Congress: The Senate & The House

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? GOP's special fears

President Trump's dramatic rug pull of Rep. Elise Stefanik's (R-N.Y.) UN ambassador nomination has given House Speaker Mike Johnson a new series of headaches.

Why it matters: Johnson has to reassure GOP lawmakers after their president said he's nervous about a Trump +20 district.

• He also must reintegrate Stefanik, who was planning to bolt town next week, into a leadership lineup that's full.
• Stefanik was crushed and scrambled to reverse Trump's decision before he announced it on Truth Social, according to people familiar with the matter.
• But for Trump, the margins were too close for comfort.

Driving the news: In explaining his decision, Trump undercut the NRCC line that there was no risk of the GOP losing any special elections this year.

• "With a very tight Majority, I don't want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise's seat," Trump said on Truth Social.
• Republicans are "afraid they will lose the special election to replace her," Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said today.

What we're hearing: Stefanik's congressional staff has mostly resigned. She surrendered her slot on the House Intelligence Committee and had one foot out of Washington. Her Instagram was a showcase of that extended goodbye.

• She'll have to slink back to the House and reintegrate herself into Johnson's leadership structure, even as Trump dangled the possibility of joining his administration down the line.
• Inside the White House, there's a view that under Trump there isn't necessarily a need for an ambassador to the United Nations, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In a first, Democrats were tripping over themselves to agree with Trump.

• "Republicans and Donald Trump knew they were on track to lose the special election because of their deeply unpopular, disastrous agenda," said DCCC spokesperson Courtney Rice.
• "A few weeks ago, they were too scared to face voters at town halls. Now, they are so scared they can't even face voters at the polls."
• Republicans insisted there was no risk of losing Stefanik's seat. "We'd win this seat in a special election and we'll win it in a general election," said NRCC spokesperson Maureen O'Toole.

Zoom out: The problem of tight margins in the House was imminently foreseeable. We wrote about Trump's obsession with poaching House members in early December.

• "They just realized that now?" quipped Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) today.
• In November, Johnson said Trump "fully understands and appreciates the math here."

Zoom in: Stefanik, a rising star in her party, had her bags packed and was ready to move to New York.

• When Trump gave his joint address to Congress last month, Stefanik triumphantly sat with the Cabinet.
• Now she'll have to find her place with her House leaders and colleagues.

— Hans Nichols and Andrew Solender

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Dem insurgents snub Jeffries

Two progressive Democratic primary challengers are declining to commit to voting for Jeffries as speaker.

Why it matters: An anti-establishment, anti-leadership sentiment is taking hold in some corners of the Democratic grassroots ahead of the 2026 midterms.

• Democratic incumbents have been feeling the heat in their districts, with furious town hall audience members demanding they adopt more hardball tactics to counter the Trump administration.

? Kat Abughazaleh, a 26-year-old progressive influencer running a long-shot campaign against Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), told us her vote for speaker "just depends on the situation."

• "I'm not super happy with" Jeffries, she said, after telling us "there's a lot of time between now and being in Congress."
• "If he gets with the program and gets what people want and doesn't chastise members of his own party for standing up to Trump, that could change. He just needs to get based. Real simple," she said.

? "I wouldn't vote for Jeffries," Saikat Chakrabarti, who is challenging House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), told us.

• "From what I'm seeing of Jeffries right now, I don't think he's leading," added Chakrabarti, who was previously chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

Zoom in: Jeffries told us at his press conference today he's "very" confident he'll maintain the full support of his caucus in the next speaker election.

• "I've had unanimous support now, what, 20 different times across two different Congresses? Kind of speaks for itself," he said.
• Both Abughazaleh and Chakrabarti are considered underdogs in their primaries.

Between the lines: Jeffries has maintained strict loyalty from across his caucus since becoming leader in 2022.

• Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told us, "People get challenges all the time from the left, and I think the real question is who can run a credible race."
• Jeffries "united us all so incredibly well around the vote on the GOP funding bill," she added. "As long as we continue to do that, it's going to be hard to push back against our House leadership."

Zoom out: Another progressive House Dem told us progressive primary challengers could "absolutely" be a problem for Jeffries.

• "People are going to think twice before making commitments to leadership because it's [grassroots frustration with] leadership that motivated them to run," the lawmaker said under the condition of anonymity.

— Andrew Solender

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??‍♂️??‍♀️ Trump's Senate blowback

In a rare move, two Senate GOP committee chairs are daring to publicly and formally question President Trump.

Why it matters: Trump's aggressive efforts to slash government spending using executive power and the ongoing Signal group chat scandal have sparked serious concern among some GOP lawmakers.

• Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) is asking the Pentagon's inspector general to investigate Signalgate to see if any classified info was transmitted.
• Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) is suggesting Trump's budget chief Russell Vought is breaking the law by refusing to disseminate funds appropriated by Congress.

— Stef Kight

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Yemen group chat

The top Democrat and the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee have formally requested an inquiry by the Pentagon’s acting inspector general into a group chat where senior national security officials shared plans about a US military attack in Yemen on Signal that inadvertently included a journalist. Since Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, published his articles revealing details of the highly sensitive strike plans, Democrats have been calling for accountability for the incident, which they argue endangered national security and US troops. Some Republicans have described the security breach as a “glitch” and a “mistake,” and want to move on without investigating or punishing the officials involved. On Thursday, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to preserve all messages the officials sent on Signal between March 11 and March 15.

