Morning Report — Dems between rock and hard place on stopgap

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In today’s issue:  

Shutdown drama jams Senate Democrats

Trade war, the sequel

U.S. negotiators heading to Russia

Measles cases multiply

The shutdown ball is firmly in the Senate’s court.

The spending package passed the House along party lines, with one sole Democrat voting with most Republicans to pass the legislation. Now, the upper chamber must vote on the House GOP’s six-month stopgap funding bill by Friday at midnight or risk a government shutdown, and Democrats are holding their cards close to the vest. 

Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, has called the legislation a “dumpster fire.” On Wednesday, Senate Democrats said they will not vote for the funding package, which would boost defense spending and cut nondefense programs, unless they first get a vote on a 30-day funding stopgap to give bipartisan negotiators more time to reach a deal on the annual appropriations bills.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced on the floor that Democratic senators would not vote to advance the House bill — at least not now — and called for the Senate to instead pass a 30-day “clean” funding patch.

“Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input, any input from congressional Democrats,” he said. “Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture on the House CR [continuing resolution].”

But The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports Democrats privately said that they will not allow the government to shut down on Saturday, and that Schumer is giving plenty of room to centrists in his caucus to vote for the House bill if doing so is the only way to avoid a government shutdown at week’s end. Still, the private assurances don’t rule out the possibility that something unexpected could happen to change the political calculus.

There’s no indication Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is ready to let Democrats vote for a shorter bill, or whether 13 Republicans would support it. Senate Republicans aren’t particularly enthusiastic about the bill either. The increase in defense spending is “the only reason I’ll vote for this piece of c----,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said of the bill after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday shored up GOP votes on Capitol Hill.

President Trump was instrumental in getting the package across the finish line in the House, personally calling members to ensure their support. 

Shutdown or not, it’s a no-win situation for the minority party. Democrats don’t want the lights to go out, but firmly oppose the contents of the GOP bill, leaving them between a rock and a hard place.

“They’re both horrible outcomes,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) — who later said he wouldn’t vote for the bill. “I went to sleep last night. I stayed up late and really thought about it. Had one decision in mind. Woke up and realized, ‘No, I don’t. That’s not the right [decision].’ It’s just hard. This is the most frustrating issue that I’ve seen since I’ve been here.” 

▪ The Hill: Inside Trump and Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-Ky.) love-hate relationship.

▪ The Associated Press: “In DOGE we trust”: The House GOP governs by embracing Trump’s efforts to cut the government.

▪ The Hill: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) will not run for reelection in 2026, creating an open-seat race in a battleground state.

▪ The New York Times: How Congress could force $1.1 billion in cuts on Washington, D.C. District leaders say that a proposed cut to the city budget, part of a plan to avert a federal government shutdown, is unfair. 

SMART TAKE with NewsNation’s BLAKE BURMAN

President Trump is beginning to dismantle parts of the Department of Education, and one of his goals is to send money back to the states, in theory putting education decisions closer to home. 

“We want education to be moved back where the states run education, where the parents of the children will be running education,” the president said. “Where governors that are doing a very good job will be running education.”  

I spoke with one of those governors, Hawaii's Josh Green (D). He told me he spoke to Trump recently about the topic and he’s on board with some aspects of the idea.

“If the dollars flow to us and we get rid of some bureaucracy, I think governors will welcome the resource,” Green said. But, he added, “Right now, there’s a lot of concern that the changes are too quick, and we don’t like to see anyone lose jobs.” 

For all the back and forth here in Washington from lawmakers and activists on both sides of the debate, it’s also important to hear from governors, as they'll be the ones potentially taking on new responsibilities.  

Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.

3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY

▪ The Hill’s exclusive excerpt from “FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House,” by Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen: How “no daylight” from former President Biden crippled the presidential campaign of former Vice President Harris. 

▪ Consumer prices rose at the slowest pace in four months in February, according to a Wednesday Bureau of Labor Statistics report. 

