Principals

1. Trump’s first 100 days
2. GOP punts tax deadline
3. Taxing the rich
4. Durbin succession update
5. Proxy firm pivots from politics
6. Liberals win in Canada
7. Connelly’s successor(s)
8. Craig launches Senate campaign

PDB: White House reacts to Russia ceasefire

Spain, Portugal recovering from massive blackout … NYT: The rise of Trump’s crypto firm … Nikkei index ⬆️ 0.38%

100 days of Trump

Donald Trump faces an American public souring on his presidency 100 days into his second term. New polling finds Trump’s approval rating below any new president at this point since Dwight Eisenhower, with fewer voters expressing confidence in his handling of the economy and immigration, and a majority saying he has “gone too far” in shaking up government. Trump failed to fulfill promises to bring down prices and rapidly end the Ukraine war, though he insisted the latter was made “in jest.” He has clamped down on illegal migration, though his moves are being tested in the courts, and his sweeping tariffs have rattled industry; ahead of a scheduled rally in Detroit today, Trump will ease some of his levies on foreign-made cars and car parts, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trade and peace talks are expected to prominently feature in the next 100 days, as well as the push on Capitol Hill for his agenda.

Republicans shift tax deadline

Top GOP lawmakers have long insisted they are on track to pass Trump’s tax agenda by Memorial Day. Now that timeline is shifting. Leaving a meeting with congressional Republican leaders Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters the new deadline is July 4 — in line with Rep. Darin LaHood’s recent prediction to Semafor that the House Ways and Means Committee is “on a track” to vote on its portion of the tax bill “by early June.” All eyes are still on the so-called X date, the point at which the Treasury Department stops being able to pay its bills — which Bessent said could crystallize within days. That’s because the tax bill includes a debt limit hike. “A lot will be determined when the debt limit hits,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters. “That is a hard deadline.”

— Eleanor Mueller

Trump’s mixed signals on taxing the rich

Congressional Republicans rushing to draft Trump’s tax agenda want the president to clarify whether he’s open to raising taxes on high-income Americans after he made contradictory comments, Semafor’s Burgess Everett, Shelby Talcott and Eleanor Mueller report. “Otherwise it’s the subject of endless debates — and if in the end it’s going nowhere, it’d be good to know that early,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the tax-writing Finance Committee, said. A White House official said the president is still “weighing” the idea, after he said Sunday he wants to focus tax relief on people making less than $200,000. Proposals like higher taxes on workers making more than $1 million would be a heavy lift for the GOP, which has long opposed any tax increases. Asked Monday whether that idea was still on the table, economic adviser Kevin Hassett would say only that “the president has said that it’s not.”

Warren wants to pause whip race

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wants Democrats to put the brakes on the race to succeed the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin, a call that comes just after Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, officially launched his whip campaign in a Washington Post interview. “I like Brian Schatz a lot and I have no interest in the job, but we don’t need to decide the whip race until after the midterms. Right now, we need to stay 110% focused on fighting Donald Trump,” Warren told Semafor’s Burgess Everett. “We need every single senator in this fight focused on Trump.” Schatz, Durbin’s chief deputy whip, already has his own team out there scrapping for votes, and many Democrats think he’s likely to end up with the job. But if enough members of the caucus keep their powder dry, the race could stay on ice until next fall.

Glass Lewis weighs political retreat

For years, two firms have dominated the business of telling investors how to vote in corporate elections. Now, Glass Lewis, the scrappier and smaller of the two, wants out: It’s discussing scrapping its “house views” on ballot measures ranging from hostile takeovers to complaints about gender balance and carbon emissions, Semafor’s Liz Hoffman and Rohan Goswami report. Glass Lewis has pushed in recent years for McDonald’s to audit its racial diversity, nudged Starbucks to produce an independent assessment of its labor practices, and urged meatpacker Tyson to disclose its political contributions. But under conservative pressure, the firm — and other players across the financial industry — are hustling out of the moralizing business and focusing squarely on managing and making money. Glass Lewis and its rival, Institutional Shareholder Services, will be Republicans’ targets during a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing on “the proxy advisory cartel” scheduled for later today.

How Trump helped Liberals win in Canada

Canada’s center-left Liberal Party won the country’s general election and may secure a majority on its own, a stunning turnaround after trailing in the polls for months. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre lost his own seat, and conceded to the recently appointed incumbent, Prime Minister Mark Carney. Carney took aim at Trump in his victory speech, saying the US leader was “trying to break us so that America can own us.” He may owe his victory to the US president, however: Poilievre’s perceived closeness to Trump, who is staggeringly unpopular in Canada, was his great weak spot. Carney will steer the country through Trump’s global trade war, as well as his repeated demands Canada become the 51st US state.