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? Johnson's extra vote

The sudden panic over Florida's special elections has finally put President Trump on the same page as House Speaker Mike Johnson: The GOP's margin is too close for comfort.

Why it matters: Trump is coming to terms with how difficult it's going to be for him and Johnson to pass a massive tax and spending bill this summer.

• The president's shock decision to keep Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) in the House was accelerated by concerns over the special elections, but it was ultimately made to create more "breathing room" for House margins, sources tell us.
• "We're about to need every vote for reconciliation," a White House official said of the decision to pull back Stefanik's UN ambassador nomination.
• "Elise is of much greater value in the House as a vote than in the UN. The UN really doesn't matter. This is where we need her," a White House adviser said.

Between the lines: For Johnson's House Republicans, Tuesday's two specials are the only real-world data points they'll get this year on what's coming in 2026.

• In Florida's 6th Congressional District, state senator Randy Fine is battling to hold onto a seat vacated by national security adviser Mike Waltz that Trump won by 30 points in November.
• In that state's 1st District, Jimmy Patronis, the Republican candidate to replace former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, is in better shape. Trump won that district by 37 points.
• The special election in New York to succeed Stefanik, if she had taken the UN post, could have been delayed after the summer deadline Johnson had set to send the tax and spending bill to Trump.

"This is about the margins in the House, the polling in the Florida seat and the polling in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race," a person familiar with the matter told us.

The bottom line: "People say, 'Well, the margins were the same.' Well, actually they weren't," the White House official said.

• The untimely deaths of two House Dems "gave us some breathing room, and we're going to get our guys back," said the official, expressing optimism on the two Florida races.
• With the deaths of Democratic Reps. Sylvester Turner of Texas and Raul Grijalva of Arizona this month, Johnson has a 218–213 majority, meaning he can lose two votes and still pass legislation.
• If the GOP holds onto the two Florida seats, it will increase to 220–213 — padding his vote margin by one — until special elections are held to replace Turner and Grijalva.

— Marc Caputo and Hans Nichols

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? Dems' magic words

House Democrats have a new go-to phrase when pressed by constituents on how they'll resist Trump on constitutional issues: We have Jamie Raskin on it.

Why it matters: The Maryland Democrat has privately argued against the use of the phrase "constitutional crisis," but he's something of a folk hero to resistance-minded Democrats.

• His credibility as a Jan. 6 committee member and Trump impeachment manager helps House Dems deflect some of the heat back home.
• "I always sleep better at night knowing that Jamie Raskin is here helping us out," said Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), Raskin's fellow former Jan. 6 panel member.

Zoom in: One lawmaker showed us a text conversation with grassroots organizers in their district in which he said Raskin was working on the legal response to Trump — and was met with cheers.

• Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) told us that, when pressed at town halls on who is working to prepare for a constitutional crisis, "I use Jamie Raskin's name." The answer, she said, evokes confidence from the crowd.
• "That's my answer, usually, that we actually have one of the best constitutional lawyers in the country," said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.).

Raskin has taken the lead on preparing for the possibility of Trump ignoring a judicial order, as we previously reported.

• "We are brainstorming lots of different kinds of responses to different kinds of defiance," he told us in an interview.

The intrigue: At a virtual House Democratic caucus meeting this month, Raskin made the case the term "constitutional crisis" doesn't convey the urgency of the moment, according to multiple sources on the call.

• He argued Democrats should call it "the sweeping MAGA attack on our Constitution."

Between the lines: Behind the scenes, it's not just Raskin working on this issue, several lawmakers stressed.

• "I think you've kind of got to explain what you're doing," said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who leads Democrats' Stop Project 2025 Task Force, about answering questions at town halls.
• The response to a constitutional crisis "is going to be something that our caucus and [House Minority Leader Hakeem] Jeffries will weigh," Aguilar said.

— Andrew Solender

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? Scoop ... Johnson's summer X-factor

The White House is eyeing this summer's debt ceiling's "X-date" as a forcing mechanism to push the "one big, beautiful bill" through Congress.

• "Gun to the head, the whole agenda, and the country's credit rating and global depression all rolled into one," says a White House official, describing their approach.

Why it matters: President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson's partnership has led to some early wins. But there's a growing realization that the next steps are way more difficult.

• It's also an acknowledgement that the timeline for passing reconciliation through Congress is closer to the end of the summer, not the beginning.
• No one knows the precise date that the federal government will breach the $36.1 trillion debt limit, but the latest CBO estimates project the X-date will land in August or September.
• Two key White House officials — Kevin Hassett and James Braid — traveled to the Senate tonight to meet with Finance Committee members to discuss the contours of the reconciliation package.

Zoom in: Since January, House leaders have wanted to include a debt ceiling hike in the reconciliation package.

• Senate GOP leaders embraced the same approach last week, with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) saying that Trump was also on board.
• Now the White House is going a step further. And their eyes are wide open to the massive risks if they fail, both to Trump's presidency and the global economy.
• "President Trump believes the debt extension should occur as soon as possible during reconciliation," a White House official tells us.

The bottom line: Lifting the debt ceiling is never an easy vote for Republicans.

