Clawback Time
Senate Republicans could take a key step today toward advancing President Donald Trump’s package retracting funding already cemented into law — though there’s a rub.
Ken Tran reports that some GOP senators are concerned enough about public broadcasting and humanitarian aid that the legislation could be changed to secure their votes.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters a substitute amendment was being considered. Budget director Russell Vought plans to be on the Hill today to talk to the reluctant Republicans as leaders try to move them toward an essential procedural vote: a motion to discharge the bill from the Appropriations Committee.
Different money decisions are being made today in the House, where amendments to the defense appropriation bill are on track for floor consideration and other spending bills are up for markups at the subcommittee level.
Those include bills drafted to provide military aid for Israel, to reduce spending at the EPA, and to give the National Weather Service’s parent agency more than the Trump administration requested.
In on AI
Trump heads today to Pittsburgh, where, along with some boardroom biggies and Sen. David McCormick (R-Pa.), he’s planning to announce $70 billion in artificial intelligence and energy investments.
Trump and corporate chiefs including Blackstone’s Jon Gray are to unveil plans for new data centers, power grid updates, AI training programs, and apprenticeships. Read More
In Sync
A little demonstration of the legislative and executive branches singing from the same libretto: today the House Education and Workforce Committee is looking at antisemitism on campus, with the invited witnesses including leaders of Georgetown University, City University of New York, and UC Berkeley.
And the Senate Homeland investigations subcommittee is jumping on one of the RFK bandwagons with a hearing focusing on the “voices of the vaccine injured.” The witness list also includes testimony from two relatives of children who died after contracting the flu.
Over at House Armed Services, it’s markup day with the committee planning to work on the annual defense authorization bill (
And it’s picture day. Thune said official photograph-taking happens this afternoon.
BGOV subscribers, check out Congress Tracker for more on what to know about today on Capitol Hill.
Special Election
It’s primary day in one Arizona congressional district.
The parties will choose nominees to vie in September for the seat of the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D), who died in March. But the district has such a Democratic tilt that tonight’s results are the ones to watch.
The 7th District, which takes in part of Tucson and runs along the southern border, favored Kamala Harris over Trump by 22 percentage points in the 2024 election. Among the candidates is Adelita Grijalva, the late congressman’s daughter. — Greg Giroux
Eye on the Economy
The latest measurement of inflation comes out today when the Bureau of Labor Statistics updates the consumer price index.
Forecasters are predicting that it will document higher charges for furniture, toys, and cars — all sectors seen as vulnerable to price spikes because of the tariffs.
Check out the expectations from Bloomberg’s survey of economists.
Consumer prices are one of the signposts that Federal Reserve officials watch as they decide the timing for interest rate changes.
Tariff Watch
Expect a fresh salad fixing to cost more this winter even though Trump peeled back a bit and imposed a 17% tariff on Mexican tomatoes instead of the 21% levy the administration had been threatening. Read More
That tomato levy looks even smaller compared with the other new tariff threat: 100% on Russian imports if deal isn’t reached in 50 days to end hostilities with Ukraine.
Matt Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, said the planned action effectively represents secondary sanctions on countries buying oil from Russia. “It’s about tariffs on countries like India and China that are buying their oil,” he told reporters. “And it really is going to, I think, dramatically impact the Russian economy.”
The threat comes, however, at a crucial time in negotiations with both of the Russian oil consuming nations. Read More
Russia’s deputy foreign minister responded today that “any attempts to make demands — especially ultimatums — are unacceptable for us.” Read More
See also:
- Orange Juice Hits Four-Month High as Brazil Tariffs Risk Supply
- Trump Piles Fresh Sanctions on Cuba’s Flailing Tourism Industry
- World’s Top Cable Maker Sees US Copper Tariff as Opportunity
Before You Go
Green light: The Supreme Court lifted a lower court’s order that required reinstatement of workers Trump wants to fire as part of the dismantling of the Education Department. Writing for the court’s three liberal dissenters, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision grants “the power to repeal statutes by firing all those necessary to carry them out.” Read More
DOGE chief must sit for deposition: Ruling against the Trump administration, a federal appeals court said the administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency has to answer questions in a case that grew out of a Freedom of Information Act request. Read More
Hill staffers, take note: For an example of what working for Congress can mean for a career path, look at 39-year-old Andrew Ferguson. After clerking for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a job with the Senate Judiciary Committee led him to the staff of former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Volunteering for a gubernatorial campaign in Virginia led to a role as Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s solicitor general, and now he’s the head of the FTC. Read the profile
About that refund check: Roughly 94% of taxpayers who received refunds during the 2025 filing season opted for direct deposit. The rest are about to learn the Treasury Department will stop issuing paper checks beginning in October, Cole Reynolds reports. Read More
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