Principals

1. Shutdown vote imminent
2. Data shutdown
3. Loan leeway
4. Economy worries
5. DOGE’s nuclear target
6. Dems’ old leaders
7. Priebus’ new gig
8. Delay tactics

PDB: Tariff defenders

Greenland holds elections … Ex-Philippine president Duterte arrested on ICC warrant … Ukraine targets Russia with largest drone attack of war

House Dems dig in ahead of funding bill vote

Three days before a deadline to fund the government, House Democrats are trying to stay united on the GOP bill up for a vote today — but House Republicans might not need their votes. “House Democrats will not be complicit in the Republican effort to hurt the American people,” said Leader Hakeem Jeffries. President Trump is making calls to last-minute holdouts, and the GOP wants to demonstrate it can pass bills unilaterally ahead of the partisan budget reconciliation process. The continuing resolution “will pass,” said Speaker Mike Johnson. That would leave the Senate with a binary choice: “To me, a government shutdown is the worst of all worlds, so I will vote for the CR,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said. Senate Democrats don’t like the bill, but aren’t digging in for a shutdown either. The bill “has lots of problems. Let’s just see what happens over there,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen.

— Kadia Goba and Burgess Everett

A shutdown risks leaving Fed in the dark

A government shutdown later this week would deprive the Federal Reserve of key economic data as it looks to navigate persistent inflation, cooling employment, and new tariffs. The agency responsible for reporting on jobs and inflation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is slated to “suspend all operations,” including the collection and release of all data, if Congress can’t find a way to keep the lights on, according to its most recent contingency plan. The lapse would come at a “very delicate moment in time from the point of view of the Federal Reserve” as the central bank mulls future interest rate cuts, the Peterson Institute for International Economics and Bloomberg Economics’ David Wilcox said. If it lasts long enough, “it would certainly contribute to market uncertainty” already battering investors, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Andrew Lautz said. “Markets like data.”

— Eleanor Mueller

House GOP spending bill could let student loan debts go unpaid

House Republicans expect their party’s proposal to extend current funding levels through the fall to squeeze the government’s ability to collect student loan payments just as delinquency rates skyrocket. The private-sector companies servicing the loans were hopeful the bill would echo previous continuing resolutions by including an exception known as an anomaly — this time, a $200 million infusion — that would allow them to keep pace. But it didn’t — so they’re bracing for agency instructions to scale back, the Student Loan Servicing Alliance’s Scott Buchanan said. Trump warned lawmakers against opposing the measure, and Reps. Mike Flood, R-Neb., and Ann Wagner, R-Mo., are scrambling to find the funds elsewhere — or else risk de facto loan forgiveness. “We must ensure that the federal government doesn’t end up effectively handing out another bailout by allowing dysfunctional customer service to stall loan repayments,” Flood said.

— Eleanor Mueller

Trump to address business leaders

Trump will speak to US business leaders today as his tariff moves spook markets. The president is slated to address the Business Roundtable’s quarterly meeting this afternoon in Washington, where he’ll likely try to assuage concerns about the US economy. US stocks suffered their worst day of this year on Monday, amid concerns about Trump’s tariffs and his unwillingness to rule out the possibility of a recession. Tech shares witnessed their biggest single-day drop since 2022. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs drastically cut its forecast for US GDP growth in 2025, from 2.4% to 1.7%, blaming “considerably more adverse” trade assumptions. Other investment banks were similarly pessimistic: Morgan Stanley lowered its US economic growth projections, JPMorgan cut its first-quarter GDP estimate, and Citi downgraded its forecast for American equities and upgraded its outlook on China’s, arguing that “US exceptionalism is at least pausing.”

DOGE scrutinizes nuclear contractor

The Department of Government Efficiency is reviewing the National Nuclear Security Administration’s contractors, raising fears within the agency responsible for the country’s nuclear arsenal that it could lose mission-critical staff, Semafor’s Mathias Hammer reports. Department heads have been asked to justify the roles of the contractors on their team in one-sentence summaries and DOGE is expected to categorize the roughly 1,400 support service contract employees as “keep, delete, or more information needed.” The nuclear agency, which falls under the Department of Energy, was thrust into turmoil by the firing and partial rehiring of hundreds of staff in February, and current employees fear that contractors could be next in line to lose their jobs.“It would have a really significant, negative impact” if support service contractors were to be terminated, said Scott Roecker, a former senior agency official.

