Act will increase the pay and standard of living for nearly 22 million workers across this country,” said Scott, who is the ranking member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
“Raising the minimum wage is good for workers, good for business, and good for the economy. When we put money in the pockets of American workers, they will spend that money in their communities,” he added.
The legislation, which has 142 co-sponsors in the House, would index future pay increases while phasing out the subminimum wage for tipped workers and subminimum wage for youth workers in addition to ending subminimum wage certificates for workers with disabilities.
Continue reading at The Hill
US pulling troops from Poland hub key in shipping arms to Ukraine
The U.S. military will pull its forces and equipment from a southeastern Polish logistics hub that is key in shipping weapons into Ukraine, a move a senior defense official claimed would save “tens of millions of dollars.”
U.S. Army Europe-Africa head Gen. Christopher Donahue on Monday announced the planned repositioning of the command’s personnel from Jasionka to other sites in the country, which permanently stations about 10,000 U.S. troops.
In a statement, the command said the transition is “part of a broader strategy to optimize U.S. military operations and comes after months of assessment and planning in coordination with Poland and NATO allies.”
“After three years at Jasionka this is an opportunity to right-size our footprint and save American taxpayers tens of millions of dollars per year,” Donahue said in the statement.
Continue reading at The Hill
EU seeks China’s help to contain Trump’s trade war
Ursula von der Leyen spoke to Chinese Premier Li Qiang in an attempt to stop goods hit by Donald Trump’s tariffs flooding into Europe.
BRUSSELS — The European Union on Tuesday reached out to Beijing for help in tracking a wave of Chinese imports that is expected to pour toward the EU after U.S. Donald Trump ramped up tariffs on China.
China has pledged to “fight to the end” against Washington in an escalating showdown with Trump that could see Chinese goods facing tariffs of as high as 104 percent in entering the U.S. market.
The challenge for the EU — as in the trade war of Trump’s first term — is that goods boxed out of the U.S. will quickly flow toward new markets in the EU, opening the up the risks of an even deeper global trade war.
Seeking to address the problem, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke to Chinese Premier Li Qiang and discussed “setting up a mechanism for tracking possible trade diversion and ensuring any developments are duly addressed.”
“President von der Leyen emphasised China's critical role in addressing possible trade diversion caused by tariffs, especially in sectors already affected by global overcapacity,” the Commission said in a read-out of the call.
Continue reading at Politico Europe
Hegseth tries carrot, not stick, on Panama
The Defense secretary promoted working with ‘like-minded allies and partners’ after Trump repeatedly threatened to take over the famous canal.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is talking up American efforts to work with Panama to safeguard its canal from Chinese influence, a major departure from President Donald Trump’s threats to take the critical waterway.
“Together with Panama in the lead, we will keep the canal secure and available for all nations through the deterrent power of the strongest, most effective and most lethal fighting force in the world,” Hegseth said at a press conference Tuesday while on a visit to the country.
Hegseth’s new tune comes after some major changes the Trump administration has heralded. The country announced plans to leave China’s Belt and Road Initiative in February. And in March, the Hong Kong company operating two crucial ports along the canal said it would sell its stakes to an investment group led by BlackRock, an American company.
Throughout his speech, Hegseth hammered home a message that looked very different from Trump’s threats to the country. China, Hegseth stressed, is the aggressor. And the U.S. is building on its military and security partnership with Panama to reflect that.
Continue reading at Politico
DHS revokes parole for hundreds of thousands who entered via the CBP One app
The move could leave over 900,000 immigrants vulnerable to deportation — unless they self-deport, DHS said.
The Trump administration is revoking parole status for immigrants who entered the U.S. via the Biden-era CBP One app, in a push to get immigrants to voluntarily leave the country.
“Under federal law, Secretary [Kristi] Noem — in support of the president — has full authority to revoke parole. Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told POLITICO in a statement.
