Principals

1. GOP games out Vance 2028
2. Putin rebuffs ceasefire
3. Fed decision today
4. Trump versus the courts
5. Pritzker on Schumer
6. Walz criticizes Dems
7. No more recess appointment talk

PDB: China chair’s warning on TikTok

Kennedy files released … Netanyahu says Gaza strikes ‘only the beginning’ … Reuters: Trump relaxes efforts to stop Russian sabotage

Vance 2028 is a hot topic on the right

Two months into President Donald Trump’s second term, there’s already plenty of chatter about the odds that Vice President JD Vance will be his successor, Semafor’s Burgess Everett and Shelby Talcott report. Vance is locking up some of the more populist elected Republicans, as well as key outside MAGA allies — but he’s also got a ton of time between now and a potential 2028 primary. That’s both an opportunity and a challenge: If Vance can push through Trump’s agenda and help him protect GOP majorities in the midterms, he’ll be in prime position to win a Trump endorsement and take the MAGA mantle. Some Republicans are already there. “JD Vance, to me, is the frontrunner. And the likely nominee in 2028,” Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said.

Takeaways from the Trump-Putin call

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to temporarily pause attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in his call with Trump, but Russia seems far from endorsing a broader 30-day ceasefire. The White House said the US and Russia would begin negotiations on a pause on maritime attacks, as well as a “full ceasefire and permanent peace.” Talks will be held in the Middle East, per a readout. But Putin emphasized that cutting off military and intelligence support to Kyiv would be a condition for moving toward a peace settlement, according to the Kremlin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was skeptical, but still voiced support for a partial ceasefire. History also offers reasons to doubt that Russia will adhere to its pledge to stop attacking Ukraine’s power grid; indeed, even after the call on Tuesday, a Russian strike took out power in the city of Slovyansk.

Fed expected to hold rates steady but provide key insight

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave interest rates untouched at its second monetary policy meeting of the year — leaving investors to instead parse other clues about how the central bank views the economy’s trajectory. Chair Jerome Powell said earlier this month that the Fed is not “in a hurry” to pursue cuts as it seeks “greater clarity” on the Trump administration’s proposed changes to “trade, immigration, fiscal policy, and regulation,” including a host of new tariffs. That means attention will be focused instead on any changes to the Fed’s projections on gross domestic product, inflation, and future rate cuts. Whether Powell can navigate the elusive soft landing amid the uncertainty will test his managerial acumen alongside his policy expertise as the Trump administration continues to challenge the bank’s independence.

— Eleanor Mueller

Trump battles the judiciary

Trump’s escalating battle with the federal judiciary over his deportation policy has already reached the Supreme Court. “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a remarkable rebuke after Trump called for the removal of a judge who ruled against the administration’s deportation of Venezuelan migrants. It was the latest episode in the clash between the executive and judicial branches under Trump. Other aggressive administration moves are also being tested in the courts; an Obama-appointed judge ruled Tuesday that DOGE likely violated the Constitution by dismantling USAID. And the Tuesday firing of two Federal Trade Commission members may propel a court fight with significant potential implications for the Federal Reserve, as Semafor has reported.

Pritzker pleads with Dems to stop ‘internecine warfare’

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday bluntly criticized Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s decision to vote with Republicans to keep the government open as “wrong.” He’s the latest high-profile Democrat to do so, as even longtime allies like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have sought to distance themselves from Schumer. But in comments to Semafor’s Elana Schor, Pritzker stressed that he, Schumer and the New York Democrat’s harshest critics, like progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, all want “the same things,” and warned his fellow Democrats against “jumping into internecine warfare.” “We’ve got to overcome what we see as the crumbling of a constitutional republic and the taking away of services from people who matter,” he added. Schumer, for his part, has defended his vote, telling The View that allowing a shutdown would have let “oligarchs” wind down large portions of the government.

Walz says Dems’ CR vote ‘muddied the water’

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told Semafor’s David Weigel ahead of a town hall in Eau Claire, Wis., Democrats should have “had a clearer vision” before helping to pass the GOP government funding bill last week. “I don’t want to question Sen. Schumer,” he said. “The issue is, it muddied the water on who’s to blame for this, and it’s clearly Donald Trump.” Walz, who’s been holding events in Republican districts, said that the threat of the Elon Musk-backed GOP candidate winning the Apr. 1 Wisconsin Supreme Court race here was existential. “That’s the country, that’s the republic, that’s everything,” he said, fretting that Republicans want judges who would “do Donald Trump’s bidding.” Onstage, Walz suggested that the party needs a “shadow government” to respond to Trump every day: “How in God’s name, Wisconsin, did we let Sean Duffy off the hook for planes crashing?”