• Johnson learned that lesson in December, when Elon Musk successfully killed legislation that would have suspended it.
• Back in 2023, 71 House Republicans voted against the last debt ceiling increase, which was negotiated by then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (and contributed to his ouster.)
• Back in 2019, 139 Republicans voted against raising the debt ceiling despite Trump being in the White House.

— Hans Nichols and Marc Caputo

? Senate Dems target MAGA home turf

Senate Democrats who blitzed Republican districts with town halls earlier this month are encouraging their colleagues to follow a similar game plan.

• "I think every Democrat in the country should be doing town halls, especially going out to communities where our party hasn't had a lot of support," Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) tells us.

Why it matters: The events give Democrats an opportunity to pummel congressional Republicans for their budget reconciliation plans, which likely include cuts to Medicaid.

• "People are freaked out," Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) tells us.
• Kelly said at events in GOP districts this month he met a man with multiple sclerosis who was worried about potential work requirement changes to Medicaid, which pays for the screenings that track the severity of his disease.

The big picture: Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who just recently hosted town halls in GOP districts, said the strategy is what helped him win in a purple state last year.

• "I was willing to go to red parts of the state, show respect and have open conversations," Gallego said.

— Stephen Neukam

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? Freshmen wish list: Jim Justice

Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) is eager to start balancing the federal budget in the Senate, but he also says DOGE has mowed "past the fence."

Why it matters: The popular one-time-Democratic governor has a big personality, a beloved dog and a long beef with his predecessor, Joe Manchin.

• "I always felt like that Joe wanted something for himself ... whether it be prestige or whatever," Justice says. "And I have a real problem with that."
• "There's nothing Fancy Dan about me," Justice tells us in an interview. "I don't want a thing."

Zoom in: In an interview, Justice talked at length with us about the importance of a balanced budget. He wants to follow the same playbook he used in West Virginia.

• But he's also "concerned" about some of the GOP conversations around Medicaid. 28% of the West Virginia population is covered by Medicaid and CHIP.
• Justice supports work requirements, but he needs more information on other cost-cutting proposals that may limit Medicaid expansion.
• He is no longer sure whether GLP-1 weight loss medications should be covered by Medicaid, a proposal he has previously supported.

Between the lines: Justice seems to enjoy being different.·

• He is unpretentious and unassuming ("Call me Jim," he tells us) — but uses a private jet for his daily commute. He gets around the Senate in an electric mobility scooter and is never far from his bulldog, Babydog.
• "Yogi Bear would say, you know, I'm an unusual bear," Justice tells us.

Go deeper: Justice on DOGE, plus his pals in the Senate

— Stef Kight

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Cory Booker 

Sen. Cory Booker took to the Senate floor at 7 p.m. last night to protest actions taken by President Trump and his administration. “In just 71 days, the president of the United States has inflicted so much harm on Americans’ safety; financial stability; the core foundations of our democracy,” the New Jersey Democrat said. "These are not normal times in America.” During his many hours on the floor, Booker read letters from Americans who were worried about the country and wanted lawmakers to act. Booker also discussed possible cuts to Medicaid and Social Security, the elimination of funding for research and science, the far-right's campaign to demonize and deport immigrants, the removal of US history lessons about women and people of color, and attacks on free speech at universities. At publication time this morning, Booker was still speaking.

 

New Jersey Sen. Booker presses his marathon speech against Trump’s agenda

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker held the Senate floor with a marathon speech that lasted all night and into Tuesday afternoon in a feat of endurance to show Democrats’ objections to President Donald Trump’s sweeping actions. Read More.

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? Scoop ... GOP's private promise

In a closed-door meeting last night, President Trump's top economic advisers promised GOP senators they would show their work on how they plan to deliver 3% GDP growth to help lower the cost of the "one big, beautiful bill."

Why it matters: The promise of a booming economy, even if it includes some shock therapy, is central to Trump's overall theory on how businesses and individuals can receive tax cuts while deficits simultaneously can be reduced.

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett told Senate Finance Republicans last night they would share their plans later this week.
• "They were just very optimistic about how much growth we're going to have moving forward, and how popular this plan is and how important it is for our economic health," a senator familiar with the discussions told us.
• Some senators are willing to be persuaded that Trump can cut taxes and juice the economy like he did in his first term, but he has some work to do.

Zoom in: Senate Majority Leader John Thune is dealing with three GOP factions that are colliding over the Trump budget bill.

1. Debt hawks: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) expressed their concerns about the overall amount of deficit spending. Johnson wants to return to pre-pandemic spending, and Cassidy has been publicly saying that if a current policy baseline is used, Congress must pay for it. (Thune embraced a current policy approach today.)
2. Free traders want to know if the administration's rosy economic assumptions would include the expected impact of Trump's tariffs, which he's expected to announce tomorrow.
3. Medicaid defenders: Moderate Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) and others like Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) continue to question how deeply Trump and congressional Republicans want to cut Medicaid.

Between the lines: Trump officials are confident the real economy is faring much better than the equities market and they are optimistic Friday's jobs report will show solid growth.

• Economic forecasters don't seem convinced. They continue to warn about the dangers of the reciprocal tariffs that Trump will announce.
• And the specter of stagflation — or the "S-word" as our colleague Neil Irwin calls it — is lurking.
• Senate leadership is barreling forward without the parliamentarian and hoping to vote on the new budget resolution this week. But Thune reminded senators they still need to make sure they have 51 votes.

