Crypto Crawl
Instead of a triumphant, smooth gift to President Donald Trump, the crypto regulation bills he’s been waiting for have taken a painful, circuitous path through Congress.
House hardliners from his own party blocked them from coming to floor and still weren’t happy even after the president said he’d gotten the dissidents on board. The reason: they don’t trust the Senate, with a different set a rules that forces more bipartisanship.
A deal was finally cut late last night, so leaders should finally land the votes today. Read More
The House also plans to complete debate this week on the $831.5 billion fiscal 2026 Defense spending bill (
After 75 Judges Weigh In, a Vote
The Senate Judiciary Committee is ready to vote on whether to give black robes to Trump’s former personal lawyer. Emil Bove’s been nominated for a lifetime job on the US Court of Appeals’ Third Circuit.
For the senators on the panel, it’ll be a choice between pleasing the president versus heeding more than 75 former federal and state judges — including two retired Third Circuit judges — who signed a letter arguing that Bove should be disqualified from consideration because of an “egregious record of mistreating law enforcement officers, abusing power, and disregarding the law itself.”
Also on the agenda: a vote on whether to advance to the Senate floor the nomination of former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be US Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, the Senate’s appropriations committee will resume consideration of a spending bill for the Justice Department that ground to halt at its last meeting because of a battle over where to house the FBI. BGOV Budget has more for subscribers.
Eye on the Economy
If today’s anything like yesterday, traders, companies, and others tracking the economy’s ups and downs may want to invest in some seat belts.
Trump rattled the markets again, this time by talking up the idea of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sometime soon and then declaring that it’s not what he’s planning at all.
Trump’s been dissatisfied with Powell because the Fed is holding interest rates steady while waiting to see if inflation spikes after all the new tariffs are in place.
But since the Fed was designed to be an independent body, presidents aren’t allowed to fire without cause. In fact, recent presidents have gone in the opposite direction, opting for continuity by keeping chairs in place. Read More
See Also:
- Trump Eyes Tariff Rate of 10% or 15% for More Than 150 Countries
- Canada to Curb Steel Imports to Soften Blow From US Tariffs
- Alcoa Says Trump’s Tariffs Added $115 Million in Aluminum Costs
- Fed’s Bostic Says He’d Wait on Rates Amid Warnings on Inflation
- Vietnam Says Negotiators Still Working With US on Trade Deal
Before You Go
‘Stupid People': Now that his own Justice Department announced that there’s nothing more to know about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Trump doesn’t want to hear about it. “It’s all been a big hoax. It’s perpetrated by the Democrats and some stupid Republicans, and foolish Republicans fall into the net, and so they try and do the Democrats’ work,” Trump told reporters. Read More
Soda Swap: Trump said in a Truth Social post that Coca-Cola Co. has agreed to use cane sugar in Coke beverages sold in the US. Read More
Discontinued: The Justice Department’s Community Relations Service, an office dedicated to “peacemaking” that helped one Florida community defuse protests after a police shooting, is on life support, Suzanne Monyak reports. Read More
Wheels deal: With a price tag of about $17,000, the General Motors Co. subcompact sold in Mexico is very, very affordable. The secret: It’s made in China. Read More
Eye of beholder: Trump has yet to convince the public that his signature tax law is good policy. Some 61% of Americans opposed the legislation, while only 39% supported it in a CNN/SSRS poll released yesterday. Read More
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