Thune’s Senate staves off recess appointments

Trump’s threats of making recess appointments hung over the Senate since shortly after his election. No more. “The discussion really seemed to be that almost nobody really wanted to do recess appointments,” said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Tuesday. Paul was at the Capitol for a “pro forma” session, the Senate’s tool for effectively blocking presidents in both parties from making recess appointments. It was the second such session since Trump was sworn in — and it doesn’t look like those pro formas are going anywhere, after the Senate muscled through Trump’s Cabinet nominees during Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s 10-week work session. “Most of his Cabinet got through pretty easily … so I actually haven’t heard much talk of” recess appointments, Paul said.

— Burgess Everett

Blindspot: Promotions and reversals

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: The Treasury Department promoted two IRS agents who were involved in the Hunter Biden investigation.

What the Right isn’t reading: The Trump administration moved to reinstate thousands of probationary workers who had been terminated, following a judge’s order.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: House Republican leaders are now not planning to bring up the bill to prevent deep cuts to DC’s budget next week.

Playbook: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz specifically asked California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s team for a chance to speak about Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Newsom’s podcast — after the original discussion had already been recorded.

Axios: President Trump’s allies are floating the idea of stripping US citizenship from naturalized Americans. “What’s going to be on the horizon are denaturalization cases,” said the Article III Project’s Mike Davis.

WaPo: According to the Yale Budget Lab, Republicans’ proposed cuts to social safety net programs combined with the Trump tax cuts they are intended to pay for “would actively transfer money from low-income people to high-income earners.”

White House

• President Trump said he has never and will never defy a court order in an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham.
• Vice President Vance told Silicon Valley conservatives and populist Trump-backers to get along.
• USDA is rolling out a $10 billion aid program for farmers who grow commodity crops like wheat and corn.

Congress

• House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries expressed confidence in Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, after previously declining to do so.
• Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., the leader of the House select committee on China, is worried about the prospect of ByteDance maintaining control over TikTok in a deal brokered by the Trump administration. — National Review

Outside the Beltway

• NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore safely splashed down off the Florida coast after an unexpectedly long nine-month stay in space. A pod of dolphins greeted their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
• Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened to cut off federal funding for New York’s subway system unless the city provides specific crime stats. And in a separate dispute between DC and the MTA, the agency’s chief said the city plans to keep its congestion pricing scheme in place, despite President Trump’s attempt to kill it.

Business

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom distributed burner phones so he can backchannel with the state’s tech CEOs. — Politico

Economy

• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has told associates he is “not thrilled” with President Trump’s impulsive approach toward wielding tariffs rather than leveraging them for concessions from other countries. — CNN

Courts

• A federal judge blocked President Trump’s order banning transgender people from serving in the military in a scathing opinion.
• California’s chief justice said ICE agents will not be allowed to conduct enforcement actions in state courtrooms, despite White House policy.

Foreign Policy

• The Trump administration ended a US-funded initiative documenting suspected Russian war crimes, including a database regarding forced deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia, hampering ongoing criminal cases. — WaPo

Health

• The Health and Human Services Department is considering drastically cutting funding for HIV prevention in the US. — WSJ
• HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is floating simply letting bird flu “run through” the nation’s chicken flocks, an idea Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has also spoken approvingly of. (A former state veterinarian told The New York Times it would be a “recipe for disaster.“)

Technology

• The FTC removed more than 300 official blog posts published during the Biden administration, including posts describing the agency’s allegations against tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft. — WIRED
• Chinese electric car maker BYD claimed to have developed flash EV chargers that can charge a car in five to eight minutes — nearly as quickly as gas pumps.
• Nvidia announced new artificial intelligence chips.

Media

• Some US-funded news services, like Radio Free Europe, have continued to broadcast despite the Trump administration’s order to shutter them. — CNN

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

Lisa McClain is a Republican congresswoman from Michigan and the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference.