Evening Report — Gabbard, RFK Jr. move closer to confirmation

Evening Report

TRUMP FIRST 100 DAYS

Trump Cabinet coming into focus after Gabbard, RFK Jr. nominations advance

PRESIDENT TRUMP IS ONE STEP CLOSER to getting his desired team in place after Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received backing from Republicans on key Senate committees Tuesday, dramatically improving the chances that both nominees will be confirmed.

The Senate Finance Committee voted along party lines to advance Kennedy’s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a doctor and vaccine advocate, had the power to potentially torpedo Kennedy’s nomination.

Cassidy instead voted to confirm, saying he’d received “serious commitments” on vaccine policy from Kennedy, Vice President Vance and others in the Trump administration.

“My expectation that we can have a great working relationship to make America healthy again is the basis of my support,” Cassidy said.

Gabbard faced a steeper climb, with several GOP senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee expressing deep reservations about her nomination and withholding their support until the final moments before the panel vote.

Ultimately, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Jerry Moran (R-Ind.) came around.

“I appreciate Tulsi Gabbard’s engagement with me on a variety of issues to ensure that our intelligence professionals will be supported and policymakers will receive unbiased information under her leadership,” Young posted on X.

With those Republicans on board, it seems likely that Kennedy and Gabbard will be confirmed by the full Senate, where the GOP holds a 53-47 majority.

The spotlight now falls on Kash Patel, who Trump tapped to lead the FBI, as the lone outstanding controversial nominee.

Patel’s committee vote has not been set yet.

TRADE WARS

Trump said he expects to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the coming days after China slapped tariffs on the U.S. in response to Trump putting tariffs on China.

China’s tariffs don’t go into effect for a week, so there’s still time for Trump and Xi to reach a deal to avert the tariffs, as Trump did with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

Trump’s 10 percent tariff on China went into effect Tuesday.

China’s Ministry of Finance announced a retaliatory 15 percent tariff on natural gas and coal, along with a 10 percent tariff on crude oil, automobiles and agricultural machinery. China also imposed restrictions on exporting minerals used in technology products, and will launch an investigation into Google.

BUDGET ISSUES

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) postponed an initial vote on a budget resolution that is central to Trump’s legislative agenda, an ominous sign for Republicans who are governing with a bare majority in the House.

GOP leadership and House conservatives are trillions of dollars apart on spending cuts.

The Hill’s Mychael Schnell and Emily Brooks report:

“The early obstacle for the GOP’s sweeping legislation — which Republicans say will include an extension of tax cuts, border enforcement funding and energy priorities — is a concerning sign for Johnson as he looks to send the bill to Trump’s desk by Easter or Memorial Day, a timeline some Republicans admit will be difficult to achieve.”

Will the Senate move first? The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports:

"Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will brief Republican senators Wednesday about moving first on a budget resolution to lay the groundwork for a package focused on border security, energy and defense that could pass the Senate with a simple majority while House Republicans remain deadlocked on how to move forward."

UP NEXT

• Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a joint press conference this evening as the peace deal between Israel and Hamas enters a critical phase.

Netanyahu is feeling pressure from hardliners in his own party to not implement the second phase of the ceasefire agreement.

“I have no guarantees peace is going to hold,” Trump said Monday.

Developing: Congress placed a hold on a $1 billion arms sale package for Israel.

• Trump will sign an executive order banning transgender athletes from women's sports.

• Trump plans to attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans this weekend.

💡Perspectives:

• Chris Stirewalt: Trump opens the door for a rebalancing of power.

• New York: How Democrats lost the dissident vote.

• BIG: China tariffs go into force.

• The Liberal Patriot: Majority rule and the loyal opposition.

• New Criterion: Is this the end of DEI?

Read more:

• Patel scrutinized over past work for Qatar.

• Trump’s tariff threats give Washington whiplash.

• 5 things to know about Trump’s plan to create a sovereign wealth fund.

• Trump wants rare earth elements from Ukraine in exchange for military aid.

• Senate confirms fracking CEO Chris Wright to lead Energy Department.

• Senate confirms Doug Collins as VA secretary.

CATCH UP QUICK

The Department of Education is investigating antisemitism allegations at five universities.
Comedian and writer Amber Ruffin will emcee the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in the Spring.
Threats to lawmakers rose almost 20 percent in 2024, according to new data from the Capitol Police.
State Farm requested an emergency 22 percent rate hike in California following the Los Angeles fires.

NEWS THIS AFTERNOON

Musk sets sights on Education Department

President Trump and Elon Musk are eyeing the Department of Education for their next offensive on the federal workforce.

The Wall Street Journal reports that White House officials have discussed an executive order to reorganize or dismantle the department:

“The order would call for developing a legislative proposal to abolish the department,” the Journal reports.

Musk, a "special government employee" who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), posted on X — which Musk owns — that Trump “will succeed” in dismantling it.

