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In today’s issue:
- GOP seeks Trump budget breakthrough
- Musk and mistrust
- Lawsuits vs. Trump’s government reorder
- Administration files appeal to limit citizenship
A House divided cannot stand — or at least push forward with a massive budget reconciliation package.
House Republicans must overcome their differences to enact President Trump’s expansive legislative agenda, which they aim to pass in “one big, beautiful bill,” as per the president’s wishes. Creating a budget blueprint that encompasses the president’s vast policy goals — extending 2017 tax cuts, pursuing stricter immigration measures and energy expansion, not to mention the debt ceiling — is proving difficult in a fractious, razor-thin majority.
House and Senate Republicans have been at odds over whether to attempt to pass the agenda in one sweeping package or in two separate, smaller packages, which Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), members of his leadership team and an ideological crosssection of lawmakers discussed with Trump and Vice President Vance at the White House on Thursday. After the meeting, Johnson reported “very positive developments” and said the House Budget Committee could begin working on a budget resolution as early as next week. If advanced out of committee and passed on the House floor, it would unlock the budget reconciliation process — a maneuver allowing Republicans to circumvent a Senate filibuster.
“We got out the white boards and we worked out the framework, what we believe will be the path forward,” Johnson told reporters at the Capitol after the meeting. “I think we’ll be able to make some announcements probably by tomorrow, and we’re excited about that.”
But the Senate is done waiting.
Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Wednesday that he wants the upper chamber to lead a two-bill funding package next week that combines border security and defense spending, and senators are hoping to sway Trump to endorse their plan tonight at a Mar-a-Lago dinner.
The two-bill proposal could cost upward of $300 billion, setting up a confrontation with House Republicans who don’t want to add to the deficit. But buoyed by the confirmation of 13 Trump nominees, The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) feels he has leverage with the president. Aware of that timeline, House Republican leaders are pushing to release their framework before today’s Senate meeting at Mar-a-Lago. Johnson said Thursday that “we are moving as quickly and expeditiously as possible.”
The Speaker said work on the legislative agenda will continue through the weekend — including Super Bowl Sunday. Johnson and Trump are both expected to attend the game in New Orleans, La.
A Republican senator who will be at the Mar-a-Lago meeting told The Hill it would be “helpful” if Trump urges the House GOP to back the Senate’s plan, since there’s “still differing opinions and no single clear option as to one bill, two bills, three bills for reconciliation.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) echoed what his Senate colleagues see as Trump’s need to crack down on House Republicans who are holding up the process.
“In the end it will take presidential leadership,” he said. “It will take him twisting arms. He might have to twist them hard.”
Federal buyouts on pause: A federal judge temporarily pushed back the deadline for Trump’s buyout offer to 2 million federal employees — as part of a massive federal government restructuring effort — and called for a Monday hearing. The administration is offering government workers what it says is a one-time opening to quit their jobs but be paid through Sept. 30 without working.
Democratic senators have warned eligible workers to turn down the offer, which they argue has no guarantee for federal resources, since federal funding is set to expire March 14 without a budget resolution or stopgap. The terms of the buyout offered employees under a short, 10-day deadline require forfeiture of rights to litigate later.
▪ The Hill: Oops, too valuable: Because of the tax filing season, some IRS workers discovered their access to the administration’s buyout deadline offer was unavailable.
▪ CBS News: Select CIA workers are offered a separate buyout offer by the administration.
▪ The Hill: Senate Republicans on Thursday confirmed Russell Vought, Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Budget and Management, in the face of mounting Democratic attacks over his ties to Project 2025 and the president’s efforts targeting funding already approved by Congress.
▪ The Hill: The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday delayed until next week a scheduled confirmation vote for Kash Patel, nominated by the president to “clean out” the FBI.
SMART TAKE with NewsNation’s BLAKE BURMAN:
The big game is Sunday between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, but did the big moment for the power brokers in the National Football League and across sports happen Thursday on the North Lawn of the White House?