The other side: "The people who said they believed in fiscal discipline want to use funny money to give tax cuts to their billionaire buddies," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) told us.

— Hans Nichols, Stef Kight and Stephen Neukam

? Johnson's lost week

House Speaker Mike Johnson's hardball tactics backfired on him today, leaving him to cancel votes for the week after failing to block an internal rebellion led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.).

Why it matters: It was Johnson's biggest legislative blow of 2025 thus far — and the first in which Trump wasn't providing him reinforcement.

• Johnson is a bitter opponent of any form of proxy voting in Congress, and he fought to stop Luna's discharge petition — signed by a dozen Republicans — to allow new parents to vote by proxy.
• Johnson tried to box Republicans in by tying the rule change to marquee GOP legislation requiring proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections.
• But several GOP lawmakers expressed a feeling the speaker was being heavy-handed.

Zoom in: Luna and eight other Republicans broke ranks with Johnson to torpedo the vote.

• Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.) told us the proxy voting rule change "should get its own up-or-down vote."

Between the lines: Johnson said it was "very disappointing" that a "handful" of his members broke ranks on a GOP procedural measure.

• Johnson said the House was also set to vote on legislation rolling back Biden-era regulations and restricting federal judges' power to issue nationwide injunctions.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), asked if Republicans will keep trying to kill Luna's measure, told us: "We'll see. … Mike Johnson has made it clear he's not going to support the proxy [voting]."

Zoom out: Johnson's had a major weapon in each of the big fights this year, thanks to Trump's interest in keeping him speaker and passing a budget.

• But Trump had effectively no stake in the proxy voting fight.
• Johnson plans to keep trying to pass procedural motions to kill Luna's rule change until one passes. The Freedom Caucus opposes proxy voting and could tank bills that don't block it.
• One option for Johnson: Give Trump a stake in the fight by tying a proxy voting motion to the "one, big beautiful bill."

The bottom line: "It's very disappointing that he is putting Republican members in this position," one House Republican complained to Axios, "for no reason whatsoever other than what I believe is him protecting his job."

— Andrew Solender

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? Booker outlasts Thurmond

Data: Senate Historical Office; Chart: Axios Visuals As of 7:18 ET tonight, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) holds the record for the longest Senate speech. Why it matters: Booker surpassed the record of former Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), who filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957 with a 24-hour, 18-minute speech. Top Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, joined Booker on the floor in a show of support as he blasted Trump's second-term policies. Booker wasn't allowed to sit or leave the Senate floor for any reason during the speech, including to use the bathroom, eat or drink. His only reprieve from speaking was when he fielded questions from Democratic senators. Go deeper — Stephen Neukam and Stef Kight

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?️ Record-breaking talkathon

Screenshot: CNN Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) now holds the record for the longest Senate speech ever: 25 hours and four minutes, Axios' Stephen Neukam writes. Why it matters: Booker's marathon speech stands out as one of the starkest acts of defiance by Democrats in their resistance to the second Trump administration. Booker surpassed the record of former Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), who filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957 with a 24-hour and 18-minute speech. The speech turned attention back to Democrats as the party tries to find the most effective way to counter Trump. ⏳ Between the lines: The speech is both a physical and mental accomplishment. Booker wasn't allowed to leave the Senate floor for any reason during the speech, including to use the bathroom, eat and drink. He also wasn't allowed to sit. Booker was allowed to field questions from Democratic senators. But that was his only reprieve from speaking for over 24 hours straight.

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? Republicans swallow tariffs

Senate Republicans doubted President Trump would follow through on tariffs. Now they're having to swallow them whole.

Why it matters: Trump has yoked his party, the economy and himself to a protectionist trade policy.

• Skeptical Republicans are willing to give Trump some time to prove that across-the-board tariffs can lead to an American manufacturing renaissance — but not too much time.
• Senate GOP leader John Thune, from export-heavy South Dakota, said: "I do appreciate the president's focus on making sure that we're getting better deals and giving businesses an incentive to do business here."

Zoom in: GOP senators bargained with him on tariffs, but today was about acceptance.

• Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.): "In the long run, I think it will work. But as I've also said, in the long run, we're all dead. The short run matters too."
• Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.): "Hopefully the short-term disruption is truly short term, like less than a year, and the long-term benefits are real and lasting."
• Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.): "I think it's kind of a high-risk bet he's making on the economy. I think the stock market thing is somewhat high risk. He may be right."
• Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.): "I'll probably start getting calls from constituents tomorrow. I've already gotten some outbound communications tonight," he told us.

Between the lines: During the campaign last summer, Republicans argued Trump wasn't all that serious about across-the-board tariffs.

• Once he was elected, they insisted Trump just liked them as a negotiating tactic.
• In August, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) told us: "I don't know if across-the-board truly means across-the-board."
• Today, she told us: "I think he came up with a reasonable compromise between across-the-board, using the 10% number, but identifying certain trade partners where the tables are really tipped against the U.S."

The other side: Four GOP senators broke with Trump and voted for a symbolic resolution to unwind his 25% tariff on Canadian imports. (See item No. 2).

