Principals

1. Battling over budget “baseline”
2. Crypto reserve draws criticism
3. Raising rescissions
4. Autos tariff reprieve
5. Warren follows the money
6. Dems target FCC
7. Sympathy for Israelis hits low
8. Corporations flee Delaware

PDB: SCOTUS rules against Trump

EU hosts Ukraine summit … Russia in talks to keep bases in Syria ... Trump could abolish Education Department as soon as today: WSJ

The tax debate Republicans need to settle

Republicans’ usage of “current policy baseline” sure sounds boring, but it’s emerging as a huge issue, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports. GOP leaders want the preservation of existing tax rates from expiration to not count as new spending, giving them more wiggle room for tax cuts. Yet there are at least two Republican holdouts on the Senate side, and potentially more in the House. Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Todd Young, R-Ind., are both raising questions about the idea, according to people familiar with the matter; Cassidy is worried about keeping interest rates low and Young is “pushing for the most fiscally responsible approach to ensure sustained economic growth,” according to a spokesperson. Republicans are optimistic they will come around, but at the moment “I don’t know whether we’re completely unified on it,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

Trump’s crypto reserve jeopardizes Hill momentum

Cryptocurrency allies on and off the Hill are raising concerns over President Trump’s plan to create a strategic reserve of mixed digital assets — muddying the waters just as lawmakers try to build bipartisan momentum for industry-touted legislation, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller reports. They say it’s problematic that Trump wants to include currencies other than Bitcoin — “for Bitcoin, I think people generally understand that this is the most decentralized,” one industry representative said — and express skepticism that crypto is on par with other resources kept in strategic reserves, like petroleum. “I just don’t know what utility it serves,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said. Meanwhile, the industry’s skeptics are seizing the opportunity to hit hard: “Trump’s willingness to exploit crypto to enrich himself reminds everyone who this industry has gotten into bed with — and it doesn’t look good,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said.

Senate GOP asks Musk for spending cuts vote

Elon Musk briefed Senate Republicans on his DOGE slashing spree on Wednesday — and there are indications that Musk and Trump may soon coordinate more closely with Congress on spending cuts. In the meeting, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., raised the prospect to Musk of sending proposed spending cuts to Congress in the form of a rescissions package, which can be approved with a simple majority vote. Paul said Musk is “very open to it” and is starting to understand that the spending cuts will need a vote in Congress before they’ll be real. “There have been a number of members talking about that prior to today’s lunch,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Semafor. “I think there’d be a great opportunity for a rescissions package.” The Trump White House tried a similar move in 2018 — it didn’t go so well.

— Burgess Everett

Carmakers get a reprieve from Trump tariffs

Trump granted a one-month exemption from his Mexico and Canada tariffs to US automakers associated with USMCA after speaking with leaders of the “Big 3” companies on Wednesday — despite previous suggestions that none would be given. But while the administration seems open to other exemptions, one month might be all the president is willing to provide: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump told the leaders of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis that they should quickly move to shift production to America — a comment that shows how the administration sees tariffs benefiting the country long-term. Trump also earlier this week previewed reciprocal tariffs sets to take place in early April. All of this comes amid growing concerns from Republicans about the rising costs and economic harm that could come from Trump’s big policy plan.

— Shelby Talcott

Warren probes CEOs over their tax break lobbying

The top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, is asking the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, Meta and Tesla how they swayed Republicans to pursue bringing back a provision allowing businesses to deduct research and development costs from their taxes right away, instead of spreading them out over multiple years. The move, which is being weighed as part of the GOP’s tax package, could retroactively be worth a collective $75 billion for the last three years, Warren wrote in letters shared with Semafor Wednesday. She’s asking how much they spent lobbying over the policy, how much they donated to policymakers who have advocated for it, which groups lobbied on their behalf, and plans for the cash they recoup, by Mar. 19.

— Eleanor Mueller

Senate Democrats roll out bill to restrain FCC

Senate Democrats are introducing a bill to curtail the FCC’s capacity to go after broadcasters critical of the president, after the commission revived a series of probes into news outlets that conservatives see as biased, Semafor’s Max Tani reported. The bill, dubbed the Broadcast Freedom and Independence Act, would prevent the FCC from using the threat of government investigations to force broadcasters to comply with the White House’s wishes, and would bar the president from firing commissioners at will. The FCC’s recent actions amounted to “intimidation of broadcast stations for political purposes,” said bill sponsor Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M. His measure stands no chance for now, but it’s a signal that slowing down the FCC’s ability to punish news outlets for negative stories could be a priority for Democrats if they retake power in 2026.

