Wallet Opener
One of the few appropriations subcommittees that doesn’t have to worry about distributing spending cuts will meet today for the first votes on next year’s homeland security bill.
The draft House legislation would give Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the lead agency carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, almost a billion dollars above current levels. That includes funding to detain 50,000 people at once, up from the last appropriated capacity of 41,500, Ellen M. Gilmer reports.
The Transportation Security Administration would get $11.2 billion, slightly higher than current levels, according to a GOP fact sheet. The Coast Guard would receive $14.4 billion, more than a billion dollars above current levels. The Secret Service would get a modest cut to $3.2 billion.
“Every measure in this bill stands firm against threats—it will defend, deter, and deport,” Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said in a statement.
The minority party’s view is that the legislation should have different priorities. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), the ranking member of the subcommittee, said the way the bill is drafted, the nation would be “more vulnerable to catastrophic cyber threats.” Read More and get a fuller look at the appropriations picture in this morning’s Budget Brief.
Tax Proposal
Our team also is on the alert for fresh details as Senate Republicans figure out whether — and how — they want to change the Medicaid and perhaps also the Medicare health insurance programs as they draft revisions to the House-passed package of spending and tax changes (H.R. 1). Read More
Protest Backlash
Look for the tenor and the vocabulary of the conversation here in Washington to become more acrimonious now that the National Guard is deployed in Los Angeles against the wishes of California’s governor, and the defense secretary is raising the prospect of sending in the Marines as well.
What began as protests about immigration raids has mushroomed into larger public safety and political issues for both the blue-state governor and the White House.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he formally requested the White House rescind the “unlawful” deployment and return the troops to his command, warning it would only inflame tensions. He also said a lawsuit’s coming today, and posted on social media that local law enforcement didn’t need help but, “Trump sent troops anyway — to manufacture chaos and violence.”
“Now things are destabilized and we need to send in more law enforcement just to clean up Trump’s mess,” he wrote.
Trump called the demonstrations “migrant riots” and said federal agencies were directed to take “all such action necessary” to restore order and continue deportation operations. “We’re going to have troops everywhere,” Trump said. “We’re not going to let this happen to our country.” Read More
See also: Rifles, Stun Grenades, Armored Trucks in ICE Raids Spur Tensions
Big Trade Talks
Today could bring the start of a trade-war turning point, as three top-level US officials — US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer — meet in London with their Chinese counterparts.
It’s a significant development, since China was such a big target in President Donald Trump’s trade war.
Leading up to the talks, the Chinese last month lifted a ban on airlines taking delivery of Boeing planes and reduced its 125% duties on US goods to 10%, while the US agreed to drop the combined 145% levies on most Chinese imports to 30%. Then President Xi Jinping further diffused tensions by agreeing to restart the flow of rare-earth materials. Read More
Tariff Data Points
One way to get a handle on how big an impact Trump’s trade war is having on big businesses is to check the receipts — or, more accurately, Form 10-Q. Businesses must meet reporting requirements regarding “known uncertainties” or potentially face scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission and investors.
The financial data platform Calcbench went through a section of the quarterly filings called “management’s discussion and analysis” and found that more than 300 companies in the S&P 500 index mentioned the word “tariff.”
Jorja Siemons explores the data and describes the guidance the companies are offering their perhaps-skittish stockholders. Read More
Overall, China exports are at a record high so far this year despite a sharp falloff in shipments to the US — the largest drop in more than five years. Read More
See also: What Is Trump’s Tariff Campaign Meant to Achieve: QuickTake
How Well Do You Know Washington: Sartorial Edition
Crinkly pastel stripes will have their day in the Capitol Hill spotlight — and a starring role in a photo op at the Ohio Clock — on Seersucker Thursday. The ex-lawmaker who made it a modern tradition has been quoted calling it both a nod to the uncomfortable days of working in Washington before air conditioning and proof that “the Senate isn’t just a bunch of dour folks wearing dark suits.”
Who made Seersucker Day a thing?
A) Dianne Feinstein
B) Trent Lott
C) Strom Thurmond
Scroll down for the answer.
Nominations Watch
Expect some vigorous debate when the Senate takes up more of Trump’s sub-cabinet-level nominations, with votes likely today on Brett Shumate to be an assistant attorney general and David Fotouhi to be deputy administrator of the EPA.
In private practice, Fotouhi has represented oil companies and challenged asbestos regulation. Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) described that as a valuable outside-the-government perspective. “Too often, we have nominees that have a lot of experience regulating, but no experience advising entities on complying with regulations,” she said after the committee advanced the nomination.
The committee’s ranking member, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), said it was difficult to understand “how someone who has made a career defending the very industries that destroy our environment has any business now being entrusted to protect it.”
Read More:
- Senate Panel Approves Trump EPA Deputies as Deregulation Starts
- Trump’s No. 2 Pick for the EPA Represented Companies Accused of Pollution Harm (ProPublica)
- Senior Trump DOJ Pick Backs Push to Curb National Injunctions
Latest on the Big Bro Breakup
There’s a lot to unpack as the post-bromance falling-out fallout continues. Elon Musk was already losing Tesla customers before he split from Trump and the electric carmaker’s stock dropped, wiping out a record $153 billion from the company’s market value.
In addition to the uncertainty over what’ll happen next to that business, there are questions about the relationship between the government and Musk’s SpaceX, along with doubts about what will happen next on Capitol Hill, where a segment of Republican lawmakers agreed with Musk about the giant tax bill adding too much the national debt.
Dig into the details with much-ado-about-Musk coverage:
- Trump Threatens to Pull Musk’s Government Contracts
- Republicans Push Musk Aside as Trump Tax Bill Barrels Forward
- Vance Says He Hopes Musk Returns to Fold After Feud With Trump
- Musk Blinks First in Trump Feud
Did You Ace the Quiz?
The correct answer to this week’s quiz is Option B. Former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) started celebrating warm weather by inviting others to join him in seersucker stripes in the 1990s. The day became so much a part of the fabric of Capitol Hill that the official Senate website devotes a page to it.
If you like the look, thank Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) because he revived the tradition after a brief lapse. And since summer comfort isn’t partisan, his National Seersucker Day co-chair is Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) They’re also the sponsors of a Senate-adopted resolution (S. Res. 254) designating 12 Seersucker Thursdays and one Seersucker Appreciation Month.
Before You Go
The Muskless Department of Government Efficiency now can look at everything in your Social Security files. Lifting restrictions a judge said were needed to protect the privacy of millions of Americans, the Supreme Court allowed the information access while a challenge proceeds on appeal.
Read More
Trump’s proposal to peg American drug costs to prices paid in other countries risks upending Medicaid’s drug rebate program, Ganny Belloni reports. Read More
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