Principals

1. Senate reconciliation strategy
2. Crypto bill drama
3. Trump on Constitution
4. Where’s Lynne Patton?
5. Stocks’ declining appeal
6. Paramount pauses initiative
7. US-Saudi business

PDB: Effects from tariffs on auto parts

Israel approves plan to take all of Gaza … Hardline candidate wins in Romania … Dow futures ⬇️ 0.64%

The Senate eyes its reconciliation turn

Some senators are closely eyeing the House’s big tax/health care/spending cuts/national security bill. Others say it’s not worth it at this chaotic inflection point, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports. “I shut most of that out because they debate a lot of stuff. I call it a sandstorm of bad ideas,” quipped Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio. He said the GOP should focus on three simple things: passing permanent extensions of the 2017 tax cuts, restoring research and development spending, and adding in President Donald Trump’s promised tax breaks on tips, overtime and Social Security. At the moment, the House is considering much more than that. One thing’s clear, though: Whatever the House passes, the Senate is going to change it. And if the House stalls, look for the Senate to try and take over.

Senate Dems divided on crypto bill

Senate Democrats are pumping the brakes on legislation that would create rules for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency pegged to assets like the US dollar, ahead of a key vote expected as soon as Thursday. Following reporting that an Emirati fund would strike a deal with the Trump family’s crypto firm, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urged colleagues in a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday against putting their weight behind the bill until changes were made, people familiar with the meeting told Semafor. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., defended the legislation, while Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., spoke against it. Four Democrats who had supported the bill in committee subsequently said Saturday that they would be “unable to vote” for it again without “stronger provisions” related to money laundering, foreign issuers, and more. “We won’t let them jam us,” Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said Sunday.

— Eleanor Mueller

Trump shrugs at Constitution

Trump said he doesn’t know whether he has to uphold the Constitution during an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker. The comment came during a conversation about the administration’s mass deportation efforts and whether those being deported have a right to due process. Trump pointed to his “brilliant lawyers” and said they’d “obviously follow what the Supreme Court” decides, despite his administration resisting court orders related to the case of Kilmar Ábrego García. The president also defended his tariff plans, arguing small businesses won’t need relief and saying that, while “anything can happen,” he doesn’t think America will see a recession. Meanwhile, Trump ruled out running for a third term — “I’m looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody … to carry it forward” — and floated Marco Rubio and JD Vance as possible successors for his movement.

— Shelby Talcott

Patton returns to White House

Lynne Patton will return to the White House this week after fully serving out a suspension for violating the Hatch Act in 2020, Semafor’s Kadia Goba reports. The highest-ranking Black official in the White House will resume the dual role of deputy assistant to the president and director of minority outreach after stepping aside for around two months to comply with a 2021 decision from the US Office of Special Counsel. In her role as HUD regional administrator during Trump’s first term, Patton filmed New York City Housing residents and later used the footage during the Republican National Convention. The OSC fined her $1,000 and barred her from serving in the federal government for 48 months for violating the Hatch Act, a law designed to restrict federal employees from engaging in political activity while in their official roles.

Stocks lose appeal

As the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s global trade war fuels stock market volatility, fewer Americans see stocks as the ideal way to invest long-term. Sixteen percent of US adults polled by Gallup in a survey out today said that stocks are the best long-term investment, down six percentage points from last year. A plurality of Americans prefer real estate, with 37% singling it out as the best long-term investment, and about a quarter prefer gold, up five points from 2024. The poll was taken at the beginning of April, as Trump announced — and then delayed — most of his global tariffs, while keeping steep duties on Chinese goods. The stock market experienced a historic drop in the wake of the “Liberation Day” tariffs, but markets have largely rebounded since. Still, futures declined on Monday after Trump ordered new tariffs on foreign movies.

Paramount pauses ‘Daily Show’ initiative

Executives at Paramount — the media giant whose news arm, CBS, has been the target of lawsuits by the Trump administration, as the rest of the company pursues a merger — held off on launching a Daily Show-branded civic engagement initiative to get viewers to run for office, Semafor’s Max Tani scoops. Paramount had partnered with the veterans group New Politics Leadership Academy, the progressive group Run For Something, and the right-leaning group Women’s Public Leadership Network on the initiative, which was set to launch last week. But at the last minute, Paramount hesitated. A person familiar with the plans said the initiative hasn’t entirely been scrapped; when it goes live later this month, it will have a different, nonpartisan political nonprofit as a partner. But the episode shows how cautious Paramount is willing to be in Trump’s Washington.

