Principals

1. A bad night for progressives
2. Trump defense rests
3. Blinken’s ICC pressure
4. ScarJo AI fallout
5. Kenyan president’s DC meetings
6. “Unified Reich,” day two
7. Fed finds inflation frustration

PDB: A bipartisan bill to provide tax relief for natural disaster victims may face trouble in Senate

Biden cancels more student loan debt … Iran holds funeral for Raisi … Bloomberg: TikTok ban is popular with swing-state voters

— edited by Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann and Morgan Chalfant

Progressives lose ground in Democratic primaries

Progressive Democrats took a pounding in Tuesday’s primaries. Multnomah County, Oregon DA Mike Schmidt, elected in a 2020 landslide as a criminal justice reformer, was on track to lose to Nathan Vasquez, a prosecutor in his office who blamed Schmidt for lower clearance rates and higher crime, and highlighted a probe of gender discrimination in the office. Susheela Jayapal, a Multnomah County commissioner endorsed by Bernie Sanders and sister of Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, lost handily to state Rep. Maxine Dexter, after millions of dollars in last-minute spending attacking Jayapal’s record. AIPAC celebrated Dexter’s win; Jayapal had called for conditions on aid to Israel and said she’d reject donations from AIPAC members. In the competitive 5th Congressional District, which Democrats lost in 2022, that cycle’s progressive nominee lost to state Rep. Janelle Bynum, who most elected Democrats endorsed.

— David Weigel

Trump doesn’t take the stand at trial

Donald Trump’s attorneys rested their defense Tuesday without calling the former president to testify. But their decision to trot out one big witness — Robert Costello, a lawyer who advised ex-Trump fixer Michael Cohen— “may not have been a great idea,” writes the New York Times. While clashing repeatedly with Judge Juan Merchan on Monday, Costello testified that Cohen admitted Trump didn’t know about the hush money payments at the center of the case. Using his own emails, prosecutors painted Costello as a Trump loyalist who had tried unsuccessfully to keep Cohen quiet about the scheme. Merchan sent the jurors home until after Memorial Day, after which closing arguments and deliberations will take place.

Blinken wants to work with Congress on ICC sanctions

The Biden administration wants to work with Congress on an “appropriate response” to the ICC prosecutor’s “wrongheaded decision” to seek arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was responding to GOP Sen. James Risch, who said there is a bipartisan effort to use legislation to retaliate against the ICC. Congress could craft sanctions to cripple the court’s work, said Tess Bridgeman, a former deputy legal adviser to the NSC under Obama, including by preventing allies from cooperating with the ICC. The administration could also act unilaterally, as the Trump administration did over an Afghanistan war crimes investigation, but Bridgeman told Semafor that “would be a surprising move if they weren’t forced into that corner by Congress.”

— Morgan Chalfant

Rep. Dean: Scarlett Johansson is the face of AI likeness rights

One irony of the Scarlett Johansson AI story now driving tech conversations in Washington: It’s not really about AI. The episode involves OpenAI allegedly hiring a real-life actress who sounds like another actress they had approached for the job, a dispute likely covered by existing law. But Rep. Madeleine Dean, co-sponsor of the NO AI FRAUD Act, said it’s a galvanizing moment for efforts to protect people’s digital likenesses. “This is not AI fraud, but it makes it so much more tangible — you can feel it,” the Pennsylvania Democrat told Semafor in an interview. “This put a face to it, it’s kind of funny to say.” Dean says she’s less focused on the “doomsday stuff” around AI, and more on its potential upside, but sees bipartisan interest in protecting people from personal harm and governments from related national security threats.

— Kadia Goba

Kenya’s Ruto meets with Biden, congressional leaders

Kenyan President William Ruto has a busy day in Washington as he begins his state visit, the first by an African leader during Joe Biden’s term. Biden will host Ruto for a meeting with 10 business leaders representing both the US and Kenya for a discussion about technology and innovation cooperation, according to a White House official. Among the participants: Ruth Porat, the chief financial officer of Alphabet and Google; Teneo chairwoman Ursula Burns; Jit Bhattacharya, the CEO of Kenyan electric bus startup BasiGo; and Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, the CEO of the money transfer app M-PESA. Speaker Mike Johnson is hosting Ruto for meetings at the US Capitol this afternoon, after declining to invite him to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress. Senate leaders will also host a bipartisan meeting with Ruto.

