Principals

1. Mass resignations
2. Trump blitzes Washington
3. Resistance working?
4. House budget blues
5. Hunting for pay-fors
6. Ukraine endgame
7. Trump meets Modi
8. Dem moderation

PDB: More Trump nominations

Senate to vote on RFK Jr. for HHS, Rollins for USDA … Hamas says it will release Israeli hostages … FT: Europe reels after Trump announces Russia talks

Thousands take Trump resignation offer

Roughly 75,000 federal workers accepted the Trump administration deferred resignation offer, a senior administration official told Semafor’s Shelby Talcott on Wednesday night. Representing around 3.75% of the federal workforce, the final headcount came just hours after a judge lifted a hold on the buyout program amid a lawsuit from federal employee unions. The offer, sent through the Office of Personnel Management via mass email, proposed to pay federal employees through Sept. 30 if they resigned. The judge’s decision to lift the hold marks a win for the Trump administration’s unprecedented purge of the federal workforce, and a loss for federal workers unions and Democracy Forward, the nonprofit that represented them.

Behind Trump’s Washington frenzy

President Trump’s constant blitz of executive orders and actions is quickly becoming a defining feature of his second time in office — and his allies say that’s by design, telling Semafor they planned for this during both the transition and over the last four years, when Joe Biden was in office. “It’s blitzing as much as we can until everyone is just tired,” one Trump aide said. But the “flood the zone” strategy, as Steve Bannon dubbed it, is disorienting for lawmakers in both parties. Democrats are once again reacting as Trump dominates the news cycle, and some Republicans are unnerved by the speed at which the president is operating. “It’s created a lot of anxiety, chaos, consternation, confusion,” said Sen. Susan Collins.

— Shelby Talcott and Burgess Everett

‘Resistance’ lawsuits flood the courts

There are some signs the Trump resistance might be working, however. Democratic attorneys general and legal groups have delayed or hampered some early Trump administration actions, Semafor’s David Weigel and Kadia Goba report, like unfreezing billions in grants and stalling the attempted rollback of birthright citizenship. “The early wins we’ve seen so far are just the beginning of our coordinated legal strategy,” said Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman. Anti-Trump groups so far have “had a great deal of success with preliminary injunctions, temporary restraining orders in the courts,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said. Democrats are still getting plenty of messages from anxious constituents, though — and will keep getting them, given the slow pace of the judiciary. “That’s hard for people to digest,” Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley said.

The House is losing the budget battle

The House Budget Committee will hold its budget markup today — and some GOP members are already opposing the border, energy, and taxes proposal that Chair Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, released Wednesday. Arrington’s plan is meant to be a blueprint for the “one big, beautiful bill” to deliver Trump’s agenda. But Freedom Caucus member Eric Burlison, R-Mo., called its $1.5 trillion in cuts “pathetic” and predicted a half-dozen or more Republicans would vote against it on the House floor. “I know my colleagues. They don’t really have much desire or impetus to cut spending, so you’re going to have to force them,” he said. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., offered an option for deeper cuts: “If you don’t do Medicaid, where else are you going to get it?” Meanwhile, the Senate passed its border-first budget out of committee with a promise to bring it to the floor “soon.”

— Kadia Goba

Republicans look to DOGE for pay-fors

Republicans are about to turn over a lot of couch cushions to pay for Trump’s border and tax agenda — and DOGE might help. “When you find a lot of these cost savings, we should plug in a lot of it for pay-fors,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., told Semafor. It’s too early to say how much money DOGE can scrounge up and what exactly it would go toward, but Republicans could put any savings that Elon Musk finds to work in their forthcoming party-line tax-and-border legislation. “Getting rid of unused office space — saving on those leases or selling those assets — certainly, that is revenue that’s gained that can be used for other purposes,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who leads the Senate DOGE Caucus. Still, those cuts would have to follow the strict budget reconciliation process to officially be counted.

— Burgess Everett

Witkoff’s star rises in Ukraine talks

Trump is putting real estate developer Steve Witkoff at the center of talks with Russia over the war in Ukraine. The president spoke to Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy Wednesday as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ruled out Ukrainian NATO membership, drawing criticism from ex-Biden officials and praise from restraint-oriented experts. Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, was conspicuously absent from Trump’s list of lead negotiators, although he is headed to Munich, Brussels, and Kyiv for talks. Kellogg’s proposal to end the war while arming Ukraine has drawn skepticism from the incoming Pentagon team, while Witkoff — who worked on the Gaza ceasefire — is considered the dealmaking hot hand (the White House insists Kellogg remains involved). For its part, Ukraine will need support to build a stronger military if it can’t join NATO, former Ukrainian defense secretary Andriy Zagorodnyuk said: “Membership in NATO would be cheaper.”