— Stef Kight and Hans Nichols

? Dems forcing vote

Even Democrats who support tariffs in theory are lining up against the ones Trump announced today. Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.) called the tariffs "overly broad" and "half-baked" and accused the president of lacking a comprehensive strategy. "The key word is 'strategically.' I'm concerned about the chaotic and immediate implementation of these wide-reaching tariffs," said Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.). Why it matters: Senate Dems picked up enough GOP defectors to pass their resolution today. And House Dems plan to force a vote of their own. "I'll soon introduce a privileged resolution to force a vote on ending the made-up national emergency Trump is using to justify these taxes," said Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on Foreign Affairs. — Andrew Solender and Stephen Neukam

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? GOP swing-seat freakout

Top GOP operatives are alarmed that House Republicans ditching their seats to pursue higher office could cost Mike Johnson the speaker's gavel.

Why it matters: The GOP's eleventh-hour freakout over special elections —followed by Democrats cutting the FL-1 and FL-6 margins in half from November — is spreading into a broader fear about swing seats next year.

• "A House member in a competitive district who is considering jumping ship would seemingly have priorities misaligned with the president," said Bill Stepien, who was Trump's 2020 campaign manager.
• "Any time popular members of Congress from swing areas seek statewide office it creates challenges — usually expanding the map for the opposition party," said Robert Blizzard, a Republican pollster.

Zoom in: Republicans are most concerned about three House members eyeing statewide office:

1. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) is considering running for New York governor. Trump lost Lawler's district by a percentage point in November, while Lawler won by six points.
2. Rep. John James (R-Mich.) is weighing a run for Michigan governor. Trump won James' district by a percentage point in 2020 and six points in 2024. James won his race by six points.
3. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) may launch a bid to replace retiring former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell. Trump won Barr's district by 15 points in November, and Barr won by 26. But Democrats hold a registration edge and Barr survived a competitive contest in 2018.

NRCC spokesperson Will Kiley told us: "If a member decides to retire or run for another office, we simply ask for a heads up so we can ensure there's a strong candidate in place to defend the seat and build on our momentum to expand our Republican majority."

— Alex Isenstadt

? How Booker did it

? Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) relied on a roughly four-day fast, his Hoka Clifton sneakers, 15 binders with 1,160 pages of material and a steady stream of notes from staff to gut through his 25-hour speech.

Why it matters: Booker, 55, had to remain continuously standing on the Senate floor to break the late segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond's record.

• Unlike Thurmond's bathroom break, Booker never left the floor.

Zoom in: Booker was cramping from dehydration near the end of his speech, he said last night.

• ? Staffers took away Booker's chair on the floor to avoid him accidentally sitting down, or maybe to reduce the torture of looking at a chair he couldn't use.
• ✉️ Staffers were passing Booker notes, reminding him to conserve his voice and relaying stories from constituents.

Booker's first post-speech meal included pineapple and watermelon.

• His Oura ring sleep score was zero, he told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow last night. No word yet on what his other Oura stats looked like after a day and change on his feet.

— Stephen Neukam

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? What more is there to say? Back in 2021, Democrats refused to empower then-President of the Senate and Vice President Kamala Harris to wield her authority to bypass the chamber’s unelected parliamentarian and force a vote on a federal $15 minimum wage. Now, Senate Republicans in the same position will blow past the Senate parliamentarian to force through an extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy. 

 

? Scoop ... GOP marching orders

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller brought a one-two combo to his old Senate stomping grounds on Thursday, according to Senate aides.

Why it matters: With the market melting down, the White House wants to stay on offense on judges and ensure the GOP presents a united front on tariffs.

• Miller is essentially calling for more cavalry for President Trump's attacks on the judiciary, which has blocked some of the president's boldest, and most controversial, moves.
• At the same time, he wants the Senate to extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts while also defending Trump's tariff-happy finger.

Between the lines: Expect an additional $600 billion in tariff revenue over the next decade, Miller told GOP chiefs of staff today.

• That number was also offered by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on "Fox News Sunday," and assumes the tariffs will be permanent.

Miller is enormously influential in the West Wing, but the former Senate staffer also has a feel for how to light (and put out) fires on Capitol Hill.

• He acknowledged to the group the legislative process can get bumpy and he understood their bosses were taking some heat on tariffs.
• Stocks were cratering while Miller spoke, on their way to their biggest one-day decline since March of 2020.
• But Miller told them to hold the line and trust the president.

Zoom in: He argued Trump's plan to lift burdensome regulations, plus extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — along with another $600 billion in new revenue from tariffs —would lead to an enduring manufacturing boom.

• Top White House officials promised senators on Monday they would show their math on how the president's agenda would lead to 3% growth and lower deficits, we scooped.
• Today, the White House provided their official analysis, which included estimates of an additional $4.1 trillion in revenue, relative to CBO's projection if the tax cuts expire.
• They didn't include the potential economic impact of Trump's aggressive tariffs.

The bottom line: Some Senate Republicans remain hopeful the tariffs will be temporary or are just a negotiating tool.

• The $600 billion estimate, over 10 years, should destroy that optimism.

— Hans Nichols and Stef Kight

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? Thune breaks the ice

After a dramatic pause this afternoon, the Senate advanced the newest Trump budget resolution.

