Principals

1. Shutdown defused
2. AOC blasts Schumer
3. Senators weigh gov runs
4. Federal firings fight continues
5. Trump envoy meets Putin
6. GOPer urges end to CFPB rule
7. Senate China investment curbs
8. Dems’ outreach to Black men

PDB: Newsmax deletes article critical of FCC

Trump delivers speech at DOJ … Vance booed at Kennedy Center … EU diplomat says China ‘laughing’ at US trade war with Europe

Schumer OKs bill to avert shutdown

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s decision to back the GOP funding bill will keep the government running past midnight, though it’s flaring an intraparty tactical dispute among those who want firmer opposition to President Trump. Schumer’s reasoning — and that of many Senate Democrats, if they’re being honest — is that a shutdown would play too much into the hands of Trump and Elon Musk. One Republican senator told Semafor they were surprised Democrats even flirted with a shutdown, given the potential to distract from the damaging economic news surrounding Trump’s tariff threats. A shutdown, Schumer told reporters on Thursday night, “would be the far worse choice” by empowering Musk to dismantle more government agencies. The Senate still needs to cut a deal to speed up votes to Friday evening. And then it’s a recess, after 10 straight weeks in session.

— Burgess Everett

AOC unloads on Schumer

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., sounded off on Senate Democrats Thursday night, as the standoff within her party over a resolution to fund the government becomes increasingly tense. “It is a huge slap in the face, and I think that there’s a wide sense of betrayal, if things proceed as currently planned,” she told reporters of senators — including fellow New York Democrat Schumer — who’ve wavered about whether they’ll vote for the stopgap. Ocasio-Cortez said she and House members have been texting and calling senators but expects relations between the two chambers could suffer: “There will be a day where the Senate will need the House to move on something.” Schumer defended his decision to support the cloture vote and the funding measure. “You have to make these decisions based on what is best for not only your party, but your country,” he said.

— Kadia Goba

Why senators suddenly want to be governors

Governors usually end up becoming senators. That might change this cycle, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports. Three sitting senators are looking at gubernatorial runs in 2026: Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. And though Bennet and Tuberville seem on the fence, Blackburn sounds like she’s going for it: “I’m finalizing my plans to run for governor and will be the strongest conservative candidate in the race.” Tuberville has a binary decision, too: His Senate seat is up next year. Of course, with 12 former governors in the Senate, the three prospective gubernatorial candidates have plenty of counsel — Bennet in particular. His colleague from Colorado, Sen. John Hickenlooper, a former governor, told Bennet that he could win but “he might be bored” by the job after being a senator for so long.

White House blasts order on fed workers

The Trump administration vowed to “immediately fight back” against a federal judge’s Thursday ruling that ordered six agencies to promptly reinstate probationary employees recently fired as part of its push to shrink the federal government. The decision, which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also criticized as unconstitutional in a statement, comes amid multiple lawsuits against the work of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. Despite that court setback for the Trump administration, and shakiness in the stock market as well as some recent negative polls, Trump and his allies are forging ahead with their plans to remake the US government: “It’s well worth” the dipping numbers, one ally told Semafor, adding that nobody at the White House thinks the process will be “painless.”

— Shelby Talcott

A long road for a Ukraine ceasefire

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff met with Vladimir Putin last night in Moscow after the Russian leader made clear he’s not in a hurry to agree to a Ukraine ceasefire. “We need to talk to our American colleagues and partners about this, maybe call President Trump and discuss it with him, but we support the idea of ​​ending this conflict by peaceful means,” Putin said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rebuked Putin for his “very manipulative” reaction to the ceasefire proposal, which Kyiv said it accepted earlier this week. The developments suggest the process could be a long, drawn-out one, though national security adviser Mike Waltz expressed “cautious optimism” that a ceasefire could come quickly. As Europe pushes for a greater say in the talks, a new Reuters poll shows that a majority of Americans see Trump as “too closely aligned” with Russia.

Barr: CFPB should scrap small business rule

GOP Rep. Andy Barr is urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to rescind a Biden-era regulation that requires lenders to collect demographic data on small businesses that apply for loans. Soliciting information on whether small businesses are woman-, minority- or LGBTQ+-owned counts as a “discriminatory diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) mandate,” the Kentucky Republican, who chairs the financial institutions subcommittee on the House Financial Services Committee, wrote in a letter to acting CFPB Director Russell Vought shared with Semafor. Barr argued that as a result, the rule violates Trump’s executive order on ending federal DEI programs. Trade associations have long argued that the agency’s policy could decrease access to credit by placing new regulatory burdens on financial institutions. The administration’s attempts to scale back the CFPB are on pause as a court reviews the effort.