— Morgan Chalfant

Biden hits Trump on ‘unified Reich’ video

President Biden attacked Donald Trump’s campaign for posting a video with an imagined news article on “the creation of a unified Reich” in his second term. “This is Hitler’s language — not America’s,” Biden said at a fundraiser in Boston. Trump’s team deleted the video on Tuesday after blaming it on a staffer the day before. Biden’s campaign linked the episode to “a pattern of [Trump’s] praise for dictators and echoing antisemitic tropes,” but there’s evidence it really was a case of pure incompetence this time. As The Atlantic’s David Graham noted, the video seems to rely on pre-existing stock images that use fill-in text from a Wikipedia entry on World War I.

Americans still feel beaten down by inflation

Inflation remained the top economic pain point for Americans in 2023, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest annual survey of US households. Thirty-five percent of adults called it the main financial challenge facing their family, followed by 21% who pointed to “basic living expenses.” Most Americans aren’t exactly facing desperation: 72% of survey takers said they were doing at least OK financially, on par with previous years. But they are reporting feelings of strain: 31% said they felt worse off financially than a year earlier, compared with 20% who reported being in a better spot. Eighty-four percent said price increases had left them at least somewhat worse off — and among Hispanics, the number was 100%. That might help explain Biden’s worrisome poll numbers with the group.

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Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Another one of Speaker Mike Johnson’s top staffers, Raj Shah, is looking to leave the speaker’s office in the coming weeks.

Playbook: President Biden’s unmet promise of a trip to Africa will hang over the state visit of Kenyan President William Ruto this week. One Biden administration official played down the lack of a visit to the continent: “At the end of all of this, ten years from now, what are we more grateful for — the substantive work that was done or this one trip that the president made?”

WaPo: The Justice Department will soon announce a rule that would provide more resources for prosecutions of immigration-related offenses. Biden also plans to issue executive orders on border security “throughout the summer.”

Axios: The DNC wants to brand all of Donald Trump’s vice presidential contenders as “ultra-MAGA.”

White House

• President Biden released 1 million barrels of gasoline from reserves in New Jersey and Maine to prevent heightened gas prices in the summer months.
• This morning, Biden announced plans to forgive another $7.7 billion in student loan debt held by 160,000 borrowers. “These 160,000 additional borrowers are people enrolled in my Administration’s SAVE Plan; are public service workers like teachers, nurses, or law enforcement officials; or are borrowers who were approved for relief because of fixes we made to Income-Driven Repayment,” Biden said in a statement.
• Vice President Harris’ speech at an SEIU conference in Philadelphia was interrupted by protesters objecting to the Gaza war. She met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the gathering.

Congress

• It has enough votes to clear the House, but the bipartisan bill to provide tax relief for natural disaster victims might crash into resistance from Senate Democrats. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Semafor’s Kadia Goba that he’s tried to convince Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden to bring up the legislation, but so far hasn’t had any luck. “Hopefully, Democrats here will understand the value of helping their citizens,” he said. Key context: Wyden had included the measure in a broader tax bill that Republicans blocked.
• The House Armed Services Committee will mark up the NDAA for the next fiscal year this morning.
• House Republicans’ farm bill would add $37 billion to the deficit, according to an initial projection from the Congressional Budget Office, Punchbowl News reported. “Preliminary estimates that are selectively leaked do not reflect final text or final scores,” the House Agriculture Committee said in a response statement. “We continue working with CBO to address the deficiencies in their scores and estimates.”
• Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi may vote for a GOP-backed crypto bill when it comes up for a House vote this week, according to people familiar with her thinking. The industry-friendly Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act is the most comprehensive legislation to regulate crypto to date. Pelosi is still one of the Democrats’ most prodigious fundraisers, and the crypto industry has become a big political campaign donor over the past two election cycles. — The American Prospect
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s testimony on Capitol Hill was interrupted by demonstrators protesting the Gaza war.