After Trump’s meeting with Republican lawmakers to discuss priorities, press secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed what the president laid out. The discussion included familiar campaign promises, like no tax on tips, Social Security and overtime pay. However, it didn’t end there as she mentioned “eliminat[ing] all of the special tax breaks for billionaire sports team owners.”
As The Hill reported this week, the NFL and Major League Baseball both recently hired the same lobbying firm for tax policy.
We’ll see what happens when the details of this eventual plan get fleshed out, as Republicans have a long way to go. But it seems as if the pro leagues and their owners were just put on notice.
Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.
3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:
▪ Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor doubled down on her opposition to the presidential immunity decision last summer and expressed concern about public confidence in the high court.
▪ Secretary of State Marco Rubio is now acting U.S. archivist in addition to his other new assignments, including sudden supervision of the U.S. Agency for International Development. The National Archives became a Trump target when it sought help from the Justice Department in 2021 to reclaim presidential documents he removed from the White House and did not return to the archives when requested.
▪ Vance and national security adviser Michael Waltz are tasked by the president to oversee a potential sale of TikTok. The vice president is “quarterbacking a deal to save TikTok” and the National Security Council and Waltz are focused on the security of any potential transaction. Recall that a 2024 law required a U.S. TikTok ban in the absence of a sale of the platform by Chinese owner ByteDance. Trump’s executive order last month extended a deadline by 75 days. Here’s a timeline.
LEADING THE DAY
© The Associated Press | Jose Luis Magana
THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY and Elon Musk share more than they know: They’re seemingly everywhere, are recognizable punching bags and reviled by many for flaunting hubris and indifference.
The billionaire with the scissorhands who is tossing civil servants out windows to make the government work better and cost less is Democrats’ new bogeyman. The minority party has struggled to gain political traction among the blue-collar workers who backed Trump in November. The world’s richest man purging middle-class federal workers and digging into government records containing Mr. and Mrs. America’s personal information could help Democrats create doubts about Trump’s judgment and his aims.
A recent poll backs Democrats’ view that bashing Musk is more effective at the moment than skewering the new president. Public support among Republicans when it comes to Musk’s influence over the Trump administration declined by almost half since the president was elected, according to a new Economist/YouGov survey.
The Hill: Musk provokes battle among Democrats over how to fight back.
House Democrats want to block Musk’s access to taxpayers’ sensitive federal records and have introduced legislation that would limit such entry to only individuals with specific experiences, security clearances and other qualifications, which Musk critics say the billionaire and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team lack.
It’s a show bill for now, but it adds a bit of pressure to Republicans by surfacing criticism of Musk and the actions of his DOGE team.
▪ The Hill: Five questions about the Musk team’s access to federal pay systems, which the Justice Department on Wednesday agreed to limit in response to a lawsuit.
▪ The Washington Post: Musk’s team is feeding sensitive data into artificial intelligence (AI) to target federal spending cuts.
▪ Roll Call: The White House opened the funding spigot for DOGE’s expenses, which were $7 million in the past week.
▪ The Wall Street Journal: A 25-year-old Musk lieutenant who accessed sensitive government data resigned Thursday from the DOGE team after the White House was asked about his ties to a deleted social media account espousing racist beliefs.
USAID personnel will be placed on mandatory administrative leave today and have been ordered to return to the United States from assignments worldwide. The agency is being miniaturized from 13,600 personnel (in December) to 294 under the Trump makeover, with just 12 to remain in Africa and 21 in the Middle East, PBS’s NewsHour reports. It appears, based on email evidence, that Musk’s team sought four days after the inauguration to use the Treasury payment system to try to cut off USAID authorized disbursements.
A lawsuit filed Thursday night on behalf of the American Foreign Service Association and American Federation of Government Employees alleges the takeover and shutdown of USAID is illegal. The suit names Trump, the secretary of State (who is now the acting USAID director), the State Department and the Treasury secretary.
