Morning Report — Democrats look to sidestep shutdown blame

In today’s issue:  

Shutdown risk fades; Senate Dems to join GOP

Trump raises tariff heat on Europe

Putin backs away from ceasefire with Ukraine

Judge: Fired workers should be reinstated

Senators are working down to the wire to avoid a midnight funding lapse in Washington that would carry major ramifications.

Despite widespread Democratic criticism of the House’s stopgap bill, a number of Democrats are expected to vote today to pass the legislation. They argue that keeping the lights on in Washington is paramount, even though they say the bill would create a “slush fund” for President Trump and Elon Musk. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday urged his fellow party members to approve the measure, emphasizing that Senate Democrats have little appetite for being the face of a shutdown.

“I will vote to keep the government open, and not shut it down,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.

Schumer is only the second Senate Democrat to confirm he’ll vote to advance the GOP-written bill — joining Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.). But it’s likely his decision will give political cover to other Democrats. Schumer said he agrees with Democratic colleagues who say the continuing resolution (CR) is a bad piece of legislation but warned that the alternative would be worse.

“While the CR bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much, much worse,” he said. “For sure, the Republican bill is a terrible option. It is not a clean CR, it is deeply partisan. It doesn’t address far too many of this country’s needs, but I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a government shutdown is a far worse option.”

House Democrats are furious at their fellow Democrats, saying Schumer and other aisle-hopping senators are set to empower Trump to gut the government at the expense of their own constituents.

“There is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said. “And this is not just about progressive Democrats, This is across the board — the entire party.”

Schumer is also facing pushback from Senate Democrats who have come out against the proposal, writes The Hill’s Alexander Bolton. Liberals, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), argued the House bill would give Trump and Elon “a blank check to spend your taxpayer money however they want.”

Senate Republicans control 53 seats and would need six Democratic votes, in addition to Schumer and Fetterman, to advance the measure. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he will vote against the bill because it doesn’t do enough to cut the deficit. Those Democratic votes could likely come from senators facing tough 2026 reelection campaigns, as well as those who are retiring.

The Hill: Congress is poised to pass a funding bill this week that D.C. officials warn would lead to a $1 billion cut to the city's local budget, a move that has been catching members of both parties off guard. 

Trump on Thursday said Democrats would be to blame if government funding runs out this weekend, and he suggested a shutdown could delay GOP efforts to extend expiring tax cuts. On Capitol Hill, Republican lawmakers told Politico that if they oppose the GOP’s funding plan that gives Trump further power to slash the federal government, a shutdown would allow the president even more leeway.

To ease the pain of voting for the package, some Democrats are demanding the Senate first vote on their own, “clean” 30-day stopgap, which would be doomed to fail on the floor. Some members see it as a way to make a point while also avoiding a shutdown. Schumer and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) have discussed that plan, though decisions are not final about how the upper chamber will proceed to a final vote.

Despite Schumer’s appeals on the floor, several Democrats from both wings of the party have declared they cannot back the stopgap because it allots too much power to Trump and Musk. They lamented that House Republicans drafted a partisan bill, passed it narrowly and then left Washington — punting the responsibility, and blame, for avoiding a shutdown into the Senate’s court.

“What everyone is wrestling with is that either outcome is terrible,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.). “This president has put us in a position where, in either direction, lots of people’s constituents are going to get hurt and hurt badly. So people are wrestling with what is the least worst outcome.”

Smart Take from Blake Burman is off today but will return next week.

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY

▪ Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), a House veteran who rose to power in the Democratic Caucus, died Thursday of complications after treatment for lung cancer. He was 77.

▪ Why did Trump punish well-known law firm Perkins Coie using an executive order and why did a federal judge on Wednesday say the president’s move sent “little chills down my spine”? 

▪ Stock prices for the world’s largest technology companies tumbled in the past month after years of gains driven by artificial intelligence (AI).

LEADING THE DAY

President Trump is not relenting when it comes to barbs aimed at U.S. trading partners while exchanging tit-for-tat tariffs that many economists predict could raise prices for U.S. consumers.

On Thursday, Trump said he might impose 200 percent tariffs on alcohol from the European Union in response to the EU’s 50 percent tariffs on U.S. whiskey. That action by the EU had been aimed at retaliating against Trump’s application of steel and aluminum tariffs. 