▪ Here’s a look at five risk factors facing the economy.  

LEADING THE DAY 

TRADE: Trump’s tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Canada went into effect Wednesday and within hours, America’s northern neighbor responded with new retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion worth of U.S. steel and aluminum exports. The pushback from Ottawa also applies to tools, computers, sporting goods and cast iron. The new levies were imposed in addition to 25 percent tariffs that Canada announced earlier this month.

Canada is the largest supplier of steel and aluminum to the United States. Despite Wall Street and C-suite criticisms of Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff policy, the president appears determined to force retreats from trading partners he complains “are ripping us off.”

Also on Wednesday, the European Union announced that retaliatory tariffs of up to $28 billion on U.S. goods would take effect April 1. European officials emphasized a willingness to cut a deal. “Of course I’m going to respond,” Trump said of the latest retaliatory moves by Europe. 

“THIS IS NOT ABOUT FREE SPEECH”: The legal underpinning for arrest and planned deportation of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent legal resident of the U.S., is Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s order, the administration indicated to a federal court. The government presented no evidence of what it has alleged as Khalil’s “terrorist sympathies.” His lawyers have said their client has no criminal record and would not have been able to enter the U.S. if he had such a record. 

Federal immigration agents took Khalil, who is married to an American citizen, from his apartment Saturday and are holding him in Louisiana for potential deportation. Khalil will remain in Louisiana for now a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

Rubio maintains that Khalil’s involvement in campus demonstrations made college students afraid to attend classes last year. 

“This is not about free speech,” Rubio told reporters while traveling to Canada. “No one has a right to a student visa. No one has a right to a green card.” Rubio said if Khalil had “told us that’s what you intended to do when you came to America, we would have never let you in. If you do it once you get in, we’re going to revoke it and kick you out.” 

Khalil’s arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a prominent step by the Trump administration to oust international students accused of intimidating Jewish students during demonstrations against the war in Gaza. To civil rights advocates and Khalil’s lawyers, his detention violates free speech and amounts to political suppression.

▪ The Hill: The government wants to move Khalil’s case out of New York City to Louisiana, home of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, the most conservative court in the country, or to New Jersey.

▪ The Associated Press: How Khalil became the face of Trump’s crackdown on campus protests.

WHERE AND WHEN

The House will hold a pro forma session on Friday at 9 a.m. House Democrats are in Leesburg, Va., through Friday for an issues conference.

The Senate will convene at 10 a.m.

The president will host NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte for a 15-minute meeting in the Oval Office followed by a working lunch.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Canada through Friday for the Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting.

ZOOM IN  

VIROLOGY: Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, thanks to years of government-led efforts to get children vaccinated. Measles outbreaks erupted in the U.S. this year because a highly communicable virus, sometimes circulating abroad, infected a rising population of unvaccinated Americans as well as some visitors from abroad who traveled in this country.

Outbreaks are confirmed in Texas, New Mexico and six other states. It’s a public health challenge in local communities and for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic. 

Kennedy’s reaction to measles outbreaks alarms public health experts because the former lawyer embraces myths that vitamin A and cod liver oil are effective against the virus. Kennedy describes a personal choice when talking about the measles shot, suggesting, while ignoring contrary evidence, that the vaccine is as harmful as the disease it causes. 

Adults older than 20 are more likely to develop complications from measles, which can include pneumonia and brain swelling. Measles can also be dangerous for children. As many as 1 in 20 youngsters with measles will get pneumonia, and 1 out of 1,000 will develop encephalitis, or brain swelling — which can lead to death or cause deafness or intellectual impairment. 

▪ The New York Times: Measles outbreak map. 

▪ NPR: Are booster shots for measles recommended for some adults? Yes.            

▪ Reuters: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) demanded that Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, Mehmet Oz, who is a physician, divest his personal holdings in the pharmaceutical industry. 

