Principals

1. DOGE’s next target
2. Funding impasse
3. Budget battles
4. Migrant housing plans
5. Trump hosts Japan PM
6. Hawley’s union outreach
7. Politico, NYT targeted
8. Cuomo rising

PDB: DOGE has ‘read-only’ access to Treasury, Bessent says

Vought confirmed as Trump budget chief … Panama’s president accuses US of ‘lies’ … WaPo: Recall of USAID’s global workforce stirs panic

Inside DOGE’s march

Elon Musk is just getting started at the Department of Government Efficiency. The Social Security Administration will soon be a focus of DOGE, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott reports, and one person involved in the cost-cutting operation is already preparing to work with the agency that provides benefits to the elderly and disabled. Led by Musk and a group of young engineers, DOGE is migrating around the government in search of cuts with an intensity that has demoralized federal workers, inspired lawsuits, and become a defining early mark of President Trump’s second term. USAID emerged as an early target: “It was the most obvious” place to start cutting perceived waste, one source said.

Dems weigh how to use shutdown leverage

There’s already a shutdown fight brewing in Congress, ahead of a March 14 deadline, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports. The dynamics are simple: Democrats don’t expect Trump to honor any bipartisan funding bill after his unilateral actions — and Republicans are going to need some of their votes to keep the lights on. What’s more, Democrats are starting to fight back way harder against Trump, and there’s little talk between the two parties about a potential deal. “It feels impossible,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.. “What’s the point of writing a budget if the president’s going to ignore it? It’s a problem without precedent.” To be sure, there aren’t many good options for Democrats. Walking away from negotiations would leave either a stopgap continuing resolution or a shutdown (something Democrats typically try to pin on Republicans).

House seeks budget relief in final hour

House Republicans are scrambling to agree on a budget before their Senate colleagues take control of delivering Trump’s agenda. After missing this week’s deadline, Speaker Mike Johnson has renewed hopes of marking up a budget resolution next week — and sent a message to the Senate: “Allow the House to do its work.” Johnson and roughly a dozen members met with Trump at the White House on Thursday, where the president laid out a list of priorities for reconciliation, including eliminating taxes on tips, Social Security, and overtime; adjusting the SALT deduction; and making permanent Trump’s 2017 tax cuts. Majority Leader Steve Scalise said the group “narrowed the areas of disagreement” during the nearly five-hour meeting that produced new suggestions on how to pay for the ambitious plan, like nixing tax breaks for sports team owners and closing the carried interest tax deduction.

— Kadia Goba

ICE considers plan for migrant housing

The Trump administration is in talks with private shipping-container company Willscot to provide temporary space to house and process thousands of migrants slated for deportation, Semafor’s Rohan Goswami and Shelby Talcott report. ICE is considering leasing the company’s mobile structures for medical or administrative space at migrant detention facilities, and for housing migrants along the US southern border or at Guantánamo Bay. The Department of Homeland Security said another flight carrying 13 “highly dangerous criminal aliens” arrived at Guantánamo on Thursday. Trump intends to send as many as 30,000 migrants with criminal records to the base — though that number far outweighs Guantánamo’s capacity.

What to watch for as Trump hosts Japan’s leader

Trump will host the second foreign leader of his current term today: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The agenda will likely be dominated by US-Japan security ties and trade; expect Tokyo to emphasize its commitments to higher defense spending and foreign investment in the US, as Ishiba looks to avoid any trade threats. His team is worried an “unpredictable Trump may make harsh demands,” Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported. Ishiba (who spoke to Trump once before) is relatively new to his role, replacing Fumio Kishida as the leader of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party and prime minister last fall. He’s under pressure to forge a personal connection with Trump, who had a notably positive rapport with the late Shinzo Abe during his first term. One potential source of tension: Trump’s pledge to block Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of US Steel. (Trump met with the US Steel CEO on Thursday.)

— Morgan Chalfant

Hawley meets with autoworker union

Sen. Josh Hawley is trying to forge the Republican Party’s ties with unions. The Missouri Republican met with United Automobile Workers president Shawn Fain and other union leaders earlier this week to discuss working together on pro-labor priorities, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reported. They discussed tariffs, a pro-labor policy framework Hawley has been circulating, and how the UAW can work with the new GOP-controlled Washington. Fain is no Trump fan, and his organization backed Kamala Harris in the last election. Still, Hawley said: “They realize that Donald Trump has won the White House. They don’t want to be shut out for the next four years. They want to actually see something happen. And so, I think they are looking for partners.”

