Principals

1. Senate’s turn now
2. Debt ceiling schism
3. Education Department purge
4. Tariff plans
5. Senate talks housing
6. Dem retreat
7. Ohio gov race
8. Power debate

PDB: US lifts pause on military assistance for Ukraine

Key inflation report out this morning … Trump hosts Irish prime minister … WSJ: Trump officials field calls from panicked executives

Senate Dems grapple with shutdown decision

Since the House passed its spending bill, Senate Democrats are torn between a stopgap spending bill they hate or a government shutdown, which could further allow Elon Musk and President Trump to make unilateral changes to the federal government. “I am open to taking a look at it,” said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., of the bill. He said “there’s a lot of debate” about whether a shutdown would empower Musk and Trump. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said it’s a “horrible bill” which would “give Donald Trump tools to cudgel Virginia, because we rejected him three times in an election.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to shore up the Senate GOP whip count on Tuesday, telling Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., he needs more defense money ASAP. And that’s “the only reason I’ll vote for this piece of crap,” Graham said.

— Burgess Everett

Republicans’ debt ceiling headache

There’s an even bigger deadline looming: The debt ceiling will need lifting soon, and Senate Republicans don’t want to do it as part of their tax cuts and border legislation, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller and Burgess Everett report. Senate Majority Leader John Thune doesn’t think the debt ceiling increase can be a part of that mega bill — potentially opening a fissure with the House GOP. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., warned that tying the debt ceiling to tax cuts “might just sabotage the whole bill.” And Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., says he’ll “vote for the tax cuts and to make them permanent, I don’t support raising the debt ceiling by $4 trillion.” One Senate Republican summed up the situation: “There’s a lot of angst generally about using reconciliation for debt ceiling for a variety of reasons. I think that’s gonna be hard to do.”

Trump slashes Education Department workforce

The Education Department began cutting nearly half its workforce on Tuesday night, Semafor first reported, in a move that an administration official said will impact “every part of the department.” The “reduction of force” notices were sent out starting at 6pm, after staffers were notified that the offices would be closed “for security reasons” today. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, while acknowledging fully closing the agency would likely take an act of Congress, told Fox News that the layoffs are the first step towards a complete shutdown — Trump’s ultimate goal. The administration official, meanwhile, said Tuesday’s purge won’t impact things like formula funding, Pell Grants, and civil rights investigations, but a number of buildings across the country are expected to close. It’s a “big change for the department,” the person said, but “what we’re doing right now is not working.”

— Shelby Talcott

Trump backs down on tariffs (sort of)

Trump backed down on his vow to double planned tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50% after the threat prompted Ontario to pause its own plan to implement a 25% surcharge on electricity exports. The détente coincided with continued shakiness in the stock market, and while the extraordinary escalation is on pause (for now), the administration still moved forward with 25% steel and aluminum tariffs. The EU quickly responded overnight to those duties, announcing tariffs on industrial and farm products to begin in April. At a Business Roundtable event Tuesday evening, Trump also left the door open for higher tariffs: “The higher it goes, the more likely it is [companies] are going to build” in the US, Trump said, indicating he remains firmly behind his decision to implement mass tariffs.

— Shelby Talcott

Inside the Senate debate on housing affordability

Staff memos circulated internally ahead of the Senate Banking Committee’s first hearing on housing today, seen by Semafor, provide a useful roadmap as lawmakers try to build bipartisan momentum for legislative fixes to sinking affordability. Republicans’ memo focuses on rolling back regulations instead of spending more; Democrats’ memo highlights factors like interest rates, private equity, wage growth, and utility costs. The documents align with ranking member Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s plans to tout legislation the Massachusetts Democrat reintroduced this week that would inject billions into the sector — plus bipartisan proposals on rural housing, credit reports, and voucher programs — as well as Chair Tim Scott’s intent to champion his own plan to scale back federal programs. “Congress should focus on reforming the current housing subsidy framework before continuing to fuel more demand-side subsidies,” Republicans’ memo argues.

— Eleanor Mueller

Democrats map out a way forward

House Democrats are headed to Leesburg, Virginia, today for their annual issues conference. Their primary focus: regrouping after last year’s blowout election. Conference-wide discussions on messaging, strategy, and unifying the caucus are teed up for the program, which runs today through Friday at the Lansdowne Resort. Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries will lead a conversation with Govs. Andy Beshear, Josh Shapiro, and Gretchen Whitmer, while Democratic Whip Katherine Clark will moderate a panel featuring Dan Pfeiffer of Pod Save America. The remaining lineup of guests includes strategists, pollsters, data analysts, and messaging experts, including Democratic consultant James Carville. There’s a special emphasis on swing districts. Former Pennsylvania Rep. Matt Cartwright — who failed to hold on to his competitive seat in 2024 — will make a special appearance as a panel leader.

— Kadia Goba

Will a former OSU coach run for Ohio governor?