Some immigrants began receiving formal email notices from the DHS on Tuesday stating that the department would be using its discretionary authority to revoke parole. The move could leave over 900,000 immigrants vulnerable to deportation.
The CBP One app, launched in January 2023, was one of the Biden administration’s key efforts to control illegal immigration, by organizing appointments at different ports of entry along the southern border for immigrants seeking asylum. The parole designation protected immigrants from deportation and also issued work authorizations for up to two years.
Continue reading at Politico
Jeffries challenges Johnson to "one-on-one" House floor debate
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday challenged Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to a "one-on-one debate" on the House floor about Republicans' budget resolution.
Why it matters: It could happen, with Johnson telling reporters he is "happy to debate" his Democratic counterpart "anytime."
Continue reading at Axios
Musk’s taunts at Navarro expose deeper rift in the Trump coalition
The men’s juvenile feud is a proxy for more substantive divisions within President Donald Trump’s MAGA coalition.
The extraordinary spat between Elon Musk and Peter Navarro is exposing the divisions within MAGA’s new, big-tent coalition.
It’s a fight that has been brewing quietly for months. The trade war is now not only bringing it into the public’s view, but also inflaming it.
The two figures — one, the world’s wealthiest man but a relative newcomer to the Trump orbit and the other, a trade protectionist who is so loyal to the president that he went to prison for him — began a squabble over the weekend that spilled into a crass social media exchange Tuesday. Musk, in a series of posts on X, called Navarro “dumber than a sack of bricks” and “Peter Retarrdo,” an escalation from his weekend criticisms of Navarro’s Harvard PhD.
The feud, though juvenile, is in many ways a proxy for more substantive divisions within President Donald Trump’s coalition. It’s a diverse group of people who came together in November to elect the president but with varied — and sometimes conflicting — reasons for doing so, many of which are being amplified by this current debate on tariffs.
The coalition contains a contingent of old MAGA supporters who were around during Trump’s first presidency, including ideologues like Navarro; a coterie of conservatives who are highly skeptical of Washington, Wall Street and any institution they believe is working to oppose their agenda; and a cache of MAGA influencers who relish the chaos of Trump trying to burn the system down. It also includes new MAGA types — from Musk and other tech titans like Marc Andreessen to the barstool conservatives types like Dave Portnoy and Joe Rogan. They joined the movement because they thought Trump would improve the economy, push “common sense” policies on cultural issues, and, in some cases, boost their personal profiles or businesses.
Neither side’s outlines are neatly drawn. But the spaces between the factions are turning into fissures amid Trump’s trade war, especially for those watching their stock portfolios shrink.
Continue reading at Politico
Judge orders Trump White House to restore AP access
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to restore the Associated Press’s access to key White House spaces after it exiled AP reporters over the organization’s refusal to use “Gulf of America” in its popular stylebook.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, an appointee of President Trump, directed the White House to resume allowing the AP into the Oval Office, Air Force One and other limited spaces when they’re made available to other press pool members.
The judge also granted the AP’s request for returned access to events open to all credentialed White House reporters, though it listed several caveats.
“This injunction does not limit the various permissible reasons the Government may have for excluding journalists from limited-access events. It does not mandate that all eligible journalists, or indeed any journalists at all, be given access to the President or nonpublic government spaces. It does not prohibit government officials from freely choosing which journalists to sit down with for interviews or which ones’ questions they answer. And it certainly does not prevent senior officials from publicly expressing their own views,” McFadden wrote.
Continue reading at The Hill
Criminal task force to investigate potential misuse of homeless funds in California
The new top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles is launching a task force to investigate possible fraud, waste, abuse and corruption involving funds meant to address homelessness in Southern California.
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, who has been in the Trump-appointed role for the seven-county Central District of California for less than a week, announced on Tuesday that the new unit will include federal prosecutors that handle major fraud, civil rights, public corruption and civil fraud cases.
Essayli, 39, was a Republican state lawmaker where he was frequent antagonist of California Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, when President Trump tapped him for the federal prosecutor job last week. The appointment will require Senate confirmation for Essayli to stay in the role longer than 120 days.
About 75,000 homeless people reside in Los Angeles County, with more than half of them in the City of Los Angeles, according to the most recent headcount data available from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA). The county’s homeless population was just under 53,000 in a 2018 count.
Continue reading at The Hill
Bondi: Justice Department cut funding for Maine corrections department over transgender inmate
The Justice Department revoked funding for the Maine Department of Corrections over the state’s placement of a transgender woman in a women’s prison, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday.
Bondi made the announcement during an interview with Fox News, saying the department pulled all “nonessential” funding from the state corrections department on Monday after federal officials learned “a guy” was serving time in one of the state’s two women’s facilities. Bondi said the inmate was convicted of murder.
The loss in funding for the department totaled upward of $1.5 million, according to Fox News. The Justice Department did not return a request for comment.
In a news release, Maine’s corrections department said it received formal notice from the Department of Justice on Monday that certain federal grants “are being terminated because they ‘no longer effectuate the program goals or agency priorities.’” The cuts will impact state-run initiatives related to substance abuse treatment and support for children with incarcerated parents, the corrections department said.
The notice from the Justice Department, a copy of which was obtained by The Hill, does not mention transgender inmates. “While the Department is aware of related public statements by the United States Attorney General, the notice is the only communication that has been received by the Department,” Maine’s corrections department said.
Continue reading at The Hill
Trump exempts dozens of coal plants from stricter pollution standard
President Trump on Tuesday exempted dozens of coal plants from a Biden administration regulation imposing stricter standards for mercury, lead, nickel and arsenic emissions.
Trump announced the exemption as part of a series of actions he took to bolster the coal industry.
“As part of our historic deregulatory efforts, this afternoon, I’m also granting immediate relief to 47 companies operating 66 coal plants, very big ones all over the country,” he said.
He said that the Biden-era restrictions made it “impossible to do anything having to do, frankly, with energy.”
Exposure to the pollutants in question raises the risk of developmental delays in children, as well as heart attacks and cancer.
Continue reading at The Hill
Despite Trump’s fossil fuel embrace, some moves rankle industry
While President Trump has pledged to be a friend to the fossil fuel industry and taken steps intended to bolster it, several of his recent moves have garnered pushback from oil, gas and coal executives.
In a recent anonymous survey, oil and gas companies expressed that Trump was creating “uncertainty” and pushed back against his tariff efforts.
Meanwhile, the coal industry has said Trump’s proposed port fees on Chinese ships make exports difficult.
The discord underscores the tension between Trump’s “America first” agenda and his promise to bolster the fossil fuel industry.
“Firms do not like economic uncertainty,” said Christopher Knittel, a professor of applied economics and dean for climate and sustainability at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“The ‘drill baby drill’ goal is not coming into fruition because of all this economic uncertainty,” he said.
Continue reading at The Hill
Fannie Mae fires more than 100 employees for unethical conduct, including the facilitation of fraud
“Since my swearing-in, we fired over 100 employees from Fannie Mae who we caught engaging in unethical conduct, including facilitating fraud, against our great company,” William J. Pulte, chair of Fannie Mae’s board of directors, said in a statement.
“Anyone who commits fraud against Fannie Mae does so against the American people,” he added.
In his Tuesday statement, the Pulte said under the Trump administration there would be no room for fraud, mortgage fraud or “any other deceitful act that can jeopardize the safety and soundness of the housing industry.”
Pulte was sworn in on March 14 after being appointed by President Trump.
Fannie Mae CEO Priscilla Almodovar praised the move.
Continue reading at The Hill
US knocks China over citizens captured in Ukraine war: ‘Disturbing’
“It’s disturbing with the Chinese soldiers having been captured,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a briefing Tuesday. “We’re aware of those reports.”
