Thursday, February 20 | By Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch |
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| ▪ Trump backs House budget plan over Senate's ▪ Ukraine not for sale, Zelensky tells Trump ▪ Will Americans see DOGE dividend checks? ▪ Hamas offers to release all Gaza hostages |
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©️ The Associated Press | J. Scott Applewhite |
It's House vs. Senate in the budget battle
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Two budget roads diverged in Congress this week, and GOP lawmakers haven't agreed on which to travel. In an effort to enact a broad swath of President Trump's legislative priorities, House Republicans want to push through "one big, beautiful bill." Republicans on the House Budget Committee advanced the conference's budget resolution last week, setting the stage for a single piece of legislation that would appropriate funding for the border, enact energy policies and extend a slew of tax cuts, among other items on the president's wish list. Trump on Wednesday backed the House's plan on Truth Social. His endorsement came out of the blue for some lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), who is shepherding his chamber's two-bill approach. Thune told reporters he "didn't have any immediate conversations" with Trump prior to the post. "As they say, 'Did not see that one coming,'" Thune said. The House resolution, however, is not on a glide path to being adopted by the full chamber if it comes to a vote next week. The measure outlines a $1.5 trillion floor for spending cuts across committees with a target of $2 trillion, a $4.5 trillion cap on the deficit impact of the Republicans' plan to extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts, and $300 billion in additional spending for the border and defense. It also increases the debt limit by $4 trillion. Moderates have voiced concerns about potential cuts to Medicaid, while other members with a high percentage of Medicaid beneficiaries may be wary of the reductions, and a handful of hard-liners have never supported a debt limit increase in the past. Republicans will only be able to lose one GOP vote if all members are present and the entire Democratic caucus opposes the measure, which is expected. The Hill's Mychael Schnell breaks down four key groups to watch as the vote approaches. ▪ The New York Times: Trump says Medicaid won't be "touched." House Republicans want it cut by hundreds of billions of dollars. ▪ The Hill: Trump's promise to keep Medicaid benefits intact is colliding headlong into the GOP's strategy to extend their 2017 tax cuts, complicating the Republicans' efforts to achieve a top legislative priority in the early months of Trump's second term. ▪ The Washington Post: The Trump administration ordered the Pentagon to plan for sweeping budget cuts. A senior official said that money saved through the cuts could be "realigned" to other defense priorities that Trump has. Senate Republicans favor a slimmer, two-bill approach to the budget, which they confirmed they will move forward with on Wednesday despite Trump's preferences. After a closed-door meeting with Vice President Vance, Republicans said the upper chamber will press on with a budget resolution that would unlock the process they hope to use to pass large portions of Trump's agenda without Democratic support. Thune told reporters Wednesday that Trump likes "optionality" and that the Senate would press on with its plan, which he touted as addressing "the president's top priority, which is securing the border, implementing and putting in place his immigration policies, rebuilding our military and creating energy dominance for this country." "The House, as you know, is working on a different budget resolution, and we certainly wish them all the success in moving it. We will work closely with them. More power to them," he said, noting the House is working on getting "the tax piece of this done." Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters he's "pulling for the House to pull it together and get one big, beautiful bill, but it's got to be consistent with President Trump's tax agenda, and right now, you know, the tax agenda is to make the tax cuts permanent. And the House bill doesn't do that." "You would see lawsuits": Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, warned Trump and his team not to claw back spending from Congress or face legal consequences. As Elon Musk and the White House budget office seek to block spending that has already been approved by Congress, Collins said she "[thinks] it's pretty clear that this violates Article One of the Constitution." "You would see lawsuits" if the actions continue, Collins told Politico. "A lot of these issues are going to end up in court." The Hill: The Senate on Wednesday confirmed former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) to lead the Small Business Administration. |
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Smart Take
with Blake Burman |
| It's Feb. 20, one month after Inauguration Day and one of the top campaign issues remains present. Here we are, once again, focusing on inflation. Just look at what we've seen over the last couple of days. On Tuesday, President Trump said 25 percent automotive tariffs could be coming in April. On Wednesday, he told investors at a conference in Miami, "If Joe Biden had simply held federal spending at the pre-pandemic levels we had in 2019, right now, we would have virtually no inflation." However, shortly before those comments, the newly released minutes from the Federal Reserve's January meeting listed tariffs as one of the potential factors keeping inflation elevated. We'll all see where things go from here, but at some point in this term, it will become more difficult to blame former President Biden. |
Burman hosts "The Hill" weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation. |
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| - The Senate today is expected to vote to confirm Kash Patel as FBI director. He stands to make millions of dollars from a foreign company, Chinese fashion brand Shein, The Wall Street Journal reports. Critics call it a potential conflict of interest.