This comes as Democrats are raising questions about Musk’s authority and whether his moves to disrupt and destroy agencies, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), are lawful.

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service released a report Tuesday saying Trump “does not have the authority to abolish” USAID.

“Because Congress established USAID as an independent establishment (defined in 5 U.S.C. 104) within the executive branch, the President does not have the authority to abolish it; congressional authorization would be required to abolish, move, or consolidate USAID,” the CRS report says.

USAID employees found themselves locked out of their offices, email and work accounts over the weekend. Democrats staged a rally in front of the headquarters, but were turned away when they tried to enter the building.

USAID oversees the administration of billions of dollars of humanitarian, development and security assistance.

Trump has described USAID as a “criminal organization,” and many Republicans view it as a taxpayer-funded slush fund for liberal pet projects abroad.

Not all Republicans agree.

"I have felt for a long time that USAID is, is our way to combat ... China’s effort to really gain influence around the world, including Africa and South America in the Western Hemisphere,” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said, according to Mediate.

Trump appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio as USAID’s acting administrator, an apparent attempt fold it into the State Department

“[It] was always the goal was to reform it, but now we have rank insubordination,” Rubio told Fox News in an interview. “Now we have basically an active effort — their basic attitude is, ‘We don’t work for anyone, we work for ourselves, no agency of government can tell us what to do.'”

Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are calling on Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.) to convene a hearing with senior Trump administration officials to determine whether the efforts to shutter the agency are illegal.

OFFENSIVE AGAINST THE FEDERAL WORKFORCE GROWS…

• The Treasury Department is being sued by a coalition of groups after DOGE officials received access to the federal payment system.

Musk and his allies at DOGE are seeking to audit and potentially freeze payments to federal contractors, among other things.

Democrats are calling for an investigation and promising a bill to block “unlawful meddling” in Treasury systems.

The Hill’s Laura Irwin reports: “The Treasury Department controls $6 trillion annually and distributes the funds for various programs like Social Security and Medicare, salaries for federal workers, payments to government contractors and grant recipients, and tax refunds.”

• House Oversight Democrats are demanding answers about the “server of unknown nature and origin” that was installed at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to send buyout offers to federal employees.

Democrats say OPM “may have violated laws dictating how the agency must plan for using databases with personally identifiable information.”

Two OPM employees are asking a court to block the agency from using computer systems and emails connected with its buyout offers.

About 20,000 federal workers have accepted buyouts so far, Axios reports.

• Careerists at the FBI and Department of Justice are bracing for impact.

Via The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch: “The Trump administration has removed dozens of Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI officials and is eyeing firing perhaps thousands more in an unprecedented purge that may just be getting started.”

Nine current agents are suing the FBI and DOJ, saying a review of cases pertaining to the Jan. 6, 2021 riots is being conducted in preparation to retaliate against them.

💡Perspectives:

• The Hill: Spending cuts are coming.

• Executive Functions: The Trump orders as “Radical Constitutionalism.”

• The Hill: Trump’s massacre of the federal workforce will destroy his 2nd term.

• The Hill: Trump floods the zone. Democrats need to raise hell.

Read more:

• 5 takeaways on Musk, Trump war with USAID.

• Lawmakers, legal experts warn shuttering USAID is unconstitutional.

• Burgum begins to implement Trump’s ‘energy emergency’ declaration.

IN OTHER NEWS

Washington roundup: Lawsuits over Trump executive order piling up

• Lawsuits challenging President Trump’s executive orders are piling up.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing the Trump administration over the president’s Day 1 executive order to end asylum protections at the border. The ACLU says the order contradicts a U.S. law allowing migrants to seek protection from persecution and danger.

Higher education groups are suing over Trump’s executive orders eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) positions in government and his threat to withhold funding from institutions with DEI programs.

• Who says bipartisanship is dead?

Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will introduce a bill to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent. Americans paid more than $105 billion in credit card interest in 2022, Hawley said.

“When large financial institutions charge over 25 percent interest on credit cards, they are not engaged in the business of making credit available. They are engaged in extortion and loan sharking,” Sanders said in a statement. “We cannot continue to allow big banks to make huge profits ripping off the American people.”

• The Trump administration has begun flying immigrants who entered the country illegally to Guantánamo Bay, as it plans to use the facility in Cuba to detain thousands of migrants.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says El Salvador offered to house criminals who are American citizens and deportees of other nationalities. Rubio met with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele Monday and described the offer as “the most unprecedented and extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world.”

💡Perspectives:

• The Hill: What I learned on my post-election trip to Trump Country.

• The Hill: Trump, Congress skip out on the bill for mass deportations.

• Fox News: Journalists shed light on the media's Biden cover-up.

• The Bulwark: Bubba has the answers for Dems in despair.

Read more:

• Schools poised to be front line in Trump immigration crackdown.

• Abbott says Texas National Guard authorized to make immigration arrests.

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