Why it matters: The 52-48 procedural vote signals Majority Leader John Thune has the support needed to pass the resolution by the weekend.

• Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was the only lawmaker not to vote along party lines.

The intrigue: The vote was delayed over lingering concerns from several GOP senators over the use of the current policy baseline accounting maneuver, potential Medicaid cuts and other issues.

• Trump was working the phones: Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) got assurances from Trump that he won't sign a bill cutting Medicaid, Semafor's Burgess Everett reports.

Go deeper

— Stef Kight

? Trump undercuts Johnson

Trump got a phone call from Speaker Mike Johnson today after throwing his weight behind Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) on the proxy voting fight that's paralyzed the House floor.

Why it matters: Trump's comments will likely further embolden Luna and make it even more difficult for Johnson to defang her efforts to force a vote on the issue.

• Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he would "let the speaker make the decision," but added, "I like the idea. … I'm in favor of that."
• "You're having a baby, you should be able to call in and vote," he said, according to AP.
• Johnson and Trump spoke by phone after the president made his comments on Air Force One, Punchbowl News reported.

— Andrew Solender

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✅ "Mike, you have my proxy"

House Speaker Mike Johnson got the quote from President Trump, but not the Truth Social post that could end this standoff in a hurry.

• "Mike, you have my proxy on proxy voting," Johnson wrote that Trump told him.

Why it matters: The best way out for Johnson is for Trump to publicly take his side, and that's not happening yet.

• The speaker's fight over proxy voting with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) torpedoed House action this week.

? Trump has taken both sides over the past two days: He supports proxy voting for new parents, he said yesterday. He also supports Johnson, he said both days.

• Even if Johnson decides to cut a deal, members of the House Freedom Caucus are signaling they won't accept any form of proxy voting.

? Thune's jarring chart

Post: Marc Goldwein on X. Chart: Via the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget This is the most jarring chart we've seen on the stakes for Senate GOP leader John Thune in the coming months. Why it matters: The Senate plans much deeper cuts than the $4 billion they've got on paper in the budget reconciliation plan. But if they stall out, or Trump makes too many promises (like no cuts to Medicaid benefits), the plan could cause the debt to explode. Zoom in: The Senate's current plan allows nearly $6 trillion in deficit spending, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The big driver: The Senate wants to count the cost of extending Trump's tax cuts at zero, which would total around $4.5 trillion if it used a traditional score. Between the lines: Johnson's plan is also a debt bomb. See the CRFB report ?Scoop: Gallego's huge haul Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) had one of the best-ever fundraising debuts for a Senate Democrat, pulling in more than $1 million in his first quarter. Why it matters: Gallego's victory in purple Arizona last year has positioned him as one of the party's most intriguing young voices in Congress. Gallego's campaign raised $850,000 in Q1, according to numbers first shared with us. His leadership PAC raised around $385,000. That puts his campaign just behind Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) for the party's most prolific freshman fundraising debut. If you include Gallego's fundraising PAC, it's the top total. — Stephen Neukam

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? Vote-a-preview

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wants Democrats to hit six themes in their amendments during tonight's vote-a-rama on the Trump budget bill.

• 1. Medicaid cuts; 2. tax cuts; 3. tariffs; 4. veterans and national security; 5. corruption; and 6. Social Security.

Why it matters: Democrats used a similar strategy in February, when Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) voted for a handful of Democratic amendments. Dems are also closely watching Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who has a tough 2026 race.

• Democrats have filed 20+ amendments related to Social Security and the service cuts the Trump administration is eyeing for the program.
• Dozens of amendments are on preventing tax cuts for wealthy Americans.
• The Democrats are also targeting Trump's mass deportation policies as they try to stop enforcement at hospitals, churches and schools.

— Stephen Neukam

? The Dems pulling punches

Trump's tariffs have earned him a near-universal rebuke from Democrats, with the notable exception of top lawmakers from Michigan. Why it matters: Trump's 25% tariffs on vehicles and auto parts not produced in the U.S. went into effect yesterday, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) told us that "no one disputes that tariffs are a good tool" but criticized the president for his "sloppy and across-the-board" tariff policies. "Trump is either going to be really, really right or really, really wrong," Slotkin said. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) told us he was essentially in wait-and-see mode to determine the impact of the auto tariffs. "I have always said that when used strategically, tariffs are a critical tool to bring back jobs," Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) said after Trump's 10% across-the-board tariff announcement. Between the lines: Slotkin told us auto companies have been privately freaking out about the policies but are "concerned to stick their neck out and become the center of attention for the Trump administration." — Stephen Neukam

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⚡️ Johnson vs. Freedom Caucus

After a weekend of GOP defections, House Speaker Mike Johnson is taking his case directly to the budget holdouts.

Why it matters: Johnson doesn't have the votes and is under massive pressure to get to the next stage of reconciliation before the Easter recess.

• He'll have his customary help from Trump, who is pushing House Republicans to hop on board. Trump will hold a "pep rally" for the entire GOP conference at a fundraiser tomorrow night.
• But there's clearly a revolt underfoot. House conservatives are bristling at the Senate bill's spending cut targets, and they'd prefer to work through the actual cuts before another vote.

"At this point, I would vote against it," House Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) told Fox News today.

• The speaker met with the Freedom Caucus tonight, The Hill's Mychael Schnell reports.