Democrats lean on old leaders

Since Trump’s joint address to Congress, frustrated Democrats have rallied behind two unexpected leaders — both born in the 1940s, Semafor’s David Weigel writes. Texas Rep. Al Green was celebrated by progressives after protesting Trump in the chamber and getting censured by every Republican and 10 of his Democratic colleagues. “We have to meet incivility with incivility,” he told the hosts of The Breakfast Club. At “Fight Oligarchy” rallies in GOP-held House seats, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has drawn huge crowds — not for himself, he told Semafor, but “to educate the people in those communities about what Trump’s agenda is about.” Democratic angst about the age of some members hasn’t rubbed off on Green, 77, or Sanders, 83. “People are pissed off, and they want to see fighters,” said DNC vice chair David Hogg, elected to the role last month as a campaigner for the youth vote.

Boutique investment bank hires Reince Priebus

A Wall Street investment bank with deep Democratic roots is hiring Reince Priebus, a Republican operative who served as Trump’s first White House chief of staff, Semafor’s Liz Hoffman scoops this morning. Priebus will join Centerview Partners as a senior adviser to companies trying to make sense of Washington, where Trump’s agenda — tariffs, ideologically driven investigations, and surprisingly robust antitrust enforcement — has companies on edge and mergers on ice. His hiring is notable at Centerview, whose co-founder, Blair Effron, was a major backer of Kamala Harris’ campaign. (Even the firm’s resident Republican heavyweight, Richard Haass, has criticized Trump’s tariffs and foreign policy.) Centerview is following its corporate clients, which are shifting rightward in an effort to curry Trump’s favor, or at least stay out of his crosshairs.

Hochul to slow-walk special election

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to slow-walk the special election to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Semafor’s Kadia Goba reports. It’s the latest sign of gamesmanship over the House GOP’s threadbare majority; Stefanik, nominated by Trump to be US ambassador to the UN, has not been confirmed due to her party’s narrow margins. It’s unclear how long Hochul will wait, but refusing to set an election date within the 10-day window once a vacancy occurs would invite Republican lawsuits. She could also push state Democrats to revive earlier legislation delaying it until November. Even if Hochul moves to call the election within the required time frame, it wouldn’t take place until three months after Stefanik vacates her seat.

Blindspot: Homelessness and immigration

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: An audit ordered by a federal judge laid bare significant problems with Los Angeles’ homelessness services.

What the Right isn’t reading: A Trump supporter is questioning his vote for the president after being detained by ICE agents searching for another person facing deportation. “They’re just following Hispanic people,” he said of the Trump administration.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: As President Trump pushes Republicans to support the House GOP funding bill, he’s getting some help from Vice President Vance, who is expected to attend the Republican Conference meeting later this morning. OMB Director Russ Vought has also been talking to Republicans individually about the bill.

Playbook: The business leaders Trump addresses today “will be seeking reassurance from a leader who once put great stock in market growth as a measure of presidential performance.”

Axios: The White House remains confident despite the troubling economic indicators. One White House official said Trump and his aides “are adept at playing the long game, and we will not be dictated by a snapshot in time when there are so many indicators that show we’re building a strong economy with staying power.”

WaPo: Michigan will be a big test for Democrats post-2024, as they look to defend the governor’s office and a Senate seat.

White House

• The USDA shut down a pair of programs that bought fruits and vegetables from local farmers for food banks and schools, cutting its spending by more than $1 billion. — Politico
• Elon Musk said that federal entitlement spending is a big target for cuts.

Congress

• The Senate confirmed Lori Chavez-DeRemer as President Trump’s labor secretary in a bipartisan 67-32 vote.
• Democrats on the House China select committee are holding separate closed-door meetings today with former Biden US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, according to a person familiar with the plans.
• A group of key House Republicans met to discuss the path forward for legislation that would curb certain US investments in China.

Outside the Beltway

• Harvard University instituted a hiring freeze, citing “financial uncertainties.”
• A Texas state bill would make it a felony to publicly identify as transgender (though it’s unlikely to pass).

Business

• Some US industries are itching for President Trump’s tariffs. — NYT
• Another surprising tariff defender: UAW President Shawn Fain.

Courts

• The Supreme Court took up a challenge to a law banning “conversion therapy” in Colorado.
• A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from deporting Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil after he was detained at Columbia University.

National Security

• Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said she has revoked security clearances belonging to a handful of Biden-era officials, including Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan, and blocked Joe Biden’s access to the President’s Daily Brief on orders from President Trump.
• DHS released a revamped Customs and Border Protection app that helps migrants self-deport.

Foreign Policy

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Ukraine would need to cede territory to Russia in a peace agreement.
• Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.

Media

• Ruth Marcus left The Washington Post after the publisher nixed a column she wrote criticizing owner Jeff Bezos’ decision to place new parameters around the paper’s opinion section. — Gene Weingarten
• Michelle Obama is starting a video podcast.
• Amazon has acquired the rights to stream “The Apprentice” (the reality TV show).

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

Tim Burchett is a Republican congressman from Tennessee.