- The Interior Department issued a stop-work order to a firm that provides legal representation under contract to thousands of unaccompanied migrant children. It did not cite a reason.
- Trump will meet with some Democrats over lunch next week, he said Wednesday. The who and when were unclear. "They're the party of some really bad things," he said. "And I think they'll change. I think they have to change."
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©️ The Associated Press | Tetiana Dzhafarova, AFP |
UKRAINE: Trump on Wednesday doubled down on his criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him "a dictator" in a post on Truth Social and warning he "better move fast or he is not going to have a country left." Zelensky on Wednesday hit back at Trump's accusation that Ukraine started its war with Russia, saying that the president is trapped in a "disinformation bubble," adding that his country was not for sale. On Wednesday, the U.S. special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, was in Kyiv to "sit and listen" to Zelensky's administration after the Ukrainians were left out of the initial dialogue with the Kremlin in Saudi Arabia earlier this week. Upon arriving, Kellogg, a retired three-star general, said it was nice to be visiting Kyiv "just a few days before the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine," seemingly acknowledging which side had initiated the war. Trump's increasingly caustic comments toward Zelensky have left long-time international allies rattled. "What Trump is doing is preemptive surrender," Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO under former President Obama, told Politico. "These talks are nonconditional. They're designed to hit the reset button and with an eagerness to lift sanctions. They want to get back to business as normal as if this is [Mikhail] Gorbachev 1987, not Putin 2025. It's a complete misreading of what Putin is all about." Trump's critical remarks of Zelensky and his handling of its war with Russia are giving Senate Republicans agita and showing off a key divide as hawks plead with him not to give Moscow a free pass in talks to end the three-year conflict. ▪ NBC News: Inside the week that upended U.S.-Ukraine relations. ▪ BBC: Fact-checking Trump's claims about war in Ukraine. Trump is set to meet next week in Washington with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer amid tensions over his approach to negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine. Trump's rhetoric about ending the war and his conversations with Russia marked a shift in posture from the Biden administration, which worked in lockstep with European allies and championed the concept of "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine." ▪ Politico: Trump's statement that Kyiv "started" Russia's war against Ukraine has left Europeans dumbstruck, with one British government aide simply responding, "Jesus." ▪ The Wall Street Journal: Europe is struggling to respond to a stunning about-face in U.S. foreign policy and Trump's broadsides against Ukraine in its war with Russia. ▪ Reuters: While Trump envisions a U.S. deal with Ukraine to get its rare earth minerals, Russia is militarily close to seizing Ukraine's riches for itself, particularly lithium. ▪ The Hill: Trump is leaning on Steve Witkoff, a longtime friend and real estate investor, to facilitate key aspects of his foreign policy. Witkoff has found himself at the center of hostage deals and negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine as he expands his profile beyond his title of "special envoy to the Middle East." |
- The House will convene briefly at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.
- The Senate meets at 10 a.m.
- The president is in Washington today. He will host an East Room reception honoring Black History Month at 3 p.m. Trump will deliver remarks at a meeting of the Republican Governors Association at 7:20 p.m. at the National Building Museum and return to the White House.
- The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 1 p.m.
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©️ The Associated Press | AP Photo |
TRUMP DIVIDEND CHECKS? Here's a new wrinkle on government reform: Trump suggested Wednesday he might give taxpayers a slice of his efficiency team's reductions in government spending based on an ambitious $2 trillion target. In other words, he's eyeing dividend checks and givebacks of 20 percent to taxpayers from savings identified by Elon Musk and his team, perhaps as much as $5,000 per taxpayer. "I think it's great idea," he told reporters Wednesday Budget experts are skeptical. And some Republicans in the Capitol are gasping for oxygen over the idea of a 2025 version of stimulus checks. They're laboring this week over a mathematical budget puzzle that can lower taxes, raise spending on border security and defense, leave entitlement spending untouched (per Trump's pledge) and simultaneously shrink the federal deficit. Musk's plunge into eradicating "waste, fraud and abuse" and downsizing what he calls the "unelected bureaucracy" was supposed to help GOP lawmakers with the arithmetic. The dividend idea reportedly was floated by James Fishback, CEO of the investment firm Azoria. At its core, it reflects the administration's sensitivity to polls. Billionaire Musk with the MAGA pruning shears and his "special government employee" title is getting low marks from independents, moderates and Democrats, according to recent surveys. Trump's job approval sagged a bit during the past month. The Internal Revenue Service may not be popular with a majority of Americans, but during the current tax filing season, its employees are busy. Yet under the president's order to reduce the size of government, roughly 6,000 IRS employees will begin to be fired today, The New York Times reported. Most are expected to be relatively new hires who do not have civil service protections in an agency that has about 100,000 accountants, lawyers and other staff working around the country. The Biden administration and Congress invested in IRS personnel to ramp up tax enforcement under the premise that additional revenues would result, including from corporations. LEGAL CHALLENGES: The president's effort to limit the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship is heading to the Supreme Court after a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday denied the Justice Department's request to immediately reinstate the president's executive order. Separately, the Department of Government Efficiency faces at least six lawsuits challenging its actions and legal authority. DELETIONS, DEREGULATION: The president issued an executive order late Wednesday to withdraw federal support for the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Presidio Trust, the Inter-American Foundation and the U.S. African Development Foundation. He's also doing away with the Presidential Management Fellows program and various federal advisory councils. Trump also ordered an Office of Management and Budget process for a review of federal regulations with the aim of doing away with many. Trump during his campaign pledged to remove 10 regulations for each new one. GRADING RESULTS: In public opinion polls, Trump's pledge to find a minimum of $1 trillion in spending cuts with help from Musk attracts a lot of attention but adds to confusion about what has thus far been achieved. The Pew Research Center found that more than half of surveyed adults have an unfavorable view of the polarizing Musk, compared with 42 percent of respondents who said in a survey released Wednesday that they view the SpaceX CEO positively. A CNN poll released today found that 52 percent of adult respondents thought Trump has gone too far in the use of his power, with similar majorities wary of the president's elevation of Musk and decisions to shutter some federal agencies. Political strategists have counseled Democrats to publicly champion a government that works better and costs less, but with a focus on whether Trump's changes are aimed at helping everyday Americans. "We have to, at the gubernatorial level, where we have a lot of governors, and at the mayoral level, show that we are a party of reform," Rahm Emanuel, a former member of Congress, former Chicago mayor and ex-West Wing adviser to two Democratic presidents, said Tuesday during the "Hacks on Tap" podcast. Emanuel recently completed a turn as U.S. ambassador to Japan. "We are not doing that," he argued, citing the Clinton era, when the enactment of welfare reform and a balanced federal budget shifted the political playing field. "We've given up our mantle of reform," Emanuel said. SAFEGUARDING HEALTH AND SCIENCE: It's avian influenza season. The government's response to the spread of bird flu and the impact on supplies and prices for poultry and eggs have been criticized. State and local health officials say there is no clear plan of action from federal officials. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention based in Atlanta is reaching out to states and localities, albeit late. It has not helped that Trump's freeze on grants and loans and the administration's purge of some virus researchers in the Department of Agriculture stirred considerable confusion. STRAINS AND SCHISMS: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) told Trump's Transportation Department Wednesday that New York City will head to court to challenge the federal government's authority to terminate the city's congestion pricing tolls on vehicles, a change New York made Jan. 5. It was canceled by Washington on Wednesday. The Hill's Niall Stanage in The Memo explores how Trump and New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D), who is seeking another term, roil the Big Apple. During a hearing on Wednesday, the Justice Department's acting deputy attorney general told a judge that the government sought to drop criminal prosecution of New York's mayor because he is viewed as crucial to the administration's immigration crackdown. The department argued for the first time that its rationale could more broadly apply to others with critical public safety and national security responsibilities in New York City, such as a police commissioner. A suggestion that the president can decide who should be immune from prosecution based on political or policy considerations was startling. The judge said he will take some time before ruling. Congressional Hispanic Conference Chair Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) tells The Hill he wants to see about a dozen Hispanic Republicans become a more vocal and organized bloc in the House. Gonzales said he expects to "have frank conversations with the administration on issues that I think we live and know best." The Conservative Political Action Committee, featuring GOP rising stars and lots of attention to cultural issues, meets this week. Here are five things to watch during the annual event. Google (and its ubiquitous maps) are floundering in the Trump-sparked international "Gulf of America" renaming controversy. Trump's executive order this week to promote access to make more affordable in vitro fertilization treatments revived a controversy he attempted to quiet during his presidential campaign. |
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©️ The Associated Press | Abdel Kareem Hana |
GAZA CEASEFIRE: Hamas said it is ready to release all the remaining hostages in Gaza ina single exchange if its ceasefire agreement with Israel moves forward to a second phase next month. The group today handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza — the first time the group has released deceased captives since October 7, 2023. The offer comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled his readiness to talk about a second phase of the Gaza ceasefire after an extended delay. Meanwhile, the families of hostages still held by Hamas on Wednesday demanded that Netanyahu explain the lack of progress on the second phase of the ceasefire, describing the delays as a "clear and tangible" danger to their loved ones. The Hill: Who are the hostages freed by Hamas as part of the ceasefire in Gaza? Trump's media group, which owns Truth Social, on Wednesday sued a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, alleging that he censored right-wing voices on social media platforms. The lawsuit came hours after charges against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, were sent to the country's highest court. Bolsonaro is accused of attempting a coup to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat, in a plot that included a plan to poison his successor and current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and kill a Supreme Court judge. The New York Times: U.S. officials are considering whether they can strike a deal with China that would ramp up its purchases of American goods and investments. |
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- A Trump outrage that stands apart, by David Ignatius, columnist, The Washington Post.
- Call it the Bland Old Party: The Conservative Political Action Conference kicks off at a low point, by Emily Brooks, The Hill analysis.
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©️ The Associated Press | Darron Cummings |
Take Our Morning Report Quiz And finally … 🌡️ It's Thursday, which means it's time for this week's Morning Report Quiz! Alert to winter illnesses plaguing humans, birds and cows, we're eager for some smart guesses about the dreaded flu. Be sure to email your responses to asimendinger@thehill.com and kkarisch@thehill.com — please add "Quiz" to your subject line. Winners who submit correct answers will enjoy some richly deserved newsletter fame on Friday. Which president contracted influenza while on a diplomatic trip in Paris, suffered hallucinations and eventually recovered to return to the U.S. while keeping his illness a secret? 1. Teddy Roosevelt
2. Woodrow Wilson
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
4. George H. W. Bush Which of these notables is hospitalized this week in Rome with double pneumonia? 1. Giorgia Meloni
2. Francis Ford Coppola
3. Pope Francis
4. Stanley Tucci Which federal entity conceded it should not have fired some of its avian influenza response specialists over the weekend as part of the administration's cost-cutting? 1. U.S. Department of Agriculture
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
3. Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
4. Food and Drug Administration The flu season is bad this year amid declining vaccination rates in the U.S. for children and adults. What percent of Americans received an influenza vaccine for the season, according to news headlines and data through Feb. 1? 1. 12 percent
2. 21 percent
3. 37 percent
4. 45 percent |
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