Evening Report — Government funding fight headed for the wire

Evening Report

TRUMP FIRST 100 DAYS

House takes first swing at averting shutdown

HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADERS are striking a confident tone ahead of Tuesday evening’s vote on a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open, which will be another key test of President Trump’s influence over the GOP.

Republicans are not expected to get any help from Democrats, who are whipping against the bill that would fund the government for six months at slightly lower spending levels than 2024.

“We’ll have the votes,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said. “We’re gonna pass the CR. We can do it on our own.”

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is so far the only hard no on the Republican side. He’s opposed similar funding patches in the past and won’t make an exception for this one, despite Trump’s insistence that there be “no dissent” within the GOP caucus.

Trump has promised to put up a primary challenge against Massie, a fiscal hawk who has refused to bend to Trump’s second term spending demands.

“Someone thinks they can control my voting card by threatening my re-election. Guess what? Doesn’t work on me,” Massie posted on X.

If Democrats have full attendance and vote unanimously against the CR, then Republicans can’t afford even one more defection for it to pass.

The spotlight now turns to a handful of other potential GOP holdouts, although all of them got on board to pass the budget resolution last month after being prodded by Trump.

The conservative hardliners in the House Freedom Caucus will support the CR, despite opposing similar temporary funding measures in the past.

“This bill will reduce and then freeze spending for the next six months to allow President Trump and his Administration to continue their critical work within the Executive Branch to find and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse,” the Freedom Caucus said in a statement.

Vice President Vance visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday to try to close the deal.

The Hill’s Mychael Schnell and Emily Brooks report that Vance told lawmakers that if the House fails to pass the CR, Republicans will be blamed. But if the Senate fails to pass it, Democrats will be blamed.

Asked if they’d have the votes, Rep. Tom Emmer (Minn.), the GOP whip, responded: “Hell yeah.”

CR FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE IN THE SENATE

A shutdown is still possible Friday even if the House passes the CR.

In the Senate, at least seven Democrats will have to support it to surpass the 60-vote threshold, assuming all Republicans vote in favor.

Some Democrats insist they’ll oppose it.

“This is a shutdown bill that’s bad for the economy—let Trump shutdown whatever he wants, hurting everyday folks to use money for tax breaks for the uber-rich,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) posted on X. “Hell no!”

But The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that some Senate Democrats fear a shutdown could backfire by supercharging Elon Musk’s efforts to gut the federal workforce.

“Who knows what he’s going to want to open back up? That is a huge risk,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said. “Maybe they decide that entire government agencies don’t need to exist anymore.”’

TRADE WAR DE-ESCALATES...FOR NOW

The government in Ontario, Canada, is backing off its threat to slap a surcharge on electricity sold to three U.S. states to give Premier Doug Ford and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick more time to reach a deal.

Ford and Lutnick will meet in person in Washington on Thursday to discuss a renewal of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.

Trump has promised reciprocal tariffs on Canada and other countries that are set to go into effect starting April 2.

The president has been raging at Ford over the threatened levy on electricity, saying Tuesday that his administration would double the planned steel and aluminum tariffs against Canada in retaliation for the electricity surcharge.

But Lutnick and Ford released a joint statement this afternoon saying they'd had a “productive conversation about the economic relationship between the United States and Canada.”

“In response, Ontario agreed to suspend its 25 per cent surcharge on exports of electricity to Michigan, New York and Minnesota,” Ford and Lutnick said.

This comes amid a slump in consumer and small business confidence. The stock market has sold off dramatically in recent days and economists warn the trade war could torpedo the global economy.

Trump will make remarks this evening at a Business Roundtable meeting.

Senate Republicans, who have long opposed tariffs, are sounding the alarm.

“When the markets tumble like this in response to tariffs, it pays to listen,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) posted on X.

The latest Emerson College poll found Trump’s approval on the economy is 11 points underwater, with 53 percent of Americans saying tariffs will harm the economy.

💡Perspectives:

• Nail-biter spending vote could hinge on Trump-district Democrats.

• Speaker Johnson looks to jam Senate Democrats with bill to avert shutdown.

• Senate Democrats fear shutdown politics have changed.

• White House says Trump won’t cut Social Security, Medicare after Musk remarks.

Read more:

• The Wall Street Journal: Will there be a Trump recession?

• New York: The government shutdown vote is a GOP trap for Democrats.

• The Hill: You can’t say Trump didn’t warn us.

• The New Republic: An “Abundance Agenda” is the anti-DOGE.

CATCH UP QUICK

Hollywood pivots to programming for Trump’s America.
Southwest Airlines will end free checked luggage and other policies that are popular with consumers.