FBI employees fear mass firings and the potential repercussions for U.S. law enforcement if there’s a purge.
THE FINE PRINT: Education Department buyout offers to employees could be canceled at any time, department officials told staff members this week ahead of a sign-up deadline (since extended), meaning they might opt to resign, receive no pay and have no recourse.
WHAT ABOUT “PARTIALLY SUCCESSFUL”? The Office of Personnel Management ordered all federal departments and agencies by March 7 to submit lists of employees who received less than “fully successful” job performance ratings in the past three years. (Wait until those go through AI.)
WHERE AND WHEN
- The House will convene at 9 a.m.
- The Senate meets Monday at 3 p.m.
- The president will greet Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House at 11:30 before their first meetings, lunch and a joint news conference at 1:10 p.m. The president will sign executive orders and make a White House faith office announcement at 2 p.m. Trump will depart the White House at 3 p.m. for Mar-a-Lago in Florida and arrive by 5:50 p.m. before hosting a dinner this evening with Senate Republicans.
- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem today will fly to Cuba to visit Guantánamo Bay Naval Base’s new migrant detention facility and prison.
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics at 8:30 a.m. will release the jobs report for January.
ZOOM IN
© The Associated Press | Ben Curtis
MORE ORDERS: Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday rescinded a Justice Department environmental justice memo. She was sworn in by Justice Clarence Thomas on Wednesday.
Trump on Thursday announced during remarks accompanying a National Prayer Breakfast that he will form his own version of a White House faith office, appoint a presidential commission on religious liberty and directed the attorney general and the Justice Department to “eradicate anti-Christian bias” inside the federal government.
Flashback: Trump sold Bibles during his presidential campaign for $59.99. He was criticized after his inauguration for not placing his hand on Bibles at his side while taking the oath of office.
“As the Bible says, blessed are the peacemakers,” Trump told an appreciative audience Thursday, “and in the end, I hope my greatest legacy when it is all finished will be as a peacemaker and a unifier. I hope that’s going to be true.”
RACING TO THE SUPREME COURT: Trump hit a second judicial hurdle in his bid to order an end to birthright citizenship when a federal judge issued a nationwide injunction Wednesday, ruling the president’s order is unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. But the president and his allies believe a conservative majority on the Supreme Court would rule in his favor if it eventually takes up the case. The Justice Department is appealing. Trump’s executive order to limit birthright citizenship was similarly blocked by a federal judge in Seattle.
“The denial of the precious right to citizenship will cause irreparable harm,” U.S. District Court Judge Deborah Boardman in Maryland said in handing down her order. “It has been said the right to U.S. citizenship is a right no less precious than life or liberty. If the court does not enjoin enforcement of the executive order, children subject to the order will be denied the rights and benefits of U.S. citizenship and their parents will face instability.”
SAFER SKIES: Trump on Thursday blamed an “obsolete” air traffic control system for the midair collision that killed 67 people near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. He vowed a federal overhaul. The president, however, appeared to conflate two systems, the nation’s air traffic control system and a navigation system for private jets, according to Forbes. Aviation experts said they were confused by Trump comments that seemed to mix up a plane’s onboard electronics system with the federal air traffic control system.
ELSEWHERE
© The Associated Press | Mark Schiefelbein
SOUTH AFRICA: Rubio will not attend the Feb. 20-21 Group of 20 summit, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, explaining his no-show is a reaction to what he called South Africa’s “anti-American” agenda. Diplomatic ties have soured between the two countries under Trump’s administration. Rubio made the announcement on social platform X, where he repeated the president’s unfounded claim that South Africa was expropriating private property.
“South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property. Using G20 to promote ‘solidarity, equality, & sustainability.’ In other words: DEI and climate change,” Rubio railed on social media, using an abbreviation for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). “My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism.”