“China is a major enabler of Russia in the war in Ukraine. China provides nearly 80 percent of the dual-use items Russia needs to sustain the war,” she continued.
Bruce noted President Trump maintains that continued cooperation between Russia and China will only further “contribute to global instability.”
Her comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced earlier in the day that his country’s military captured two Chinese men fighting in Ukraine with the Russian army, The Associated Press reported.
Continue reading at The Hill
Acting IRS commissioner resigning after agency reaches data-sharing deal with immigration authorities
(CNN) — Acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Melanie Krause informed her staff Tuesday she is leaving the agency amid internal chaos and the exodus of several senior IRS officials, according to two current IRS employees and one former IRS employee.
Krause’s decision to accept the agency’s deferred resignation offer comes on the heels of the IRS and Department of Homeland Security finalizing an agreement Monday to provide sensitive taxpayer data to federal immigration authorities to help the Trump administration locate and deport undocumented immigrants.
The controversial data sharing agreement between the agencies was one factor that played a role in Krause’s decision to leave, according to one source with knowledge of the situation. The source said that the last draft of the agreement that Krause had been involved with, and had reviewed, was different than the final agreement. Krause learned about the details of the final agreement from the news, the source said.
Continue reading at CNN.com
Microsoft fires employees who protested its support for Israel at 50th anniversary event
Two Microsoft employees were fired for protests condemning the company’s support for Israel at a 50th anniversary event last week.
Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman was interrupted by shouts from software engineer Ibtihal Aboussad during his speech at the Friday celebration while Vaniya Agrawal, another engineer, interjected during a question-and-answer session with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, CEO Satya Nadella and former CEO Steve Ballmer.
Earlier this year, the Associated Press reported that the company’s commercial artificial intelligence (AI) is being used by the Israel Defense Force in Gaza.
“How dare you celebrate when Microsoft is killing children,” Aboussad yelled as she approached Suleyman on stage.
Continue reading at The Hill
Democrats press law firms on deals with Trump
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) are pressing the White House and six top law firms about alleged deals struck with the Trump administration to avoid getting targeted by executive orders for hiring lawyers and representing clients whom the president does not like.
In the letter to White House counsel David Warrington, Blumenthal and Raskin — the top Democrats on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and the House Judiciary Committee, respectively — noted that President Trump has targeted five law firms in recent weeks in executive orders that explicitly detail “his personal grievances which led to its issuance.”
“The retaliatory nature of these executive orders has not been even tacitly disguised,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter, noting that the orders have targeted firms with connections to cases against Trump or lawyers connected to those cases.
Continue reading at The Hill
Texas AG Paxton announces he’s running for US Senate against Cornyn
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday after previously hinting at launching a bid against his incumbent GOP colleague Sen. John Cornyn (Texas).
“I’m announcing that I’m running for U.S. Senate against John Cornyn, who apparently is running again for his fifth term, which would put him there three decades. It’s definitely time for a change in Texas,” Paxton said while announcing his campaign on Fox News’s “The Ingraham Angle.”
“We have another great U.S. senator, Ted Cruz, and it’s time we have another great senator that will actually stand up and fight for Republican values, fight for the values of the people of Texas, and also support Trump, Donald Trump, in the areas that he’s focused on in a very significant way. And that’s what I plan on doing,” he continued.
Paxton, 62, has branded himself as a “fearless conservative” and “loyal supporter” of President Trump on his campaign website, noting his intentions to deliver on the Republican leader’s legislative agenda.
Continue reading at The Hill
DOJ: Some Jan. 6 defendants should be repaid money they sent to Congress
Prosecutors say those whose convictions were wiped out are entitled to reimbursement of the restitution they paid.
Jan. 6 defendants whose convictions were wiped out by President Donald Trump are entitled to a refund of restitution payments they made to cover damage to the Capitol, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
The department’s determination could result in hundreds of payouts from the federal government intended to cover the cost of repairing about $3 million in damage to the Capitol from the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
The administration revealed its position in a filing to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is weighing one defendant’s request to be repaid the $500 in restitution he sent to the Architect of the Capitol after his conviction on misdemeanor charges.