There’s a lot of buzz that NCAA national champion Jim Tressel will jump into Ohio’s gubernatorial race. He’ll be a big underdog if he does. Polling from an outside conservative group shows Tressel, a legendary former Ohio State football coach, trailing Trump-backed entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy badly in a potential GOP primary, Semafor’s Burgess Everett and Kadia Goba report. According to one Ohio Republican, there’s a 50/50 chance Tressel, who would give centrist Republicans an option in the race, will run. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, isn’t so sure. “I think his wife is very happy with him being retired,” Moreno told Semafor. “Vivek will do a great job. Honestly, the only endorsement that matters is President Trump.”

NextEra CEO criticizes Trump approach

The CEO of the largest US electricity provider criticized the Trump administration’s decision to double down on gas-fired power to solve the looming power shortage in the US spurred by AI. John Ketchum, CEO of NextEra Energy, told Semafor’s Tim McDonnell on the sidelines of the CERAWeek summit in Houston that the cost of gas turbines and the skilled labor to install them are both up three-fold from just two years ago, and that renewables and batteries are the cheapest, fastest, and easiest way to meet the power demand from data centers. “What we don’t want to do is drive ourselves to only one solution — that being a gas-fired solution — that’s now more expensive than it ever has been in its history,” Ketchum said. He’s an outlier at the Houston conference, where oil companies are relieved at the new administration’s posture.

Blindspot: New hire, new fires

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: Sean Curran, an agent who tried to protect President Trump during the attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania, was sworn in as the head of the Secret Service.

What the Right isn’t reading: USAID employees were told to shred and burn records as they cleared out classified safes from the agency’s location at the Ronald Reagan Building.

In a polarized world, where do people find their happiness? Semafor, in partnership with Gallup and in coordination with the World Happiness Report editorial team, will present the latest data and insights at The State of Happiness in 2025: A World Happiness Report Launch Event, exploring key themes around kindness, generosity, and policies that enhance well-being.

Join Costa Rican Ambassador to the US Dr. Catalina Crespo-Sancho, Finnish Ambassador to the US Leena-Kaisa Mikkola, Icelandic Ambassador to the US Svanhildur Hólm Valsdóttir, special guest Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and more to explore the report’s key themes around kindness, generosity, and happiness and policies that enhance well-being.

Mar. 20, 2025 | Washington, DC | RSVP

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Senate Democrats are floating a handful of strategies to avert a government shutdown while avoiding being accused of “aiding or enabling” President Trump. For instance, one senator suggested some Democrats vote with Republicans to end the filibuster on the funding bill, allowing Republicans to pass it with a simple majority in the vote on final passage.

Playbook: Rahm Emanuel wants to run for president.

WaPo: Trump’s team is signaling to Republican lawmakers that he plans to be deeply involved in the midterms.

Axios: Data from the Business Roundtable shows that CEOs’ economic outlook has fallen seven points since December, bringing it back in line with the historical average.

White House

• President Trump posed with Teslas outside the White House, in a bid to bolster Elon Musk’s company.
• Musk indicated to Trump’s advisers that he wants to put $100 million into Trump’s political operation. — NYT

Congress

• Scott Brown told Semafor he’s thinking about another US Senate run in New Hampshire.
• Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, abruptly ended a hearing on military aid to Europe following a clash with Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass., over Self’s repeated misgendering of Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del. (McBride misgendered Self in return.)

Economy

• Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman is the front-runner for vice chair of bank supervision at the central bank. — WSJ
• The number of US job openings rose in January, an encouraging data point amid other economic news.

Courts

• A New York judge will scrutinize the government’s effort to deport Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil during a hearing scheduled for today.
• A US district judge said that the Trump administration likely violated the Constitution by freezing $2 billion in foreign aid meant to be paid to relief groups for completed work.

Polls

• As President Trump upends global trade and raises questions about the future of US engagement in Europe, European leaders might feel emboldened to go it alone. New polling from Gallup finds that EU residents view the European Union’s leadership more positively than that of Germany and the US. Indeed, no country’s residents approve of their own leaders more than the leadership of the bloc, which had a median approval rating of 62% in 2024.

Foreign Policy

• Ukraine said it agreed to support a US-backed 30-day ceasefire with Russia and the US lifted a pause on military aid to Ukraine, following high-level meetings between representatives from Washington and Kyiv in Saudi Arabia. The US plans to now take the proposal to Russia. “Our hope is that the Russians will also say yes,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. Hours later, Russia launched an air attack on Kyiv and Kharkiv.
• Former Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan is joining the Harvard Kennedy School faculty.

Health care

• The Trump administration wants to close the Obamacare enrollment period early.
• Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. instructed food companies to remove certain artificial dyes from their products by the end of his term. — Food Fix

Media

• Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports said he was offered a government post by the Trump administration, but declined.

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

Adam Schiff is a Democratic senator from California.