Principals

1. Potomac plane crash
2. Trump reverses on freeze
3. RFK Jr. optimism
4. NRCC chair speaks
5. Assessing tech curbs
6. Trump approval
7. Fact-check challenge

PDB: Politico comms departure

DC mayor to brief on plane crash response at 7:30 a.m. … Vought expected to clear Senate panel … Hamas releases Israeli and Thai hostages

Washington processes tragic jet crash

A Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger jet collided above the Potomac River late Wednesday, grounding flights at Reagan National. Sixty-four people were on board and at least 19 bodies had been recovered by early Thursday. The flight took off from Wichita, and US and Russian figure skaters were among the passengers. The tragedy — which represents the first major US commercial crash since 2009 — will attract tremendous scrutiny from Congress. “I have been in contact with local and national authorities asking for answers and will continue to demand more information on how this unfolded,” Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kans., wrote on X, calling the news “nothing short of a nightmare.” It also represents a steep and immediate test for Sean Duffy, who was on site at FAA headquarters monitoring the situation hours after being sworn in as Transportation secretary.

White House rescinds federal aid freeze

Lawmakers expressed relief after the Trump administration rescinded a memo that had paused a wide swath of federal funding and triggered chaos. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. told Semafor that the reversal, which came after a judge blocked the memo, made things “easier on us, because we’ve been answering questions” and “trying to get information” to constituents. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Democrats they deserve credit for pushing back but warned them the fight is not over, according to a person familiar with the Wednesday caucus meeting. The memo’s reversal itself prompted confusion. An official told Semafor that rescinding it let the White House get around the court injunction and resume engaging with agencies on executive orders — including ones relating to DEI, the Inflation Reduction Act, and infrastructure funding. “Anything deemed at odds with the President’s EO will freeze,” the official confirmed.

— Shelby Talcott and Burgess Everett

RFK Jr., Gabbard face Senate

Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo told Semafor he believes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did “pretty well” on Wednesday and is optimistic, but won’t yet guarantee he’ll clear the panel. “He handled himself well and answered the questions well. And he refuted a lot of allegations,” Crapo said. “I don’t know that he changed any minds.” He’ll have another chance today as Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chairs Kennedy’s second hearing on the HELP Committee. Perhaps the most-watched vote on the Finance Committee, Cassidy quizzed Kennedy about Medicaid and showed deep interest during the hearing — but isn’t giving anything away on his vote. “Not answering any RFK questions,” Cassidy told Semafor. “I’ve just been deferring all those.” Tulsi Gabbard has her confirmation hearing today in front of the Intelligence Committee, while Kash Patel faces the Judiciary panel.

— Burgess Everett

What’s keeping Richard Hudson up at night

GOP campaign chair Richard Hudson is hopeful about growing Republicans’ majority next November, but retirements — and incumbents seeking higher office — are beyond his control. “You put your finger on the one thing that keeps me awake at night,” he told Semafor. What he’s not worried about: potential primary challengers to Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La.: “I mean, those two states in particular — one being my home state — we really don’t have any vulnerable Republicans.” Hudson sat down for a chat during the House Republican retreat in Miami, just as Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., passed on reelection and set up a hotly contested open-seat swing-state race. The Senate race could attract Rep. John James, R-Mich., who lost to Peters in 2020, and a Republican source confirmed to Semafor that party leaders are having conversations with James about the possibility.

— Kadia Goba

US struggles to limit Chinese tech

Smartphone maker Huawei serves as a cautionary tale for the US on limiting Chinese technology, as DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence fuels a similar debate, Semafor’s Rachyl Jones reports. The US government spent years targeting Huawei and its global supply chain, aiming to impede China’s growing tech prowess. The work started during the first Trump administration and was carried forward by the Biden administration. Huawei’s customer base shrank and its sales tanked, but it has since thrived on diversifying its offerings and expanding its presence domestically.

Just like Huawei’s new smartphone, released last year, the debut of DeepSeek’s AI chatbot has caused policymakers to question whether US controls are actually working. “Apparently the export controls haven’t stopped China from developing this new and powerful large language model,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters this week.

Trump’s low approval rating

President Trump isn’t experiencing the honeymoon period typical for new US presidents. Trump’s initial job approval rating stands at 47%, according to new Gallup data, while 48% of US adults disapprove of the job he is doing as president. The rating is similar to the 45% approval Trump received at the start of his first term, and stands below all other elected US presidents stretching back to 1953 — underscoring how polarizing a figure he is. In comparison, Joe Biden entered office with 57% approval rating (and left with 40%). One slight bright spot for Trump: 46% of independents approve of the job he is doing, an increase of 6 percentage points compared to his first term.