Trump accused the 27-nation bloc, one of this country’s closest allies, of being among “hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities” globally. He asserted the EU was “formed for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the United States.”

The EU, in fact, came together in 1993 to strengthen political, national security and economic ties under the Maastricht Treaty. European leaders view the EU as an alliance focused on preventing wars after World War II, not punishing the United States, as Trump suggests.

A spokesperson for the European Commission said the region's trade minister contacted U.S. counterparts on Thursday after the president’s comments.

Trump posted on social media, “The U.S. doesn’t have Free Trade. We have 'Stupid Trade.' The Entire World is RIPPING US OFF!!!" The U.S. remains the world's largest importer of both wine and champagne, with the former comprising $4.9 billion in annual sales and the latter more than $1.7 billion. Meanwhile, U.S. exports of wine rank fifth among all nations at about $1 billion, while its exports of champagne and sparkling wine total just $67 million, 12th in the world.”

▪ The Hill: Canada filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over certain U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs.

▪ NewsNation: What would alcohol cost under Trump’s proposed 200 percent tariff?

▪ Reuters: Many Americans in a new Reuters/Ipsos survey said they view Trump’s actions on the economy as too erratic.

14TH AMENDMENT AND SUPREME COURT: The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to narrow lower-court rulings that blocked Trump’s plan to end automatic birthright citizenship, which guarantees that those born in the U.S., regardless of parentage, are automatically citizens under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. 

Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris said in three concurrently filed emergency applications in different cases that it was a “modest” request. Federal judges in lower courts have suggested that the Constitution is clear-cut on the subject.

The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, states, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

BBC explainer: Trump issued an executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of migrant parents without legal status or who are in the U.S. on temporary visas. The U.S. is among 30 countries that grant birthright citizenship. What do other countries do? 

NOMINEE WITHDRAWN: Trump on Thursday withdrew his nomination of David Weldon to direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because Weldon did not have enough support to be confirmed in the GOP-controlled Senate. The president has not named a new CDC nominee. 

GUANTANAMO BAY: Migrants ordered to the U.S. base in Cuba by Trump are now gone from Guantanamo Bay after expenditures of at least $16 million, plus the cost of military transport. The Wall Street Journal reports that tents pulled out of storage to shelter migrants designated for deportation are empty and the U.S. military has begun making plans to draw down personnel deployed to the naval base in the coming weeks

WHERE AND WHEN

The House will hold a pro forma session at 9 a.m. House Democrats conclude an issues conference in Leesburg, Va., today.

The Senate will convene at 10 a.m.

The president will sign executive orders at 2 p.m. in the Oval Office. Less than an hour later, Trump is scheduled to head to the Justice Department to deliver remarks at 3 p.m. The president will travel at 4 p.m. to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to fly to Palm Beach. Trump is expected to arrive at Mar-a-Lago at 7:10 p.m.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio concludes his participation in a Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting in Canada.

ZOOM IN

NOT SO FAST: Two federal judges on Thursday ruled that fired federal employees should be reinstated. A federal judge in California ordered probationary employees (usually those lacking civil service protections) who were fired by the Trump administration to be offered reinstatement at six departments and agencies, including the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior and Treasury. He called the Trump administration’s firings “unlawful.” U.S. District Judge William Alsup said he might extend his order later to cover additional federal agencies. Hours later, a federal judge in Maryland issued a similar order covering probationary workers previously employed at more than a dozen government agencies and departments.

ATTORNEYS GENERAL SUE ADMINISTRATION: Two days after the Trump administration fired more than 1,315 Education Department employees, a coalition of 21 Democratic attorneys general filed suit in Massachusetts federal court, arguing the dismissals were “illegal and unconstitutional.” The effort is led by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D).   

“This outrageous effort to leave students behind and deprive them of a quality education is reckless and illegal,” James said in a statement. 

The one city and states joining forces with New York in the lawsuit are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia.

The Education Department ended the Biden administration with 4,400 employees and will lose about half its workers in the early wave of Trump administration deconstruction of a department created under former President Carter. It will cause a delay in “nearly every aspect” of K-12 education in states bringing the court challenge, James said. They seek to halt the downsizing.

The Washington Post: How Education Department layoffs hit student loans, academic testing and civil rights.

SAY WHAT? (MUSK RETWEETS ABOUT HITLER): Musk, who has more than 219 million followers on his social media platform X, retweeted a post Thursday saying Soviet revolutionary Joseph Stalin, former Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong and Adolf Hitler did not murder millions of people, “Their public sector workers did.”  

