The Price of Keeping the Government Open
More money for the Pentagon, less for the General Services Administration to operate federal buildings: there are tradeoffs in the stopgap spending bill that congressional Republicans will try to enact this week.
They released the text over the weekend, setting up a House vote as soon as tomorrow and a lot of salesmanship anticipated for today.
Most of the government would keep chugging on autopilot through Sept. 30, though the military would get a spending boost, as would President Donald Trump’s deportation push. The bill would also claw back $20.2 billion in spending for the Internal Revenue Service passed as part of President Joe Biden’s signature green-energy Inflation Reduction Act. Democrats say that is a poison pill that they cannot support because it would boost tax cheating by the wealthy.
If majority Republicans can get the continuing resolution through the House, they’ll need Democratic cooperation in the Senate to get the 60 votes needed to move the plan to the president’s desk, Ken Tran and Jack Fitzpatrick report.
On Air Force One, Trump told reporters " I think the CR is going to get passed” and a government shutdown “probably won’t” happen. Read More in this morning’s BGOV Budget Brief.
It’s Retaliation Day
American beef, poultry, and grains will cost more in China as agricultural tariffs as high as 15% take effect today.
It’s the latest backlash against the expanded tariffs on goods entering the US.
In addition to the retaliatory levies, Beijing also said it would completely suspend soybean imports from three US entities and while halting purchases of American logs. The targeted goods are all available from other countries, so it’s possible that US producers will feel more of a pinch than Chinese consumers. Read More
‘Lights Are Off’
Suzanne Monyak describes how the new administration is shaking up the Justice Department by getting rid of attorneys with national security expertise.
“There’s literally no one at home,” one former official told her. “The lights are off.”
The elimination of that institutional knowledge will present an urgent challenge to the new management, which will need to find qualified replacements and get them quickly up to speed on working with intelligence agencies to protect the US from threats. Read More
Making Law Firms Say Ouch
Following the money, Justin Henry and Rebecca Klar went through Government Accountability Office dockets to suss out exactly how Trump can inflict pain on law firms.
One of Trump’s executive orders requires government contractors to disclose any ties to the law firm Perkins Coie, which in 2016 worked for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. That order also authorizes federal agencies to tear up contracts with the companies.
Our colleagues found that the firm last year represented Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. and KBR Services LLC when competitors challenged those companies’ contracts with the military. Other government vendors that have been represented by Perkins Coie include Boeing Co., T-Mobile USA Inc., and Microsoft Corp.
Trump suspended security clearances for Perkins Coie and also ordered investigations of at least 15 law firms over diversity programs.
“When you are inhibiting a firm’s ability to advise their clients, it’s going to have a significant impact,” Cari Brunelle, co-founder of legal industry advisory firm Baretz + Brunelle, said. Read More
How Well Do You Know Washington?
Lillianna Byington’s look at Senate retirement trends inspires this week’s mini quiz.
How many current US House members are too young to serve in the Senate?
A) 1
B) 3
C) 5
Scroll to the bottom for the correct answer.
We’re at SXSW
A little bit of everything seems to be available for sampling at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, including discussion about what Washington may try to do to regulate artificial intelligence.
Technology beat reporter Oma Seddiq is on the scene, following the debate about what might be appropriate guardrails on the emerging technology.
Check out her Q&A with Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), co-chair of the Senate AI caucus, and Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), a member of three House committees that intersect with AI.
Among other things, Nunn said he’d like to see export controls increased to limit China’s access to US technology. “We should be much more aggressive,” he said.
And while we’re on the subject, it’s tech day at the White House, where executives are scheduled to meet with Trump. There’s a good chance of tariffs being among the topics that come up, given the impact on supply chains and make manufacturing costs. Read More
One More in the Cabinet Room
Later today, the Senate plans to vote on confirming former Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to head the Labor Department.
The nominee had given some of her fellow Republicans reason to pause because of her past record on union-friendly legislation — support she walked back during her confirmation hearing, saying she was a co-sponsor only in order to be a part of the conversation about federal pre-emption of so-called right-to-work laws. Read More
- Subscribers, check out the BGOV OnPoint: Trump Cabinet Picks Moving Through Senate
- For other action on the Hill, check out BGOV’s Congress Tracker.
Before You Go
A few explainers to help make sense of the Trump administration’s goals and actions so far:
- What is the Department of Government Efficiency and who’s really running it? Once little more than a social media account on Elon Musk’s X platform, DOGE now has influence that pervades almost everything the government does. Read More
- The DOGE project was quickly met with lawsuits as it spread throughout US agencies seeking access to records and data. We round up the cases focusing on information. Read More
- Trump wants to repeal the Chips and Science Act. Built to revitalize the American semiconductor industry, it has spurred nearly $450 billion in commitments to build factories on US soil, amounting to almost $10 of private sector investment for every $1 spent by the government. Read More
Did You Ace the Quiz?
The minimum Senate age is 30 versus 25 for the House.
The youngest member of the House is 28-year-old Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), followed by 31-year-old Reps. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) and Addison McDowell (R-N.C.).
So the correct response is A.
A few others aren’t yet 35, though by the next presidential election Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Abraham Hamadeh (R-Ariz.), and Sara McBride (D-Del.) — along with every other current member of the House and Senate — will be old enough to run, if they’re so inclined. Greg Giroux has additional research on congressional demographics. Read More
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