Musk, the South African-born billionaire and Trump adviser, replied with two American flag emojis. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke with Musk a day after the new U.S. president promised to cut funding for South Africa over a land expropriation law. On Thursday, Ramaphosa appeared to respond to threats from Trump by saying in his annual speech to the nation that his country would “not be bullied.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) suggested Musk’s clash over a Starlink ban is behind the administration’s decision to skip the G20.
▪ The Wall Street Journal: Panama’s conservative President José Raúl Mulino wanted to work with Trump from day one. Now he’s trying to stop a U.S. takeover of the Panama Canal.
▪ Axios: In a rebuke of the Trump administration, Panama has refuted a claim by the State Department that American vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without being charged fees.
▪ The New York Times: Trump, the Panama Canal and a Hong Kong firm are at the heart of a showdown.
GAZA: Trump’s stunning proposalfor the U.S. to take over Gaza and relocate Palestinian residents marked a major shift of goal posts during a critical moment of ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, writes The Hill’s Laura Kelly. Trump’s opening bid is being hailed by supporters as a bold initiative, condemned by foreign leaders as a nonstarter, and treated with caution by regional experts who view it as a maximalist opening offer amid fragile ceasefire talks.
“This is not a real proposal … But what it is is a signal to the Arab world that the policies of the United States over the last several decades are shifting,” said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.). “But I do think he wants the Arab countries to step up and take more ownership on the future of their region. And none of them have been wanting to do that for decades.”
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said Wednesday that Arab nations were planning to reconstruct Gaza while Palestinians remain in the enclave. But on Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz directed the military to prepare a plan “to enable the voluntary departure of Gaza residents.”
“I welcome the bold initiative of U.S. President Trump, which could allow a large portion of Gaza’s population to relocate to various destinations worldwide,” he said in a statement, adding that Trump’s plan “will take many years,” during which Palestinians would be integrated “into host countries while facilitating long-term reconstruction efforts in a demilitarized and threat-free Gaza in a post-Hamas era.”
▪ The Hill: Arab American and Muslim American leaders are blasting Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza, warning it amounts to ethnic cleansing. The backlash comes after Trump made significant inroads among these groups’ voters in the November election.
▪ Reuters: Rubio will visit Israel and Arab states in mid-February, a State Department official said.
▪ CBS News: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Thursday with congressional leaders on Capitol Hill.
▪ Reuters: Trump has authorized economic and travel sanctions targeting people who work on International Criminal Court investigations of U.S. citizens or U.S. allies such as Israel.
OPINION
■ Whole Hog Politics: An inflection point for the transgender movement, by Chris Stirewalt, political editor, The Hill.
■ What Trump actually wants in the Middle East, by Guy Laron, opinion contributor, The Hill.
THE CLOSER
© The Associated Press | Kirsty Wigglesworth
And finally … 🏈 Congratulations to this week’s Morning Report Quiz winners! Sunday’s big sporting event inspired us to forego trivia about the gridiron competition in favor of trivia questions about Super Bowl ads.
Here’s who ran up victorious 4/4 scores: Lou Tisler, Chuck Schoenenberger, Jess Elger, Harry Strulovici, Lynn Gardner, Sari Wisch, Stan Wasser, Richard E. Baznik, Steve Valley, Michael Palermo, Mark Roeddiger, Rick Schmidtke, Wiley Pearson, Jenessa Wagner, Robert Bradley, William D. Moore, Korey Hartwich, Jerry LaCamera, Carmine Petracca, Savannah Petracca, Kathy and Bill Purks, Linda L. Field, Pam Manges, Denny Lavis and “Hogan113.”
In a nod to a famous scene from “When Harry Met Sally,” Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal reunite this season for a Super Bowl commercial for mayonnaise.
Budweiser tops a list (142 times since 1967) of most-frequent Super Bowl advertisers.
This year, the cost of a 30-second Super Bowl ad during the game (not pre- or post-game) ranges from $7 million to $8 million.
From our list, and based on news coverage here and here, Meryl Streep is a celebrity not appearing in a Sunday Super Bowl commercial.
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