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In today’s issue:
- House panel advances GOP budget outline
- RFK Jr. confirmed to lead HHS
- Federal layoffs escalate
- Vance: U.S. could send troops to Ukraine
President Trump announced new “reciprocal” trade tariffs Thursday as House Republicans worked overtime in the Capitol and crafted a budget framework that they hope will anchor the president’s policies without requiring Democratic support.
That process will slow the pace of Trump’s governing momentum as he continues to downsize the federal government while pressing international partners to offer benefits to the U.S.
Trump conferred with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi about trade at the White House on Thursday and told reporters at a joint news conference that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin wants “a deal” with Ukraine following years of war that began with Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.
“Russia has gotten themselves into something that I think they wish they didn’t,” Trump said when asked by a reporter what Russia should give up. “I want that bloodshed to stop,” the president said, adding his view that Ukraine would likely have to forfeit its aspirations to join NATO, seen by Putin as a threat. “It’s too early to say what’s going to happen,” Trump said.
The Hill: Trump’s Russia-Ukraine moves unnerve Senate GOP.
The Senate on Thursday helped the president fill out his Cabinet by confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Health and Human Services Department (HHS). The former Democratic presidential candidate and vaccine skeptic was sworn in hours later.
Linda McMahon, the president’s choice to lead the Education Department, testified at her confirmation hearing that she would work, if approved by the Senate, to fulfill Trump’s campaign pledge to dismantle the federal role in public education. The White House confirmed that it is preparing to take executive action to shutter department programs that are not protected by law, and will call on McMahon, once confirmed, to draw up a blueprint for Congress to close the department entirely.
HOUSE GOP BUDGET OUTLINE: House Republicans on the Budget Committee labored Thursday and completed a budget outline that envisions adding specifics later in a single measure to make tax cuts permanent, boost federal investments in border security and the Pentagon and reduce the deficit with spending reductions. It clears the first hurdle for the House GOP conference in a process that has revealed internal pressures and disagreements. The Senate GOP is moving toward a two-bill approach to enacting Trump’s agenda through budget reconciliation, a legislative option that can bypass the Senate’s filibuster hurdle and Democrats’ opposition.
The House resolution approved in committee includes a $1.5 trillion floor for spending cuts across committees with a target of $2 trillion, a $4.5 trillion cap on the deficit impact of the Republicans’ plan to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, and $300 billion in additional spending for the border and defense. It also increases the nation’s borrowing authority by $4 trillion.
House conservatives favor work requirements for Medicaid, the federal-state health program for low-income Americans, to help achieve budget savings. The first Trump administration encouraged states to test Medicaid work requirements and approved 13 state waivers. Those were contested in court. The Biden administration subsequently withdrew some of those waivers on the grounds they reduced coverage and House Democrats voiced opposition Thursday.
“Is it getting people off the rolls who are healthy? Yes,” said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) told Bloomberg News during a Thursday interview. He described the Medicaid changes as “a reallocation” not a “cut.” To get House and Senate Republicans on the same page on a budget, “President Trump … is going to have to get involved,” Norman added.
▪ NBC News: Trump takes steps to impose “fair and reciprocal” tariffs on trade partners, including allies, as soon as April.
▪ The Hill: Republicans put healthcare cuts front and center to advance Trump’s agenda.
SMART TAKE with NewsNation’s BLAKE BURMAN:
On the same day Trump put the world on notice by announcing potential reciprocal tariffs, he also suggested from the Oval Office that the Pentagon’s piggy bank could be cut in half, if China and Russia would de-escalate. The Pentagon’s budget has long been protected by many Republicans, but the president suggested he’d be willing to drop defense spending if it led to China and Russia de-escalating.
“One of the first meetings I want to have is with President [Xi Jinping] of China, President [Vladimir Putin] of Russia,” Trump said. “I want to say ‘Let’s cut our military budget in half.’”
Later in the day, the commander in chief doubled down. Will the defense budget shrink, along with China’s and Russia’s?
“He wants peace is what the lead is,” Trump’s former press secretary Sean Spicer told me. He added of China possibly de-escalating, “I don’t see that happening in my lifetime, or my grandchild’s lifetime.”
Burman hosts “The Hill” weeknights, 6p/5c on NewsNation.
3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY:
▪ U.S. foreign aid must be restored, a judge ruled Thursday in response to litigation from nonprofit groups. The ruling says the administration for now cannot suspend or cancel foreign assistance that was in place before Trump took office and issued an executive order to freeze it.
▪ Apple and Google restored TikTok to their app stores on Thursday. The status of a law banning TikTok in the U.S., which preceded the initial removal of the popular app with Chinese owners, remains up in the air.
▪ Trump has inherited stubborn inflation above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target, and his agenda risks keeping it there, making it harder to bring down interest rates. Republican fiscal plans also complicate the inflation and interest-rate outlook, The Wall Street Journal’s Greg Ip reports.
LEADING THE DAY
© The Associated Press | Alex Brandon
TRUMP’S CABINET IS TAKING SHAPE. The Senate approved a spate of confirmations this week, from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to Kennedy, who was confirmed by the full Senate in a 52-48 vote. Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) was the lone Republican to oppose him. McConnell, who suffered from polio as a child, criticized Kennedy for his controversial, oft-debunked stance on vaccines.
“In my lifetime, I’ve watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases across America and around the world,” McConnell said in a statement. “I will not condone the relitigation of proven cures, and neither will millions of Americans who credit their survival and quality of life to scientific miracles.”
McConnell was also the only Republican to vote against Gabbard. McConnell’s opposition to the nominees puts him largely in a party of one. It’s a stance the 82-year-old veteran lawmaker is able to maintain now that his Senate leadership career is over, and his current term is likely his last.
“He has expressed the fact that he is going to be independent,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) told Politico. “He is not burdened with … leadership, and if he has a disagreement on a particular individual he will express that.”
▪ The Hill: Trump on Thursday blasted McConnell’s vote on Kennedy, disregarding his childhood bout with polio and questioning his mental abilities.
▪ The Hill: The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly confirmed Brooke Rollins to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
▪ The Hill: The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced the nomination of Kash Patel to lead the FBI in a strict party-line vote. Patel advanced amid controversy, derived from uncertainty about his truthfulness during his confirmation hearing and a series of firings of top FBI leadership shortly thereafter.
EDUCATION: Amid the White House’s efforts to gut the Department of Education, McMahon’s hearing to lead the department was interrupted several times by protesters in the audience Thursday. They called for protections for transgender students and those with disabilities.
McMahon vowed to work with Congress. She did not mask her belief that the Education Department’s programs should move elsewhere in the federal government, but she told members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that she recognizes the elimination of the agency would require congressional approval.
In an exchange with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) about Trump’s executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs, McMahon said schools would not get in trouble for celebrating Black History Month or Martin Luther King Jr. Day but would not say whether school clubs based on ethnicity or race were appropriate.
“You’re saying that it’s a possibility that if a school has a club for Vietnamese American students or Black students where they meet after school that they could be potentially in jeopardy of” losing federal funding, Murphy said. “That’s pretty chilling. I think schools all around the country are going to hear that.”
▪ The Washington Post: DOGE rips through the Education Department, cutting contracts, staff and grants.
▪ The Hill: Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith (D), who has served in the Senate since 2018, announced she won’t seek reelection next year. Minnesota voters have not elected a GOP senator since 2002. Minnesota state House Rep. Kristin Robbins (R) is reportedly considering a run for the Senate seat.
WHERE AND WHEN
- The House will convene briefly at 1:30 p.m.
- The Senate meets at 9 a.m.
- The president will sign executive orders at 1 p.m. Trump will depart the White House at 2 p.m. en route to Mar-a-Lago.
- Vice President Vance will address the Munich Security Conference in Germany. He will meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. A congressional delegation will also be there.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio will participate in the Munich Security Conference and also meet with Zelensky.
ZOOM IN
© The Associated Press | Jose Luis Magana
FEDERAL WORKFORCE: Office of Personnel Management (OPM) officials met with agency leaders across government Thursday and directed them to begin firing employees still in their probationary period a year or more after being hired. Federal employees remain on probation anywhere from one to two years after being hired, depending on their agency, a status that still comes with workplace protections but makes them easier to remove.
The move could impact as many as 200,000 federal employees. The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch reports a source familiar with OPM said its leaders have directed agencies to fire all probationary employees “with some exceptions.” It was not immediately clear what those exceptions were or the extent of discretion given to agencies.
The Trump administration has also used two other methods to cull the workforce: an executive order from Trump directing agencies to undertake a reduction in force and the “Fork in the Road” program offering federal workers a buyout.
Under tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) working group, scores of firings have begun at federal agencies as Musk and Trump purge the federal government in the name of cutting waste. Among the largest layoffs reported on Thursday was one announced by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which dismissed more than 1,000 employees.
▪ The New York Times: Fourteen Democratic state attorneys general sued Musk and Trump on Thursday to challenge what they called the “unlawful delegation of executive power” granted to Musk and DOGE.
▪ The Guardian: Musk is pushing to “delete entire agencies.”
▪ Bloomberg News: The next stop for Musk’s team: NASA, to review the space agency’s payments.
▪ Bloomberg News: Three Senate Democrats criticized Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for what they call a “lack of candor” about what DOGE workers are doing with U.S. payment systems.
USAID: A federal judge on Thursday extended a temporary block on the Trump administration’s plan to place thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees on leave while he weighs whether a further pause is warranted. Another federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to temporarily lift a three-week funding freeze that has shut down U.S. aid and development work worldwide.
The New York Times: A federal judge in Maryland appointed by former President Biden on Thursday temporarily halted the Trump administration’s ban on federal funding to health care providers offering gender-affirming care for transgender individuals under age 19.
Two of Trump’s latest moves are raising eyebrows in Congress, writes The Hill’s Alexander Bolton. Lawmakers are questioning the decision to buy $400 million in armored Tesla vehicles and the pause on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which would benefit Tesla’s ability to buy rare earth minerals. In addition, Trump has directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to review past FCPA penalties against U.S. businesses, including Tesla, which was involved in four cases related to foreign corrupt practices.
▪ The Hill: The State Department’s Tesla truck contract is on hold.
▪ NPR: The State Department in December changed the $400 million contract listing to change the reference to “Electric Vehicle.” Only Tesla makes the armored truck.
▪ CNBC: Musk said he will withdraw his $97.4 billion bid for OpenAI’s nonprofit arm if the ChatGPT maker stops its conversion into a for-profit entity.
ELSEWHERE
© The Associated Press | Alex Brandon
WHITE HOUSE VISIT: Trump on Thursday welcomed Modi — armed with concessions to the U.S. in an effort to avoid tariffs — to the White House, where the president said the U.S. would increase military sales to India by “many billions” of dollars and the White House approved the extradition of one of the “plotters” of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack. Modi said India and the U.S. will launch a framework for defense cooperation for the next decade and added the two countries would also collaborate to develop semiconductors, quantum technology and artificial intelligence.
The two leaders also began work toward a trade deal that will try to reinforce a relationship that the Trump administration has signaled is critical to countering the rise of China.
The Washington Post: Trump on Thursday said without evidence that USAID “could have had a role” in election interference in the United States and India.
UKRAINE: Vice President Vance warned in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the U.S. could send troops to Ukraine and hit Russia with further sanctions if Putin doesn’t negotiate a peace deal in good faith.
“There are economic tools of leverage, there are of course military tools of leverage” Vance said.
Vance’s comments come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in a tough spot as his country faces the third year of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Along with shaky promises for continued U.S. military aid, the Trump administration has demanded $500 billion in Ukrainian mineral rights and it canceled Kyiv’s exemption from U.S. tariffs on steel. Then Trump announced that his recent conversation with Putin was the opening to end the war and included no clear role for Zelensky.
Trump’s first major moves toward peace negotiations unsettled Republicans in the Senate who want to make sure Putin faces consequences for launching an unprovoked invasion into his European neighbor. The president on Thursday continued to defend Russia and demurred about any concessions he thinks that Putin should make in order to halt the war with Ukraine.
“Russia has gotten themselves into something that I think they wish they didn’t,” he said in a news conference at the White House. “It’s too early to say what’s going to happen. Maybe Russia will give up a lot. Maybe they won’t. And it’s all dependent on what is going to happen.”
▪ The Hill: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who spoke to reporters following a NATO defense meeting in Brussels, appeared to walk back his comments from Wednesday, when he said it’s not “realistic” for Ukraine to join NATO, saying Thursday “everything is on the table” in negotiations with Kyiv and Moscow.
▪ The Hill: Trump wants Russia back in the Group of Seven. The country was booted from the group of major economies over Moscow’s 2014 invasion of Crimea.
▪ Axios: NATO allies are in a state of anger, denial and despair after Hegseth effectively declared an end to America’s role as the primary guarantor of European security, particularly over Ukraine.
▪ NBC News: Israel promised to increase forces inside and around Gaza and reiterated that “intense fighting” would resume if Hamas did not release three hostages by noon on Saturday.
OPINION
■ Trump really can achieve lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine — here’s how, by Hall Gardner, opinion contributor, The Hill.
■ Whole Hog Politics: Inflation clouds hang over budget battle, by Chris Stirewalt, political editor, The Hill.
THE CLOSER
© The Associated Press | Elise Amendola
And finally … 👏👏👏Congratulations to this week’s Morning Report Quiz winners!
💌 Here’s who aced a Valentine’s Day-themed trivia puzzle: Sari Wisch, Jess A. Elger, Harry Strulovici, Linda L. Field, Robert Bradley, Ned Sauthoff, Carmine Petracca, Savannah Petracca and Lori Cowdrey Benso.
They knew that a “Norman custom of giving heart-shaped leaves” did not influence the Valentine’s Day we celebrate today. (We made that up.)
Commercially available Valentine’s Day cards became popular in the 1840s.
Flowers — especially roses — are a typical Valentine’s Day gift. Colombia is the largest flower exporter to the U.S.
The National Retail Federation predicts record-breaking Valentine’s Day spending this year of $27.5 billion. That’s a lot of consumer sentiment.
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