Principals

1. Moreno pushes steel tariffs
2. Fed in holding pattern
3. Rubio-Vance relationship
4. Cruz’s big ideas
5. Stefanik’s next move
6. Senate crypto bill vote
7. New surgeon general pick
8. Anti-DEI push hits Africa

PDB: Nvidia shares rise on AI chip news

Bessent heads to Switzerland for China talks … Bank of England expected to cut rates … S&P 500 futures ⬆️ 0.98%

Republican senator asks for more tariffs

As President Donald Trump prepares to announce a trade pact with the UK later this morning, plenty of Republicans hope he’ll rein in his tariffs to avoid potential economic calamity. At least one is singing a different tune: Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, is asking the Trump administration to expand tariffs to boost the economy, at least when it comes to products using foreign steel. The Ohio Republican wrote to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick this morning asking the administration “to extend the section 232 tariffs on steel derivatives to cover the full value of imported steel-containing appliances,” according to a letter first shared with Semafor. Moreno argues that major home appliances made with foreign steel are being imported with low duties — hurting US manufacturers as a result. “Taking action against these imports would benefit many US industries,” Moreno writes.

— Burgess Everett

Fed holds rates steady

The Federal Reserve will again leave interest rates untouched until the central bank can “see more data” on where the economy is headed, Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday. “If the large increases in tariffs that have been announced are sustained, they’re likely to generate a rise in inflation, a slowdown in economic growth, and an increase in unemployment,” the central banker said. Markets, which had expected the Fed to hold steady, closed slightly up despite Powell’s warning. Uncertainty persists over the president’s trade agenda, though the limited trade framework Trump will announce with the UK should provide some relief to markets and policymakers. The trade talks focused on AI and tech, per Bloomberg, and the UK is hoping to get relief from the 25% tariffs on steel and cars and avoid tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

— Eleanor Mueller

Trump stokes a Rubio-Vance competition

President Donald Trump has given JD Vance and Marco Rubio huge portfolios just months into his second term — and recently named both as potential successors. The two officials are allies and friends, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott, Morgan Chalfant, and Burgess Everett write, but intentionally or not, Trump’s recent remarks stoke the potential for 2028 competition between Vance and Rubio. “They’re both clearly on the short list, if they’re interested,” Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis said. Rubio and Vance offer two distinct but not clashing previews of what a post-Trump party could look like, and some close to Trump have even quietly wondered about the idea of a Vance-Rubio ticket (though, as Trump says, it’s “far too early” to pick a definitive successor). Vance allies, meanwhile, don’t see any scenario in which the two head off against each other in a primary, given their friendship.

Cruz makes ‘legacy’ pitch for tax bill

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had a challenge for Republicans’ at their retreat on Wednesday on reconciliation. “The case I made to my colleagues is: We should ask ourselves in this bill, what will be the legacy that people will remember and talk about 10 years from now, 20, 30, 40 years from now?” Cruz told Semafor afterward. He has some ideas, most notably legislation that would create investments accounts for “every child born in America to help them begin the journey of savings and benefit from the wonders of compound interest,” which they could tap into as adults. He also pitched Republicans on a school choice provision providing tax credits for scholarship-granting organizations in states. The Texas Republican said it’s “critically important” that Republicans include “legacy items that make a profound difference” in their tax cuts bill. Voters are likely to notice those, too.

— Burgess Everett

Stefanik eyes two paths to power

Elise Stefanik is making sure that her next plum position won’t get yanked away from her by intraparty tensions, Semafor’s Kadia Goba reports. After relinquishing her nomination to become Trump’s UN ambassador, Stefanik has two potential paths before her: Remain in Congress and re-accumulate her power in the House GOP, or run for New York governor. The second path risks pitting her against Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who’s also eyeing a gubernatorial run — but Stefanik is subtly gaining an advantage. She is expected to meet with Trump later this month, and while she wouldn’t say whether the president himself is encouraging her to run for governor, she confirmed people in his orbit are. “I’m proud to be his top ally in Congress. We have heard encouragement from all over the Republican ecosystem, including Trumpworld,” Stefanik said in an interview.

Senate takes up crypto bill

The Senate is moving forward with a procedural vote on a key cryptocurrency bill today, even as bipartisan negotiations over compromise legislation stretched late into Wednesday, a GOP aide said. Crypto-friendly Republican and Democratic lawmakers huddled for nearly six hours total Wednesday as they sought to reach a consensus on Democrat-sought changes to stablecoin legislation, including language targeted at preventing corruption. But they emerged from their second meeting of the day with no signs of a deal. “I don’t know what’s going to happen yet,” sponsor Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said leaving the Capitol Wednesday evening. “That’s all at the leadership level.” The timeline gives Democrats, some of whom had asked to push the vote to next week, mere hours to socialize the revised text with others in their caucus who had raised concerns.