Trump team’s dubious Gaza aid claim

Allies of President Trump described his early barrage of orders as “shock and awe,” and perhaps nothing summed up the resulting fact-checking challenge like the claim that he halted “$50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas.” That stat, cited by Trump on Wednesday, sounds compelling — but there’s little evidence for it. A State spokesperson said two halted aid packages for the International Medical Corps “included contraceptives.” But IMC told Semafor that “no US government funding” for its previous work “was used to procure or distribute condoms.” Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International, suggested that Trump was misreading aid data, as $50 million would be enough for 1 billion condoms; and USAID, which distributes such funding, had not recently paid for condoms in Middle East nations.

— David Weigel

Blindspot: UK and Madonna

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: Incoming UK ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson walked back previous criticisms of President Trump, calling them “ill-judged and wrong.”

What the Right isn’t reading: Madonna accused the Trump administration of “slowly dismantling” LGBTQ+ Americans’ freedoms.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Tulsi Gabbard will say during her opening statement today that President Trump has “a clear mandate” to “end the weaponization and politicization of the IC, and begin to restore trust in those who have been charged with the critical task of securing our nation.” She’ll also claim that her opponents are upset by her “consistent record of independence, regardless of political affiliation, and my refusal to be anyone’s puppet.”

Playbook: The path forward for Republicans’ agenda is “looking treacherous” following the House GOP’s meeting with Trump in Florida.

WaPo: Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said she thinks the Trump administration is still freezing some federal funds, citing conversations she has had with organizations like a Chicago-based nonprofit focused on homeless youths.

White House

• President Trump signed an executive order to combat “campus anti-Semitism” that could allow for the deportation of pro-Palestine college protestors. He signed another that would require “patriotic education” in schools and “file appropriate actions” against teachers that affirm transgender students.
• The USDA’s inspector general was escorted out of the building “after she refused to comply with her firing by the Trump administration.” — Reuters

Congress

• Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., was the only Democrat to attend the signing ceremony for the Laken Riley Act at the White House.
• The Senate confirmed Lee Zeldin to lead the EPA, with three Democrats voting in favor of his nomination. Later today, the upper chamber considers Doug Burgum for Interior.
• Six Democratic governors pleaded with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to more aggressively fight back against the Trump administration’s agenda. — NYT

Outside the Beltway

• The Justice Department is considering dropping its case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. — NYT

Business

• Trump Media and Technology Group launched a fintech brand.
• Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is looking to buy propertyin Washington. — FT

Economy

• As expected, the Federal Reserve held steady on interest rates. “We do not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said. President Trump took aim at Powell following the announcement, saying the central bank failed to prevent inflation and did a “terrible job” on bank regulation.
• Fourteen of Trump’s Cabinet picks reported a combined $1.5 billion in assets. — Bloomberg

Courts

• President Trump appealed his hush money conviction in New York and brought on a new legal team.
• Former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in jail following his conviction on federal bribery and corruption charges.
• The Justice Department dropped its cases against Trump codefendants in the classified documents case, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.

National Security

• President Trump signed an order directing the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security to use Guantánamo Bay to house as many as 30,000 migrants.
• Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper’s portrait was removed from the walls at the Pentagon.

Foreign Policy

• President Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steven Witkoff, visited Israel and Gaza ahead of another round of hostage releases.
• Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum cast doubt on Trump’s 25% tariffs on Mexican goods taking effect on Feb. 1.

Technology

• Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle a suit President Trump filed against the platform after it suspended his accounts in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. — WSJ

Media

• Politico’s longtime head of communications, Brad Dayspring, is leaving the publication in the coming weeks, Semafor first reported, the latest sign of a changing of the guard at the Rosslyn-based publication. In an email to staff, Politico CEO Goli Sheikholeslami and editor John Harris praised Dayspring, but some Politico executives had privately grown frustrated with him, blaming him for not doing enough to counter a series of negative stories about departures and low morale.
• In their new book, Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen detail how negotiations between Kamala Harris’ campaign and Joe Rogan to get the Democratic nominee on his podcast broke down in the heat of last year’s presidential campaign.

Principals Team

Edited by Morgan Chalfant, deputy Washington editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor

Contact our reporters:

Burgess Everett, Kadia Goba, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Todd Young is a Republican senator from Indiana and a member of the Senate’s bipartisan AI working group last year.

The hysteria around Chinese AI model DeepSeek may reveal more about how little the market understands the AI industry in the long run, Semafor’s Reed Albergotti writes.

DeepSeek represents an offering — and in the grand scheme of things, a somewhat small one — of some good ideas on how to make AI models more efficient, Reed argues.