Americans’ sympathy for Israelis slides

Fewer Americans are sympathetic toward Israelis — the lowest level in at least a quarter-century, according to new Gallup data. Polling conducted in February found that 46% of US adults say their sympathies lie more with Israelis than Palestinians — a plurality, but a low point since Gallup started polling the question annually 25 years ago. One-third of US adults say they sympathize with Palestinians, the highest reading to date. The change is largely driven by declining support for Israel among independents and Democrats. Meanwhile, a majority supports a two-state solution that would involve the creation of a Palestinian state, including 41% of Republicans — a 15-point increase after a sharp drop in 2024.

MAGA offers corporations cover to flee Delaware

A small group of influential corporate attorneys told the Delaware legislature late last month that blue-chip companies, including Walmart, were considering moving their legal homes out of the state, Semafor’s Liz Hoffman reports. The message was a wake-up call for a state whose economy depends on corporate fees, and a sign that the revolt touched off last year by Elon Musk — who moved Tesla from Delaware to Texas — may be spreading beyond MAGA-friendly tech CEOs. For decades, Delaware has had a monopoly on how America’s biggest companies are run. It is the legal home to two-thirds of US public companies, giving it outsize influence on everything from executive pay to takeovers — but that influence is at risk. It’s unclear how serious Walmart’s threat is, but the prospect did cause the Delaware legislature to overhaul its corporate law.

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Blindspot: An arrest and recruiting

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 fintech entrepreneur and Democratic donor was arrested for allegedly conspiring to defraud a pair of investment funds to the tune of $145 million.

What the Right isn’t reading: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is trying to recruit laid-off federal workers to his state.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Democrats are torn over their response to President Trump’s Tuesday night speech, with moderates unhappy about the vocal protests from some of their colleagues and others arguing they simply couldn’t sit quietly.

Playbook: Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson are working to convince House holdouts to support a six-month CR, with some success; one hardliner, Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., says he’s open to the idea.

Axios: Matt Gaetz leads incumbent James Uthmeier in a hypothetical primary matchup, 39% to 21%, for Florida Attorney General, according to a recent survey of likely Republican voters.

White House

• President Trump met with eight hostages released from Gaza on Wednesday and “listened intently to their heartbreaking stories,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
• More than 5,000 laid-off USDA workers have been temporarily reinstated.
• Some 180 laid-off CDC workers were invited back to their jobs. — AP

Congress

• House Republicans are planning a censure resolution against Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, for his protest during President Trump’s address to Congress.
• Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas, who won the seat of the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, died Tuesday night after attending Trump’s speech, Semafor’s Kadia Goba reported.

Outside the Beltway

• The DOJ filed a motion to dismiss a Biden-era challenge to an Idaho abortion ban that would’ve barred the procedure even in emergencies.

Business

• Hiring at US companies slowed.
• The European Central Bank will likely cut its benchmark interest rate today.

Courts

• The Supreme Court denied the Trump administration’s request to pause a lower court ruling allowing foreign aid funding to flow. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the liberal justices in the 5-4 majority.
• A DC court ruling gave the administration the green light to fire federal ethics watchdog Hampton Dellinger.

National Security

• The Trump administration is running into problems with its plan to house deported migrants at Guantánamo Bay. — NBC
• The VA is planning to lay off as many as 83,000 staffers this year. — GovExec

Foreign Policy

• The US paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine. White House national security adviser Mike Waltz said the pause, as well as the halt on military aid to Ukraine, would remain until a date for peace talks with Russia is nailed down.
• The US is holding direct conversations with Hamas about releasing US hostages in Gaza and bringing an end to the Israel-Hamas war. — Axios
• The UK’s ruling Labour party is asking banks to reclassify some defense investment as “ethical.” — FT

Technology

• A digital calling firm facing a big FCC fine (after its service was used, spectacularly, for fraudulent robocalls impersonating FCC staff) is trying to convince the agency it should now drop the Biden-era case: “This action surely must have snuck past the new FCC leadership,” Telnyx CEO David Casem said in an email through a spokesman.
• The UK’s antitrust watchdog dropped an investigation into Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI.

Principals Team

Edited by Morgan Chalfant, deputy Washington editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor

And Graph Massara, copy editor

Contact our reporters:

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

Elizabeth Warren is a Democratic senator from Massachusetts. She’s among the speakers at Semafor’s tax event later this morning.