Outside the Beltway

• Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis defeated her challenger in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, while Scott McAfee, the judge presiding over the election interference case against Donald Trump and his allies, won reelection.
• Texas Speaker Dade Phelan is in the fight of his life in next week’s primary against a Trump-backed challenger, part of a broader MAGA takeover of the state GOP. In his Americana newsletter, Semafor’s David Weigel has the on-the-ground details on the race, which was sparked by Phelan’s failed attempt to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton on a litany of corruption charges.
• California lawmakers have pushed through a bill to allow doctors from Arizona to provide abortion services across the border. The measure awaits the signature of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who first floated the proposal last month.

Economy

World Economic Forum founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab will be stepping back from his role running the global gathering, Semafor reported.

Polls

Half of swing-state voters are concerned about violence around the November election, according to a new Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll.

Courts

• Rudy Giuliani and other Trump allies were arraigned in Arizona. He pleaded not guilty to charges in an alleged scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.
• Giuliani has agreed to stop making election fraud accusations against two Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgment against him.
• The Justice Department sued Oklahoma over a new state law that makes it a crime punishable by jail to live in the state without legal immigration status.

On the Trail

• Donald Trump suggested he was “looking at” potential restrictions on contraceptives during an interview on a local Pittsburgh television station, an idea he quickly backed away from. “I HAVE NEVER, AND WILL NEVER ADVOCATE IMPOSING RESTRICTIONS ON BIRTH CONTROL, or other contraceptives,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
• The oil and gas industry has turned against President Biden after a truce at the start of his administration, a fact that will be on display when industry heavyweights gather for a fundraising lunch in Houston set up to benefit Trump. — NYT
• Larry Hogan’s first general election ad in the Maryland Senate race focuses on abortion. — Politico
• California legislator Vince Fong won a special election Tuesday to finish the term of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Foreign Policy

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN that the ICC prosecutor’s warrant application is based on a “pack of lies.”
• The UN World Food Program warned that the Pentagon’s operation to get more aid into Gaza via a floating pier could fail if Israel doesn’t ensure safe conditions for humanitarian groups helping to deliver it.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is putting more pressure on the US to allow Ukraine to use American-made weapons to strike in Russian territory. — NYT
• China imposed sanctions on former GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher, an outspoken critic of Beijing.
• The European Union agreed to a plan to use windfall profits from frozen Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine.

Technology

• Semiconductor giants ASML and TSMC can disable their chipmaking equipment remotely in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. — Bloomberg
• TikTok is planning big layoffs. — The Information

Media

• The Israeli government seized and then returned broadcasting equipment belonging to the Associated Press.
• Google is threatening to pull investments from its Google News Initiative in the US over a California bill. — Axios
• A top Washington Post editor on Tuesday told editors not to promote a story about a controversy surrounding its CEO Will Lewis, Semafor’s Max Tani writes.
• Can’t get enough of Rep. Lauren Boebert? City Cast Denver is launching a new five-part podcast today, “Lauren Boebert Can’t Lose,” exploring her colorful career.
• Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is writing a new book calling for a religious revival. — Business Insider

Housing

The Department of Housing and Urban Development was forced to cancel mandatory public housing inspections for two weeks this month due to an IT failure. The agency blamed the stoppage on a “failed update from our IT vendor.” — NBC News

Blindspot

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 new Drug Enforcement Administration report shows how two Mexican drug cartels have boosted their presence in the US.

What the Right isn’t reading: Donald Trump’s lawyers found four documents marked classified in his bedroom at Mar-a-Lago months after the FBI raid at the property.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann, Morgan Chalfant

Editor-at-Large: Steve Clemons

Reporters: Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Dick Durbin is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the No. 2 Senate Democrat.