Zoom in: GOP leaders are privately telling members that weekend work — over the start of Passover and on Palm Sunday — is on the table if the budget doesn't pass, CNN's Sarah Ferris reports.

• "There is no better time than now to get this Deal DONE!" Trump said on Truth Social.
• Remember: Johnson sent members home early last week during his floor dispute with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.).

The bottom line: The deadlines can only slip so far. The debt limit's "x-date" will come this summer.

• That's a powerful tool for leaders to twist arms ahead of a final vote, as we scooped last month. But it's also a powerful motivator for leaders to get this thing moving with enough time to spare.

— Justin Green and Hans Nichols

? Dems blocking 300+ nominees

Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's Senate Democrats have stacked up quite a blockade against Trump nominees.

Why it matters: The growing backlog could present long-term difficulties for GOP leadership, who will eventually want to fill Trump's administration.

• We scooped today that Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) is placing holds on over 50 Trump nominees. He has also placed holds on all nominations at the State Department, bringing his total to over 300 positions.
• Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told us today he plans to place holds on all Trump nominees going forward. Blumenthal sits on four committees — Judiciary, Homeland Security, Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs — which oversee a wide range of administration officials.

The big picture: Midlevel administration nominees can usually be approved quickly via unanimous consent.

• Senate Republicans will need to hold individual votes for each nominee, cutting into floor time that leadership would like to use for other priorities.
• "Their lawlessness is escalating and they are intentionally destroying the economy, and so I don't think we should make anything easy going forward," Schatz told Axios.

— Stephen Neukam

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Rep. Keith Self quoted Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels at congressional hearing. Here's the context

Self later posted on X calling a video's framing of his remarks "completely misleading."

Claim:

During a March 2025 congressional hearing, U.S. Rep. Keith Self, a Republican from Texas, quoted Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels as saying, "It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion."

Rating: True

Context

Prior to quoting Goebbels, Self was questioning Nina Jankowicz, a disinformation expert who wrote the 2020 book "How to Lose the Information War" and led the Disinformation Governance Board (DGB) during its brief existence in Joe Biden's administration. He asked Jankowicz about her personal beliefs regarding "the role of government in [forming] public opinion" in an attempt to compare her answers to Goebbels' statement.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/keith-self-congress-quoted-joseph-goebbels/?

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? Scoop: Johnson's tariff defectors

At least a dozen House Republicans are considering signing onto Rep. Don Bacon's (R-Neb.) bill to restrict the White House's ability to impose tariffs unilaterally, we scooped this afternoon.

• Bacon isn't ruling out an eventual effort to force it to the House floor by bypassing House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Why it matters: It's a significant break with Trump, who issued a veto threat that we scooped yesterday.

• Bacon told us two Republicans — Reps. Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) — and two Democrats have signed on to the bill as cosponsors.
• He added: "I have 10 others who want to do it but they want to talk to the trade representative first."

Zoom in: Johnson has vowed to give Trump "space" on tariffs.

• "We'll see how it all develops," he told reporters yesterday.

The details: The bill would cause any tariffs a president institutes to expire after 40 days unless Congress votes to pass a resolution of approval.

• More than half a dozen Senate Republicans have co-sponsored an identical bill from Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

The bottom line: Some House Republicans who have said they are otherwise inclined to support the bill cited Trump's veto threat as a reason to not do so.

— Andrew Solender

? Jeffries vs. Johnson

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is challenging Johnson to a "one-on-one debate" on the House floor over the GOP budget resolution.

• Johnson didn't back down, telling reporters he's "happy to debate" his Democratic counterpart "anytime."

Why it matters: Jeffries wants to force Johnson to explain the details of the Republican plan when they clearly don't have them all ironed out.

• Jeffries wrote in a letter to Johnson they should "fully and transparently explain and defend our differing budget values to the American people."

? Don't set your C-Span recorder just yet, but look for Democrats to be creative in showing their base they want to stand up to the GOP.

— Hans Nichols and Andrew Solender

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Senate GOP split screen

It's hard to think of a Senate duo further apart on Trump's sweeping tariffs than Indiana Republican Sens. Jim Banks and Todd Young.

• Why it matters: The divergent views from the state's two senators cast the broader divide in the GOP in sharp relief, with old guard free-traders vs. the party's new populist isolationists.

Zoom in: While not fully opposed, Young definitely has questions.

• Young is one of seven Republicans who have signed on to a bill to reassert congressional oversight over tariff actions. He also joined a letter asking the White House to spell out how countries might be able to get tariffs lifted.
• "Hoosier farmers, manufacturers, and rural communities are often the first to feel the impact of retaliatory actions from other countries," Young posted on X today, with a clip of him questioning U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
• While acknowledging tariffs can be a tool, he has raised more questions and concerns.

Banks has been singing the praises of the new tariffs and their benefits for Indiana. He's touted reports of Honda and GM increasing their production of cars in Indiana — and he's credited Trump's trade policy for the moves.

• "The days of other countries ripping off America and our workers are OVER," he posted on X last week.
• "President Trump is bringing good paying jobs back to Indiana and leading us into the Golden Age of America," Banks told Axios in a statement. "I'm proud to stand with him and fully support his America First trade agenda."