ELSEWHERE

UKRAINE: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said he was in no hurry to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine and wanted to continue negotiating with Trump. Putin told reporters that Russia was in favor of a 30-day truce with numerous conditions that would be devastating for Ukraine. They include no more weapons supplies or mobilization, surrender rather than withdrawal of Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region, and most importantly the removal of “underlying causes of this crisis.”

“The idea itself is the right one, and we definitely support it,” Putin said. “But there are questions that we need to discuss, and I think that we need to talk them through with our American colleagues and partners.”

Earlier Thursday, Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov said the proposed ceasefire gives nothing to Russia and only benefits Ukraine. Trump dispatched his senior envoy for Russia, Steve Witkoff, to speak with Russian officials about a ceasefire this week. Trump warned he can do “very bad things” to Russia financially if they rejected talks to end the war with Ukraine. 

“A 30-day temporary ceasefire. Well, what does it give us? It gives us nothing.” Ushakov told Russian state media. “It only gives the Ukrainians the opportunity to regroup, gather strength and continue the same thing in the future.”

▪ CNN: Ukraine loses grip on key Russian territory, as Trump says peace “is up to Russia now.”

▪ The Washington Post: Russia should work to weaken the U.S. negotiating position on Ukraine by stoking tensions between the White House and other countries, according to a document prepared for the Kremlin. 

Meanwhile, foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations sought to show a united front in Canada on Thursday after seven weeks of rising tensions between U.S. allies and Trump over his upending Ukraine and his tariff threats.

“Peace and stability is at the top of our agenda, and I look forward to discussing how we continue to support Ukraine in the face of Russia’s illegal aggression,” Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said in brief remarks at the start of the meetings. “Of course we want to foster long-term stability as well in the Middle East.”

GAZA CEASEFIRE: As the fragile Israel-Hamas truce hangs in the balance, Witkoff has presented an updated U.S. proposal for extending the ceasefire in Gaza by several weeks in return for additional hostage releases and the resumption of humanitarian aid to the enclave, Axios reports. The proposal is an effort to buy more time for negotiators to settle on the second phase of the ceasefire deal.

Hamas spokesperson Basem Naim said of the negotiations: “Things are at a standstill.”

▪ The Associated Press: The U.S. and Israel have reached out to officials of three East African governments to discuss using their territories to potentially resettle Palestinians from Gaza.

▪ Reuters: New Liberal Party leader Mark Carney will be sworn in as Canada’s next prime minister this morning, marking the final day of Justin Trudeau’s more than nine years in power.

OPINION

▪ Putin doesn’t want a ceasefire in Ukraine. He still wants to win, by Max Boot, columnist, The Washington Post.

▪ Whole Hog Politics: Your way-too-early Senate race ratings, by Chris Stirewalt, political editor, The Hill.

THE CLOSER

And finally … 👏👏👏 Congratulations to this week’s Morning Report Quiz winners! With Women’s History Month in mind, we asked about women’s firsts.

Here are the champion puzzlers who went 4/4: Sari Wisch, Pam Manges, Harry Strulovici, Lynn Gardner, Kenny Kraft, Phil Kirstein, Jess A. Elger, William Chittam, Jenessa Wagner, Mark Roeddinger, Luke Charpentier, Linda Field, Laura Rettaliata, Mark Williamson, Anthony R. Fellow, Rick Schmidtke, Steve James, Brian Hogan, Robert Bradley, Luther Berg, Jim Dykstra, Sharon Banitt, Karen Mitchoff, Tim Burrack, Jane Heaton, Chuck Schoenenberger, Liz Prystas, Carmine Petracca, Sherry Westerman and Terry Pflaumer.

They knew after surveying the options that former first lady Michelle Obama was never taking part in Blue Origin’s planned, all-female spaceflight.

Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.) was the first Black woman elected to the Senate.

Susie Wiles became the first female White House chief of staff in January. State representative is a job she has not held during her career.

Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first female president, persuaded Trump to postpone tariffs on Mexican goods.

Stay Engaged 

We want to hear from you! Email: Alexis Simendinger (asimendinger@thehill.com) and Kristina Karisch (kkarisch@thehill.com). Follow us on social media platform X (@asimendinger and @kristinakarisch) and suggest this newsletter to friends! 

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