Trump’s Gulf trip is all business

The hottest ticket in Riyadh next week — aside from the royal gala feting US President Donald Trump and Gulf leaders — is the Saudi-US Investment Forum. The invitation-only gathering on May 13 will bring together senior officials and executives to discuss the details behind deals valued in the trillions. Saudi Arabia has already pledged to invest $600 billion in the US over the next four years and the UAE said it will pump $1.4 trillion in the next decade. Trump’s visit beginning on May 13 is expected to focus on US-bound investment pledges and weapons deals; normalization with Israel and other grand security arrangements aren’t likely. Business leaders will be focusing on deals in sectors including energy, minerals, financial services, artificial intelligence, technology, manufacturing, and healthcare.

— Mohammed Sergie

Debatable: Can Trump cut off Harvard’s funding?

The courts may get the last word on the Trump administration’s high-profile feud with Harvard University. After Trump moved to freeze more than $2 billion in federal dollars promised to the school over its handling of alleged antisemitism, the university quickly sued, alleging that the move represents a violation of the First Amendment. The case landed in Massachusetts federal court, where a judge scheduled oral arguments for July 21. David Pozen, a Columbia Law School professor, argued that Trump acted unlawfully, accusing him of a “brazen and authoritarian” move. But Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a former federal prosecutor, told Semafor that Trump has broad discretion over federal funding and pushed back against suggestions it violates laws like the Impoundment Control Act.

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Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: More than three-fourths of senior Hill staffers said their bosses were worried about the Trump administration’s handling of sensitive materials after the Signal debacle.

Playbook: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. criticized Jordan’s King Abdullah II for failing to follow through on a promise for caring for Palestinian children ahead of the leader’s visit to DC today.

WaPo: The States Project is pitching Democratic funders that their money is best spent at the state level. “So what we are offering to donors is, the work in state legislatures matters,” said executive director Mandara Meyers.

Axios: President Trump will announce later today that Washington, DC, will host the 2027 NFL Draft and potentially hold it on the National Mall.

White House

• President Trump told NBC he wouldn’t fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell before the end of his term.
• Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law, Massad Boulos, has seen his influence quickly wane in the Trump administration. — Politico

Congress

• The House scrapped a planned vote on a bill that would’ve penalized Americans who participated in boycotts of Israel endorsed by international organizations, in the face of criticism from conservatives like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie. 
• Senate defense hawks like Roger Wicker and Mitch McConnell don’t like the president’s budget request and say it’ll be treated as a mere suggestion. Susan Collins doesn’t like it either.

Outside the Beltway

• President Trump wrote on social media late Sunday that he’d like to see Alcatraz Island, a popular San Francisco tourist site, turned back into a functional prison.
• Trump’s joking suggestions about becoming the Pope — and particularly, an AI-generated image of the president in papal robes — have upset some American bishops. — National Catholic Reporter

Economy

• President Trump’s tariffs on auto parts kicked in over the weekend, and are expected to cause car prices to rise and drive some suppliers out of business.
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed defending Trump’s economic strategy.

Health

• Almost half of the $800 million in National Institutes of Health grants canceled so far by the Trump administration had funded research related to the LGBTQ community, such as studies of HIV prevention measures. — NYT

Foreign Policy

• The US is sending more air defense systems to Ukraine.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is planning to visit Israel this month ahead of President Trump’s Middle East tour. — Axios

Energy

• OPEC+ plans to quicken its oil output hikes. — Reuters

Technology

• President Trump said he’ll extend the TikTok ban reprieve again if a deal isn’t reached in time.
• TeleMessage, which makes a modified Signal app used by the US government, has been hacked. — 404 Media

Media

• Conservative policy influencers in DC are more likely to listen to Joe Rogan’s podcast than they are Tucker Carlson’s, according to a new survey from Sable Strategy and Certus Insights, which also found political types in the nation’s capital look to a wide variety of media sources (cable news, social media, radio) to get their information.
• The White House said its official X account racked up more than 2 billion impressions over the administration’s first 100 days, among other stats shared with Semafor’s Shelby Talcott.

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

Jeff Merkley is a Democratic senator from Oregon. He introduced a bill last week with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, that would end production of the penny.