— Eleanor Mueller

Senate revives push to scrutinize investment in China

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, revived his effort to scrutinize US investments in China on Thursday, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller scooped, kicking off a debate that will shape how a GOP-controlled Washington tackles China policy. The bill, which Cornyn previously co-sponsored with former Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., before he lost reelection, picked up plenty of bipartisan support, including from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the leaders of the Senate Banking Committee. The legislation parallels China hawks’ elusive push at the end of last year to require Americans to notify the Treasury Department when making investments in certain Chinese industries, essentially codifying a Biden-era executive order. But the House, which convened a meeting earlier this week on the policy plans, has yet to introduce its own proposal this Congress.

Dems draft new strategy for Black men

Democrats are adjusting their outreach to Black men after Trump nearly doubled his share of the key demographic in 2024. They’re making their way into nontraditional media formats that have become vehicles of political discourse and played a significant role in the last election (think Joe Rogan’s podcast). “We learned that lesson,” Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Va., told reporters at Democrats’ annual retreat in Leesburg, Virginia. Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., said the caucus is planning a bus tour that will visit areas with large Black populations, including swing districts in the South and on the West Coast. Two centrist Democrats, Reps. Marc Veasey of Texas and Greg Landsman of Ohio, launched their own podcast, The Fly-In, this week, focused on the New Democrats’ vision and the week’s agenda, mixed with some “casual talk [and] non-political stuff.”

— Kadia Goba

Blindspot: Fraud and inflation

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 US Customs and Border Protection official in Detroit was accused by the Justice Department of defrauding FEMA.

What the Right isn’t reading: The CEO of Dollar General, Todd Vasos, said on an earnings call that customers are still bearing the brunt of inflation: “Many of our customers report they only have enough money for basic essentials.”

In this moment of media fragmentation and the rise of niche communities, are there still ways to reach mass audiences? This week, Ben and Max bring on legendary marketing executive, Frank Cooper, who’s always been at the center of big cultural shifts from his time at Def Jam in the 90s, AOL in the 2000s, and Buzzfeed in the 2010s. Throughout his career, he’s also been seen as the culture translator for big corporations, as the CMO at PepsiCo and the CMO of Visa. They talk about Frank’s unique career, who and what he thinks still moves people in mass — like Post Malone at the Louvre — and what he makes of this particular moment in the culture. He also shares stories from his time working in hip hop, what he’s learned from LL Cool J, and how Snoop Dogg became the world’s most marketable star.

Listen to the latest episode of Mixed Signals now.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: DCCC Chair Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., is sounding optimistic about the prospects of Democrats retaking the House majority in 2026, noting the party has the chance to flip seats in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona.

Playbook: President Trump’s co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita said the White House is “not going to cut Social Security.” Elon Musk is “not the president. He doesn’t get to make those decisions,” he said.

WaPo: Shortly after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would support the GOP funding bill, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries signaled his opposition to the decision at the House Democratic retreat. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once noted “that although everyone may not see it at the moment, the time is always right to do what’s right,” he told them.

Axios: Immigration and Customs Enforcement told Congress it needs $2 billion more to carry out the Trump administration’s deportation plans this year.

White House

• President Trump threatened a 200% tariff on European wines and other alcohol products, escalating his trade war with the bloc.
• The White House withdrew its nomination of former Florida congressman Dave Weldon to be the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a move Weldon said came after it became clear he didn’t have the votes in the Senate to get confirmed. Senators had raised concerns about his past vaccine skepticism.

Congress

• Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Arizona, on Thursday became the fifth House Democrat to die in office within the last year.
• The Senate Banking Committee advanced legislation to create a regulatory framework for stablecoins in an 18-6 vote; five Democrats voted with Republicans to support it.
• Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., wore a cowboy hat on the Senate floor.

Outside the Beltway

• Columbia University said it expelled some students involved in pro-Palestinian protests last year.

Business

• President Trump’s family has had talks about doing business with the crypto exchange Binance, which admitted to violating anti-money laundering rules. — WSJ
• Tesla warned the Trump administration it could be targeted by retaliatory tariffs.

Foreign Policy

• China signaled, in a forceful commentary in a Beijing-backed newspaper, its anger over the sale of two Chinese-linked ports in Panama to a US asset manager, throwing the deal into doubt.

Health

• Johns Hopkins University in Maryland is set to cut some 2,000 jobs after it lost millions in grant funding.

Courts

• Twenty-one Democratic state attorneys general sued over the Trump administration efforts to dismantle the Education Department.
• The Trump administration is taking its birthright citizenship case to the Supreme Court.

National Security

• Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Troy Edgar didn’t give details when pressed by NPR about why pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil had been arrested.

Media

• Newsmax on Monday quietly took down an interview with an executive who criticized the Federal Communications Commission, Semafor’s Max Tani scooped.

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

Rep. Nanette Barragán is a Democrat from California.