— Eleanor Mueller

Kennedy ally picked for surgeon general

Trump is tapping Casey Means, a doctor and health influencer, as his new pick for US surgeon general, he announced Wednesday, withdrawing his first pick, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat (she’ll serve elsewhere within HHS, Trump added). Nesheiwat had prompted criticism from some Trump allies for her past support for mask mandates and other health initiatives during the pandemic, as well as questions about her credentials. Means, along with her brother Calley Means, have long been advocates for more holistic medicine methods, and are both close allies to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the MAHA movement. Last month, Calley Means criticized the weight-loss drug Ozempic during Semafor’s World Economy Summit, saying that it’s “being pushed on American children” — perhaps a glimpse into one of the incoming surgeon general’s areas of focus if she gets confirmed.

— Shelby Talcott

DEI ban hits Africa’s gender investments

Trump’s crusade against diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives is having global implications. African investment funds are starting to struggle to raise capital for women-led businesses because many previous backers do not want to be associated with a gender-driven ethos that goes against Trump’s executive orders, Semafor’s Alexis Akwagyiram and Preeti Jha report. Gender-lens investing, which incorporates considerations about the role of gender in achieving a financial return, has emerged in the last decade as an approach that can identify untapped opportunities ordinarily overlooked by funds in Africa. But several leading investors said Trump’s push against DEI had caused institutional investors to balk. “Investors are pulling back from anything explicitly tied to DEI or gender equity,” said Gwera Kiwana, an investment committee member at the Launch Africa Ventures fund.

Blindspot: Sanctuary cities and infection control

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: House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said the panel has secured testimony from the Democratic governors of New York, Illinois, and Minnesota next month regarding their sanctuary city policies.

What the Right isn’t reading: The Trump administration ended a federal advisory committee focused on infection control at hospitals, NBC reported.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Republicans in New York, New Jersey and California who want to raise the SALT deduction cap have more leverage in reconciliation talks than other members of the GOP conference think. “It is a hill I am willing to stake my entire congressional career on,” Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y.

Playbook: Joe Biden is hiring Chris Meagher, a former spokesman in the Biden White House, to help defend his legacy.

WaPo: New DNC chair Ken Martin is looking to boost Democrats in the South.

White House

• Vice President JD Vance alluded to frustrations within the White House about Russia’s approach to Ukraine peace talks, telling the Munich Leaders Meeting that Moscow is “asking for too much” to end its war.
• The Trump administration is looking into releasing audio of former President Biden’s interview with Robert Hur, the special counsel whose explosive report describing Biden’s mental acuity rocked the 2024 campaign. — Politico

Congress

• The Congressional Budget Office estimated that millions of Americans would lose their health insurance coverage under various GOP proposals to slash Medicaid spending to pay for President Trump’s agenda.
• House Speaker Mike Johnson may have ruled out some of Republicans’ sharpest cuts to state funding for state Medicaid expansion. — NYT
• Sen. John Fetterman behaved concerningly at a recent teachers union meeting, repeating himself, shouting and asking questions like, “Why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do?” — AP

Outside the Beltway

• Republican Judge Jefferson Griffin conceded in the North Carolina state Supreme Court race, after a Trump-appointed judge rejected his challenges to the election last year. The state’s election board also ousted its executive director, solidifying Republican control.
• The Trump administration is aiming to cancel dozens of National Parks Service grants, particularly those that acknowledge climate change or run afoul of the administration’s anti-DEI policies. — NYT

Business

• Nvidia shares rose following news, first reported by Bloomberg, that the Trump administration would repeal a Biden-era rule setting up a global export control regime for AI chips. The company, as well as others like it and some foreign countries, had been lobbying against the rule.
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Congress he is working with lawmakers to establish clearer rules for screening outbound investments in China.

Health

• The Trump administration proceeded to terminate National Institutes of Health grants related to disfavored topics like transgender health, in defiance of a court injunction, a suit from the Washington state attorney general alleges. — ProPublica
• President Trump is planning to sign an order next week to lower drug costs by tying prices domestically to lower prices abroad. — Politico

Courts

• A federal appeals court ruled that detained Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk must be returned to Vermont.
• Three former Memphis police officers were acquitted in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols following a traffic stop in 2023.

National Security

• Another F/A-18 fighter jet fell off an aircraft carrier and into the sea, the second in as many weeks.

Foreign Policy

• President Trump said he won’t ease tariffs on China ahead of upcoming talks in Switzerland.
• Brazilian leaders declined a request by the Trump administration to classify Brazilian gangs as terror organizations, which the White House made as part of its efforts “to address immigration and criminal gangs with a transnational presence.” — Reuters

Immigration

• A federal judge blocked the government from sending migrants to Libya, or to “any other third country,” heading off deportation flights that had been slated for this week.

Technology

• The US is encouraging countries facing tariffs to ink deals with Elon Musk’s Starlink, though there have been no explicit demands for “favors for Starlink in exchange for lower tariffs.” — WaPo

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

The Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. No pope successor was elected in the first vote on Wednesday.