NEWS THIS AFTERNOON

U.S. lifts military freeze on Ukraine in push for 30-day ceasefire

The Trump administration will immediately restore military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine after a bilateral meeting in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday resulted in a tentative proposal for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

In a joint U.S.-Ukraine statement, the nations announced Ukraine had “expressed readiness” to accept the U.S. proposal of a 30-day ceasefire with Russia. U.S. officials will now take that proposal to Moscow.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz are in Saudi Arabia negotiating with their Ukrainian counterparts.

“We made an offer that the Ukrainians have accepted, which is to enter into a ceasefire and to immediate negotiations to end this conflict in a way that is enduring and sustainable and accounts for their interests, their security, their ability to prosper as a nation,” Rubio said.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow later this week, according to Bloomberg.

“Our hope is that the Russians will say yes, that they will also agree, so the shooting will stop, the killing will stop, the dying will stop, and the talks can begin about how to end this war permanently, in a way that’s acceptable and enduring for both sides,” Rubio said.

Military officials from all over the world are gathered in Paris to discuss an international security force for Ukraine, as President Trump pushes global leaders to invest more in their own security.

“The Ukrainian delegation reiterated that European partners shall be involved in the peace process,” the joint statement said.

A minerals deal between the U.S. and Ukraine is still outstanding, but the countries said they “agreed to conclude" negotiations on that deal "as soon as possible."

💡Perspectives:

• The Free Press: Inside the Trump Resistance, funded by the ultra-wealthy.

• The Wall Street Journal: Latino shift toward Trump won him the election.

• The Nation: Democrats' militarism paved the way for Trump.

• Vox: Can Europe save Ukraine?

IN OTHER NEWS

Arrest of Columbia University graduate becomes First Amendment, immigration proxy battle

The arrest of Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil for his association with pro-Palestinian protests has become a proxy battle over First Amendment rights and President Trump’s aggressive deportation efforts.

Khalil, who is in the U.S. legally with a green card and has not been charged with a crime, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over the weekend.

Trump accused him and others of engaging in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity” and said that “this is the first arrest of many to come.”

A judge appointed by former President Obama halted the deportation and set a Wednesday hearing for Khalil, whose wife is eight months pregnant.

Because Khalil has a green card, legal experts say only an immigration judge can revoke his status.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that Khalil distributed propaganda in support of Hamas, a terrorist organization, and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has the right to revoke his status.

“The Secretary of State has the right to revoke a green card or visa for individuals that are adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests to the United States of America,” she said.

Free speech advocacy groups such as FIRE, which has defended the First Amendment rights of citizens across the ideological spectrum, sent a letter to the Trump administration demanding answers.

“The statements the government has released suggest its decision may be based on his constitutionally protected speech," the letter stated. "This lack of clarity is chilling protected expression, as other permanent residents cannot know whether their lawful speech could be deemed to “align to” a terrorist organization and jeopardize their immigration status.”

"The federal government must not use immigration enforcement to punish and filter out ideas disfavored by the administration," the letter continued. "It must also afford due process to anyone facing arrest and detention, and must be clear and transparent about the basis for its actions, to avoid chilling protected speech.”

The pro-Palestinian campus protests in recent years resulted in more than 2,000 arrests, with some Jewish students facing harassment and discrimination. Some schools moved their classes online or cancelled graduation events, facing criticism for their failure to protect their students.

But the arrest of Khalil has provoked pushback from First Amendment advocates on the right, who championed free speech during what they saw as a crackdown by the Biden administration. Vice President Vance scolded Europe last month in a speech that accused them of abandon their free speech principles.

“There’s almost no one I don’t want to deport, but unless they’ve committed a crime, isn’t this a violation of the First Amendment?” conservative commentator Ann Coulter posted on X.

More than a dozen House Democrats signed a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanding Khalil be released.

“This should scare everyone,” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) posted on X.

The Trump administration has promised to crackdown on anti-Semitism on college campuses, with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights investigating 60 universities over allegations of anti-Semitism.

💡Perspectives:

• The Free Press: ICE detention of a Columbia student is just the beginning.

• The Liberal Patriot: Why Democrats are struggling on trans issues.

• The Hill: Both sides lose in culture war name games.

• Washington Monthly: Dems should create a “Town Hall Night in America”.

Read more:

• Musk having ‘great difficulty’ running businesses amid DOGE obligations.

• Trump pushes detente between Musk and Rubio.

• Trump administration eyes payroll reduction at National Park Service.

• Senate confirms Lori Chavez-DeRemer as Labor secretary.

• Judge orders release of certain owed foreign aid payments.

Stay Engaged

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