— Stef Kight

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? Johnson's backup options

Speaker Mike Johnson couldn't get the blueprint for "one, big beautiful bill" through the House tonight, even with the heavy hand of President Trump and a surprise assist from Senate GOP Leader John Thune.

• Johnson will try again tomorrow, he said after a prolonged stalemate.
• "Everything is moving along just fine. We have a little bit of room here to work, and we're going to use that," he told reporters.

Why it matters: In a troubling sign for Johnson, members of the House Freedom Caucus demanded assurances from Thune that the Senate was serious about cutting spending.

• Thune met with the Freedom Caucus for roughly an hour tonight, sources tell us.

? After calling it for the night, Johnson told reporters that going to conference with the Senate is an option.

• They can also amend the existing bill and vote again tomorrow, he told reporters tonight. "We have real deadlines upon us."
• "The consensus tonight is what is the amount of minimal number of cuts and savings that we can find in the budget that will satisfy everyone to move forward with this nation-shaping piece of legislation," he said.

?️ Johnson said he wouldn't keep lawmakers in town over Passover on Saturday but left the door open to coming back next week if needed.

Zoom in: In both the first House budget vote in February and the CR drama in March, Freedom Caucus members caved after saying they were against the legislation. Not so much tonight.

• One House Republican told us it's "incredibly sad, embarrassing and disappointing" to see the piece of legislation stall out on the floor, blasting Johnson as "ineffective."

The bottom line: Trump is, apparently, fine with the delay and not too fussed about the details.

• "He said, 'Let's just get the job done.' I said, 'Yes, sir, we will,'" Johnson said.

— Hans Nichols, Andrew Solender and Stef Kight

 

Tariffs whiplash hits GOP

House Republicans were blindsided today by Trump's 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs.

Why it matters: Republicans told us the consistent lack of a heads-up makes it harder for them to display the kind of loyalty Trump demands of his party.

• A House Republican griped they "found out from the press," saying Trump hurts his loyalists by not giving them more visibility into his plans.

Zoom in: The House Ways and Means Committee was in the middle of questioning U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at a public hearing when Trump made his announcement.

• Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), noting he questioned Greer shortly before the president's announcement, quipped: "Was it me that saved the stock market?"

Between the lines: Other Republicans said the risk of leaks makes it too risky to telegraph plans and that Trump doesn't owe them visibility on timely negotiations.

• A third Republican who spoke on the condition of anonymity cited the possibility their colleagues may have used the information to make stock trades.

Go deeper

— Andrew Solender

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?️ GOP's big budget bill stalls

All three leaders of the GOP trifecta went to work on House GOP defectors last night on "one big, beautiful bill." All three came up short, Axios' Justin Green writes.

• Why it matters: President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson have pulled miracles this year on votes that looked doomed. They'll need another one in the coming hours.

Trump worked the phones and hosted holdouts at the White House. It didn't work.

• Senate GOP leader John Thune met with Freedom Caucus holdouts for roughly an hour, sources told Axios' Stef Kight and Hans Nichols. It didn't work.
• Johnson and House GOP leaders met with holdouts for an agonizing stretch last night while they held open another vote. It didn't work.
• "The speaker sadly hasn't communicated with any of us what's happening," one House Republican told Axios' Andrew Solender after the bill stalled out.

? Zoom in: House conservatives don't trust the Senate to pass deep enough spending cuts. The House package requires at least $1.5 trillion in cuts; the Senate, only $4 billion.

• They aren't swayed by promises that the Senate will also bring up cuts. They want promises in writing, or changes to the House bill to force the Senate's hand.

? What's next: Johnson says the House will try again tomorrow. He's threatening to cut into the two-week Easter recess next week if they don't get it done.

• Go deeper: House GOP chaos erupts after Johnson pulls budget vote.

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? GOP lawmakers may cash in on tax breaks. A staggering 70 percent of congressional Republicans could financially benefit from Trump’s billionaire-friendly tax plan that they’ve helped ram through Congress. A new project from watchdog group Accountable.US shows how nearly every Republican in Congress stands to personally gain from the new tax plan, which will also deliver unprecedented cuts to social services for working-class Americans.

• Cometh the death tax. While less than 1 percent of American descendants are subject to the estate tax, which imposes a tax on major family inheritances, 18 percent of House Republicans and 28 percent Senate Republicans are wealthy enough that they qualify for what they’ve deemed the “death tax.” These lawmakers could benefit from a full repeal of the estate tax in the new tax bill.

? Who you gonna call? Monopoly Busters. Democratic lawmakers launched a broad-based caucus this week focused on cracking down on monopoly power. Comprised of moderates and progressives, the group aims to enforce and strengthen antitrust laws designed to protect consumers in matters ranging from housing and groceries to energy and healthcare.

House approves budget framework for Trump’s ‘big’ bill after intense wrangling sways GOP holdouts

House Republicans narrowly approved, in a 216-214 vote, their budget framework Thursday, a political turnaround after Speaker Mike Johnson worked into the night to satisfy GOP holdouts. Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune committed to seeking at least $1.5 trillion in cuts to federal programs and services. Read More.   Live updates: House passes bill requiring proof of US citizenship to vote House Republicans passed one of their signature issues for the year on Thursday, approving legislation to require proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote for federal elections, one of President Donald Trump’s top election-related priorities. Read More.