Dems vie for House Oversight role

A competitive race is already brewing to succeed the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., announced he’ll “step back” as ranking member because of health issues on Monday. Connolly hasn’t resigned from the committee, but if he does, leadership must call an election within 30 days. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., would step in as acting ranking member, and has told members Connolly would back him to stay in the role. Other members floated for the seat include Reps. Robert Garcia and Ro Khanna of California and Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas. (Crockett will announce her interest in the seat today, Semafor is told.) They may also have to contend with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who lost to Connolly in December — though she’d have her own hurdles, including making her way back to the Oversight Committee.

— Kadia Goba

Minnesota’s Craig runs for Senate

Minnesota Democratic Rep. Angie Craig is running to replace retiring Sen. Tina Smith, joining Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in a primary with no clear favorite. “It’s time the middle class started calling the shots again,” Craig said in a campaign launch video that lays out her agenda — opposing tariffs, making prescription drugs cheaper, and cutting Social Security taxes. In the House, Craig has positioned herself slightly to Flanagan’s right, voting for the Laken Riley Act and to kill a DC criminal justice reform package. Craig entered the month with $1.2 million on hand from her 2024 reelection campaign, more than twice as much as Flanagan. Craig’s House seat in the St. Paul suburbs has shifted left since she won it in 2018; Kamala Harris carried it by six points last year, though Republicans continue to target it.

— David Weigel

Blindspot: Bessent and Harris

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: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blamed recession fears on the media.

What the Right isn’t reading: Kamala Harris will criticize President Trump in a speech at the Emerge gala on Wednesday — her first address since leaving office.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Democratic members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are accusing the Trump administration of holding up more than $430 billion in federal funding approved by Congress that spans medical research, aid for farmers, disaster relief, and infrastructure projects.

Playbook: “The Liberals in Canada were losing big until our president kept mocking Canadians, our neighbors and close friends,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said. “He made Canadian Liberals great again.”

WaPo: President Trump’s decision to mark the first 100 days of his second term in Michigan is a “symbolic choice.” The state was the site of his final campaign rally on the eve of the 2016 election, and one Republican strategist described Michigan as “the avatar for the MAGA voter.”

White House

• The White House told senators that President Trump would veto a resolution to terminate a global tariff emergency, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reported.

Congress

• The House passed a bipartisan measure to criminalize revenge porn, sending it to President Trump’s desk.

Executive Orders

• President Trump signed a trio of executive orders on Monday, including one that instructs Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi to compile a list of “sanctuary” jurisdictions for the administration to pressure, and another that seeks to shield police “who unjustly incur expenses and liabilities for actions taken on the job.”

Polls

• The share of people living in the US who are satisfied with the availability of “good, affordable housing” declined to its lowest level last year, according to new polling from Gallup. Thirty-six percent of US adults polled last year as part of the broader survey of OECD countries reported being satisfied with housing availability, compared with 39% the previous year.

Business

• Temu is hitting US customers with large import charges following President Trump’s tariffs: A three-pack of men’s shorts advertised by the Chinese retailer at $23.61 was slapped with an import charge of $32.75. — NBC
• Amazon plans to display the cost added to the price of products because of tariffs. — Punchbowl

Economy

• The UK and European Union are planning to sign a declaration committing to a “new strategic partnership” and “free and open trade.” — Politico
• Countries like South Africa, France, and Saudi Arabia are seeking advice from Goldman Sachs on how to deal with President Trump’s economic policies. — WSJ

Education

• The civil rights divisions of the departments of Education and Health and Human Services launched a racial discrimination probe into Harvard Law Review.

Courts

• About half of the Justice Department’s civil rights division attorneys have left in recent weeks, as Harmeet Dhillon has worked to reshape the office’s agenda. — WaPo

National Security

• Two DOGE staffers were given accounts for government computer systems that house secrets about US nuclear weapons. — NPR
• A $60 million Navy F/A-18 fighter jet fell off an aircraft carrier and was lost at sea.

Foreign Policy

• Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a three-day ceasefire in Ukraine from May 8-10, with his government citing “humanitarian considerations” as the reason. The White House made clear that it does not see the announcement as a sufficient move towards ending the Ukraine war.

Technology

• IBM said it would invest $150 billion in the US over the next five years.
• A rift is widening between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. — WSJ

Media

• Nicole Shanahan, the billionaire onetime running mate of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., struck a deal with conservative broadcaster Blaze Media to grow her podcast, Semafor’s Max Tani scooped.
• The owners of The Messenger, the DC news site that imploded spectacularly in under a year, settled with their now-former employees for $4.5 million.

Corrections

• Yesterday’s edition of Principals misstated the office and state affiliation of Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.
• Saturday’s special edition of Principals misstated where the Milwaukee judge arrested by the FBI over the weekend is from.

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

Shyam Sankar is the chief technology officer and executive vice president of Palantir Technologies. We asked him about a new Trump order on federal acquisition, given the company’s suit against the Army over contracting practices that it won in 2016.