Misinfo fuels rage at Politico, NYT

The White House turned its sights on media company revenues Thursday, announcing that it would cancel subscriptions to news outlets and industry trade publications after a frenzy of misleading posts on X about Politico. The saga began Tuesday when Semafor reported that Politico experienced a brief pay outage. Online critics falsely linked that to cuts at USAID, and soon discovered that federal agencies pay for subscriptions to Politico Pro and Bloomberg, which provide expensive data and information services for the policy and finance sectors, as well as to The New York Times. Politico noted that its Pro product is largely service-based information about the government, while the Times said in a statement to Semafor that its heavily discounted rates for armed service members, federal court employees, and libraries amounts to less than one one-thousandth of what the paper makes annually.

— Max Tani

Andrew Cuomo’s return

As Democrats search for national figures to oppose Trump, a familiar face is on his way back. Polls this week show that Andrew Cuomo would enter the race for mayor of New York as a strong favorite to replace unpopular and scandal-tarred Eric Adams. Allies tell Semafor they expect him to enter the Democratic primary this June. In 2020, Cuomo was beloved by Democrats as the tough and empathetic face of the COVID-19 response. He resigned a year later amid criticism of his handling of the pandemic and sexual misconduct allegations, combined with a bullying style that had alienated Albany Democrats and the media. But many voters still like him, and may also like the idea of having a Queens tough guy of their own. Notably, the last three mayors, Giuliani, Bloomberg, and de Blasio, all sought the White House.

— Ben Smith

Semafor’s 2025 World Economy Summit will bring together US Cabinet officials, global finance ministers, central bankers, and over 200 CEOs of the world’s largest companies. The three-day summit will take place April 23-25, 2025, in Washington, DC, and will be the first of its kind since the new US administration took office. Featuring on-the-record conversations with top executives, including Alex Chriss, President and CEO, PayPal; Adena Friedman, Chair and CEO, Nasdaq; Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder and Chairman, Infosys; Raj Subramaniam, President and CEO, FedEx Corporation; Scott Kirby, CEO, United Airlines; and Jenny Johnson, President and CEO, Franklin Templeton, the discussions will explore innovative solutions for expanding the global economy.

Apr. 23-25, 2025 | Washington, DC | Join Waitlist

Blindspot: DOJ and DOGE

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Attorney General Pam Bondi paused funding to sanctuary cities.

What the Right isn’t reading: A 25-year-old working for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency resigned after the White House was queried about his links to a social media account that made racist posts, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Vice President Vance is now in charge of shepherding through a potential sale of TikTok. He’ll be aided by national security adviser Michael Waltz.

Playbook: The White House and Republicans in Congress are preparing to make potentially “deep cuts” to Medicaid to offset costs of their reconciliation effort.

WaPo: Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, said he’s “very enthusiastic about working with” the Trump White House on tariffs and trade.

White House

• President Trump said he would work to replace the US air traffic control system, blaming it for last week’s tragic crash outside Washington.
• Trump signed an executive order to sanction the International Criminal Court and another to unwind policies that evoke “anti-Christian bias,” such as Biden-era workplace protections for transgender people.

Congress

• The Senate Judiciary Committee delayed a vote on Kash Patel’s nomination to lead the FBI until next week, amid pressure from Democrats.
• House Speaker Mike Johnson is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today.
• Rep. John James, R-Mich., told two people Wednesday night that he’s running for governor of Michigan, Semafor’s Kadia Goba reported.

Outside the Beltway

• Thirteen states sued Elon Musk’s DOGE over its alleged data privacy breaches.
• The NCAA barred transgender athletes from women’s sports in the wake of President Trump’s executive order.

Campaigns

• The Cook Political Report released its first 2026 ratings for House races, with 10 listed as Democratic toss-ups and eight as Republican toss-ups.

Economy

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says Elon Musk’s DOGE team has read-only access to the department’s payment systems. — Bloomberg
• US jobless claims increased last week.

Courts

• A federal judge put on hold a deadline for federal workers to agree to a deferred resignation offer from the Trump administration.
• Attorney General Pam Bondi closed the DOJ’s Kleptocracy Initiative. — Whale Hunting

National Security

• A US service member and three defense contractors died in a military plane crash in the Philippines.

Foreign Policy

• The Trump administration plans to lay off most staff at USAID, cutting the agency down from 10,000 positions to just 290. — NYT
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio is skipping a G20 meeting in South Africa.

Health

• The White House is readying an executive order to fire thousands of government health personnel. — WSJ

Technology

• Elon Musk is using artificial intelligence to examine possible funding cuts at the Education Department. — WaPo

Principals Team

Edited by Morgan Chalfant, deputy Washington editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor

Contact our reporters:

Burgess Everett, Kadia Goba, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Emanuel Cleaver is a Democratic congressman from Missouri.