ENVIRONMENT: Climate and pollution regulations, including for autos and power plants, are targets for removal by the Environmental Protection Agency.  

▪ The Hill: U.S. Agency for International Development employees and outside groups are fighting an order from the agency’s leadership to shred and burn its classified documents as well as personnel records.  

▪ The Hill: The Department of Education is paving the way for its own destruction. Mass layoffs are step one. Protests and legal action are not far behind.

▪ CNN: Office of Personnel Management chief spokesperson McLaurine Pinover, who was hired in January to preside over the downsizing of government, maintained a second gig as an online influencer promoting office apparel on her Instagram account, @getdressedwithmc. She posted as recently as Tuesday, then deleted her online videos and images minutes after CNN asked about it.

ELSEWHERE

UKRAINE: The Trump administration’s ceasefire proposal between Russia and Ukraine is the first test of whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is serious about seeking peace with Kyiv. Russia has little to lose in agreeing to the terms of a ceasefire and coming to the table, writes The Hill’s Laura Kelly. But Ukrainian officials, experts focused on the region and American lawmakers are skeptical. Putin has long demonstrated that he is a dishonest broker and flouted international commitments and law. 

“I personally am skeptical, because [Putin’s] ideologically driven of wanting to restore the Russian empire, and he’s shown that he doesn’t respect any agreements,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “I think [a ceasefire is] kind of a necessary prerequisite to further more serious discussions. It’s not an end in and of itself, but at least hopefully people aren’t being killed, so that’s a good thing.”

The Kremlin said Wednesday it was awaiting details from Washington about the proposed 30-day truce. Moscow has also presented the U.S. with its own list of demands for a deal to end the war and reset relations with Washington. Trump said Wednesday that a U.S. delegation, including special envoy Steve Witkoff, would head to Russia for furhter talks.

Ukrainian officials accepted the American plan during a Tuesday meeting in Saudi Arabia with U.S. officials — a condition of resumed intelligence sharing and military aid from Washington. On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky again expressed gratitude to Trump, after he was accused of not being appreciative enough during their disastrous Oval Office meeting.

“The U.S. wanted us to show we want a fast peace, and we showed it,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv.

▪ NBC News: Ukraine-U.S. ceasefire talks took 7 hours. The hard part will be getting Russia to agree.

▪ The Washington Post: Talk of ceasefire and aid spurs hope in Ukraine, anger in Russia.

GAZA CEASEFIRE: During negotiations for the second phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, mediators in Qatar are making efforts to negotiate the release of more than half the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, is taking part in the talks — the most serious since Trump took office in January. In an effort to pressure Hamas to agree to new ceasefire terms, Israel is blocking all aid supplies and electricity to Gaza. Humanitarian aid groups have condemned the move as depriving basic necessities.

The Hill: Trump’s suggestion that Canada should be America’s 51st state will not be a topic of discussion among the Group of Seven ministers, Rubio said.

OPINION

▪ GOP saves Democrats from themselves, by Karl Rove, columnist, The Wall Street Journal.

▪ Restore Medicaid’s intent: Prioritize the most vulnerable over able-bodied childless adults, by Rachel Barkey, opinion contributor, The Hill.

THE CLOSER

Take Our Morning Report Quiz

And finally … It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for this week’s Morning Report Quiz! Inspired by Women’s History Month, we’re eager for some smart guesses about women’s firsts.

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 of the following women will not take part in Blue Origin’s planned, all-female spaceflight?

Gayle King

Katy Perry

Lauren Sánchez

Michelle Obama

Who was the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate?

Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.)

Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.)

Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.)

Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)

Susie Wiles made history in January when she became the first female White House chief of staff. What job has she not held during her career?

Campaign manager

State representative

Congressional staffer

Lobbyist

Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first female president, has successfully persuaded Trump to ___?

Visit her country

Postpone tariffs on Mexican goods

Open the U.S.-Mexico border

Declare Cinco de Mayo a U.S. federal holiday

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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