— Mathias Hammer

Tariffs complicate Trump-Modi friendship

Trump’s tariff threats pose a new test for the US-India alliance. The White House said Trump would unveil reciprocal tariffs by Thursday — duties that could hit India and several other nations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who meets with Trump today, wants to avoid friction over trade and immigration. Ahead of the visit, India moved to lower tariffs on imports of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, while Indian oil companies showed an interest in purchasing US LNG. That might not be enough to avoid new penalties. At the same time, US officials view India as a key ally in countering China, and are looking to deepen the partnership. “The US-India relationship is the most significant going forward in the 21st century, particularly as it pertains to the Chinese Communist Party and their aggression,” Michael Waltz, now Trump’s national security adviser, told Semafor in 2023.

Democrats want a more moderate party

Democrats increasingly want their party to move towards the center. A plurality of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents — 45% — said they want their party to become more moderate, according to Gallup polling conducted following Trump’s inauguration. That’s an 11-point increase since 2021, the year that Joe Biden entered the White House. During the same period, the share of Democrats seeking a more liberal party declined by five points, to 29%, while the share hoping the party won’t shift ideologically went down by nine points, to 22%. The data points to growing dissatisfaction among Democrats about the trajectory of their party, particularly in the wake of the GOP takeover in Washington. Republicans appear satisfied, though: Forty-three percent said they want the GOP to maintain the status quo, an increase of nine points since 2021.

Join us in DC for a critical discussion on the tax battles that could reshape Washington. With a GOP trifecta now in power, calls for tax reform are swelling. Semafor’s Elana Schor will explore the high-stakes debates shaping these proposals: How will Congress navigate tax cuts amid record deficits?

March 6, 2025 | Washington DC | RSVP

Blindspot: Lawsuits and Elon

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: A federal judge denied a bid by CBS to dismiss President Trump’s lawsuit over its 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, in a procedural move.

What the Right isn’t reading: The singer Grimes criticized Elon Musk for bringing their son to the Oval Office earlier this week.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: House Republican leadership is feeling “somewhat confident” they will be able to move their budget resolution out of committee and to the full floor by late February.

Playbook: President Trump’s administration is divided over the one versus two-bill approach to passing his agenda, with Vice President Vance and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller preferring two bills, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent advocating for one.

WaPo: Wednesday’s inflation report handed Democrats a new attack against Trump. “He’s clearly not delivering what he said that he was going to deliver to the American people. Usually, the American people react negatively,” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said.

Axios: Trump’s mass deportation push is running into the reality of a lack of funds, space, officers and infrastructure.

White House

• President Trump is now the chairman of the Kennedy Center.

Congress

• The Senate confirmed Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence in a largely party-line vote; Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell was the only Republican to vote against her. President Trump’s education pick, Linda McMahon, sits for her confirmation hearing today, while the Senate Judiciary Committee will meet on advancing Kash Patel’s nomination for FBI.
• Spotted in the House Press Gallery: Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fl., who told Semafor’s Kadia Goba he’s working on a final agreement with leadership to rename the gallery after Frederick Douglass this Congress.

Outside the Beltway

• Newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi is suing New York state, plus Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Tish James, over what the administration views as non-enforcement of immigration laws. (Hochul called the suit “worthless.”)

Business

• Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin braces for a “large reduction in its workforce.” — Bloomberg
• Chevron plans to cut its global workforce by as much as 20% by the end of next year.

Courts

• Elon Musk’s X agreed to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit that President Trump filed against the social media company (then named Twitter) in 2021, when it kicked him off for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. — WSJ
• Eight former inspectors general sued the Trump administration over their firings last month.

Education

• The Education Department began firing workers in its civil rights and federal student loan offices, among others. — Politico

National Security

• The State Department plans to purchase $400 million in armored Tesla Cybertrucks.

Foreign Policy

• The White House notified Congress of plans to nominate a slate of individuals to top State Department positions, Semafor reported. Among them is New York lawyer Sarah Rogers, who has defended the NRA on free speech grounds and litigated against content moderation.
• A Russian convicted on cryptocurrency charges, Alexander Vinnik, was freed by the US in a prisoner swap for American Marc Fogel. Belarus also freed an American and two other individuals.

Principals Team

Edited by Morgan Chalfant, deputy Washington editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor

Contact our reporters:

Burgess Everett, Kadia Goba, Eleanor Mueller, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Jason Furman is an economics professor at Harvard University who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers under President Obama.