The defendant, Stacy Hager, argued in February that he should be reimbursed now that his conviction has been erased as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping grant of clemency to more than 1,500 people charged in the attack.
The Justice Department did not respond until Tuesday.
“The government agrees that Hager is entitled to the return of those funds,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Dreher wrote.
Continue reading at Politico
Trump admin cuts funding to Princeton University over climate programs
The Trump administration is pulling nearly $4 million in funding from Princeton University, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced Tuesday.
The big picture: The cuts come days after the administration already paused dozens of Princeton's research grants following similar federal funding reviews or revocations at other Ivy League schools like Columbia and Harvard.
Driving the news: The Department of Commerce said awards, including those pertaining to climate risks and global warming, "are no longer aligned with the program objectives of NOAA" and are "no longer in keeping with the Trump Administration's priorities."
One such project is focused on the fluctuation of water availability as a result of global warming.
"Using federal funds to perpetuate these narratives does not align with the priorities of this Administration and such time and resources can be better utilized elsewhere," the department said.
Zoom in: Tuesday's funding block comes "after a detailed, careful, and thorough review" of the Commerce Department's financial assistance programs to its subagency's, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), current program objectives.
Continue reading at Axios
White House freezes funds for Cornell and Northwestern in latest crackdown
Pauses come after Trump officials sent warning letters to 60 US universities for ‘failure to protect Jewish students’
In early March, the Trump administration sent warning letters to 60 US universities it said were facing “potential enforcement actions” for what it described as “failure to protect Jewish students on campus” in the wake of widespread pro-Palestinian protests on campuses last year.
The president of Cornell University, which was on the list, responded with a defiant op-ed in the New York Times, arguing that universities, and their students, could weather debates and protests over the war in Gaza.
“Universities, despite rapidly escalating political, legal and financial risks, cannot afford to cede the space of public discourse and the free exchange of ideas,” the Cornell University president Michael Kotlikoff wrote on 31 March.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration froze over $1bn in funding for Cornell University, a US official said. The administration also froze $790m for Northwestern University, which hosts a prominent journalism school.
The funding pause includes mostly grants and contracts with the federal departments of health, education, agriculture and defense, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The newly announced funding freezes at Cornell and Northwestern come as Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania face similar investigations. The New York Times estimated that at least $3.3bn in elite university federal funding has already been frozen by the Trump administration in the past month, with billions more under review.
Continue reading at The Guardian
Mexico warns against potential U.S. drone strikes on cartels
Mexican President Claudia says that Mexico would defend its sovereignty against “violations by land, sea or air.”
Trump has also charged that Mexico is “essentially run by the cartels” — an assertion rejected by Sheinbaum.
MEXICO CITY — Amid reports that the Trump administration is considering drone strikes against cartels, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reiterated her staunch opposition to any such military action.
“We do not agree with any kind of intervention or interference,” Sheinbaum told reporters Tuesday at her daily morning news conference. “This has been very clear: We coordinate, we collaborate, [but] we are not subordinate and there is no meddling in these actions.”
The president’s comments, reaffirming her already-stated views on the sensitive topic, come as various reports have suggested the Trump administration may be considering aerial strikes on cartel targets — and that the administration is prepared to act unilaterally if Washington cannot secure Mexican support.
Continue reading at the Los Angeles Times
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That work wardrobe you need? Fuhget it for the next four years | Blog#42
If you’re a white collar worker, one of the costs of working is having to maintain a work-appropriate wardrobe, and pencilling in time at your favorite department store at your local upscale mall. No matter what kind of work you do, if you have children, you pencil in a trip to the local mall to buy children’s clothing, with time at their favorite restaurant for a burger and dessert.