Principals

1. Trump visits the Hill
2. Remittance tax pushback
3. Inside changing Syria relations
4. Ukraine impasse
5. Green project cuts
6. House Financial Services bills
7. PA primaries
8. Nadella on humans and AI

PDB: Sixteen Senate Dems vote to advance stablecoin measure

Rubio testifies on Capitol Hill … Chinese battery maker CATL shares surge after Hong Kong debut … Treasury yields briefly top 5%

Trump seeks to strong-arm House GOP

President Donald Trump is set to address House Republicans in their weekly conference meeting at the Capitol this morning, as lawmakers seek to muscle through their mammoth reconciliation bill by the end of the week. GOP leaders will need the support of almost every member to pass the legislation — but fiscal hawks and moderates are still holding out for concessions on thorny issues like Medicaid and the state and local tax deduction cap. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., told Semafor he expects Trump will give “a very forceful presentation”: “It’s not so much what he says, it’s the way he says it.” Whether everyone will be there to hear it is another story. “I’m just not sure if there’s anything the president could tell me … that will change my mind at this point,” Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, R-Md., told Semafor. “I’m a hard no.”

— Eleanor Mueller and Kadia Goba

Remittance tax proposal spooks financial sector

A new proposal tucked into the GOP’s massive tax and spending bill that would impose a 5% tax on the payments many migrants send to their family abroad has rattled the financial services industry, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller reports. Per bill text released last week, banks, credit unions and other companies that process so-called remittances would be required to collect information on the sender to confirm if they are a citizen or national and thus eligible to receive a credit. Lobbyists say that would be too complex to set up — and warn it could pose risks to data privacy, plus push more people into using cryptocurrency. People familiar with the talks say House Financial Services Chair French Hill, R-Ark., told Republicans on his committee to pass along any concerns to House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., whose tax-writing panel drafted the language.

Senate open to loosening Syria sanctions

Republicans and Democrats alike are open to loosening sanctions on Syria, as Trump seeks to give the new government a “chance of greatness.” Lawmakers are also wondering whether the administration removes the lingering terrorist designation on the new Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, according to several GOP sources. In an interview on Monday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said there’s some interest in sanctions relief. “Obviously you worry — in that part of the world — about whether the new regime is committed to stability and human rights and democratic reforms and that sort of thing. But there is interest, for sure, in a new start there,” Thune told Semafor. Across the aisle, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin said on Monday he was “open to it, but I am not going to sell my vote cheap.”

— Burgess Everett and Shelby Talcott

Trump-Putin call generates little movement

Trump’s phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t generate a breakthrough on a Ukraine ceasefire, despite both leaders offering positive characterizations of the two-hour chat. Trump announced that Moscow and Kyiv would engage in negotiations on a truce, and Putin said Russia would work on a memorandum containing “the principles of a settlement, the timing of a possible peace agreement, and so on, including a possible ceasefire for a certain time if appropriate agreements are reached.” Trump has held off on pressuring Moscow, while Europeans are encouraging the US to turn up the heat on Russia sanctions. “If the White House concludes that tougher sanctions are in order, we’re here for it,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday afternoon. Vice President JD Vance warned that the US could walk away from talks absent progress.

US plans to cancel funds for green projects

Trump’s Department of Energy plans to cancel seven major loans and loan guarantees that had been conditionally approved under the Biden administration, Semafor’s Tim McDonnell reports. The planned cancellations — which affect three projects that were still slated for completion, like a New Jersey transmission project, and four that had already been scrapped — are a sign of a broader push by the Trump administration to roll back the federal government’s support for clean technology, though a DOE spokesperson said no final decisions had been made on the loans. The DOE’s Loan Programs Office has long been a political lightning rod, having helped produce successes like Tesla and failures like Solyndra. The cuts would represent nearly $8.5 billion out of $41 billion in condition commitments left over from the Biden administration.

House weighs expanding access to private markets

The House Financial Services Committee will vote on a collection of bills today and tomorrow that would allow more investors to buy stakes in privately traded businesses as part of a larger effort to make it easier for startups to raise money. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle made a similar push last Congress — but that effort died in the House amid headwinds from Senate progressives concerned over consumer protections. At the center of the debate: proposals to make it easier to qualify as an accredited investor, including by taking a test. Expect some, but not all, to garner Democratic support: A memo circulated privately among Democrats and shared with Semafor recommends a “no” vote on one proposal now because “the SEC is no longer sufficiently independent.” One circulated privately among Republicans directs members to counter by talking about “broadening access while maintaining protections.”

— Eleanor Mueller

Dem incumbents face tests in PA primaries

Progressive Democrats face tests in several primaries today, as Pennsylvania voters decide whether to keep Pittsburgh’s mayor and Philadelphia’s district attorney. Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, who was elected by a coalition of progressive voters four years ago, faces Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor, capping a race in which they traded accusations of incompetence and owing favors to “MAGA” donors. In Philadelphia, District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, is seeking a third term against a challenger who’s blamed his reforms for higher crime after 2020. Both incumbents have benefited from a drop in crime this year — in both cities. In New York, Republicans are optimistic about winning a state Senate seat vacated by a conservative Brooklyn Democrat; Trump won 77% of the vote there last year.

— David Weigel

Microsoft needs humans more than ever, CEO says

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella helped create an artificial intelligence explosion. But instead of automating away his company’s workforce, he says the change has created a need for leadership with qualities that are fundamentally human. “You can’t just come in and say, ‘I’m smart. I have a bunch of ideas, but I don’t know exactly what to do.’ No, you have to know what to do when it is ambiguous, when it is uncertain,” he told Semafor ahead of the company’s annual Build developer conference. Microsoft is welcoming thousands of software developers to Seattle this week, at a time AI has thrown the profession into a doubt. Microsoft still plans to hire more software engineers than it has today — but cares less about their technical knowhow. “There’s more to being a human than the last app that you wrote,” CTO Kevin Scott said.

Blindspot: Plagiarism claims and stock sales

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: A director accused Malia Obama’s Nike commercial of copying “cinematic tools” used in her short film.

What the Right isn’t reading: Attorney General Pam Bondi sold $1 million in Trump Media shares on the day President Trump announced his sweeping tariff plan.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Secretary of State Marco Rubio will get an earful from Democrats when he testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today for the first time since his confirmation. “Beijing is making the case that they are a more reliable, supportive partner than the United States,” Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the panel, will say. “Mr. Secretary, I urge you to stand up to the extremists in this administration.”

WaPo: For Senate Democrats — who all voted to confirm Rubio — the hearing “will be a chance to express a sense of betrayal.”

Axios: Republicans and Democrats are questioning the timing of Joe Biden’s cancer announcement and how long he knew about the diagnosis.

Playbook: After Republicans pushed a cover-up theory about Biden’s health for years, it’s “now the prevailing narrative.” It’ll be the big question posed to Democratic candidates in 2028.

White House

• President Trump signed a bill cracking down on revenge porn and deepfake pornography into law. First lady Melania Trump, who’d championed the bill, signed too.

Congress

• Sixteen Senate Democrats helped advance legislation that would create rules for stablecoins on Monday, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller reports. Members now expect votes on amendments from both sides of the aisle before the bill passes. Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, who voted against the bill, told Semafor after Monday’s vote that she is working on an amendment that would block members of Congress and the president from being able to “buy, sell or trade” crypto.
• Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced a (functionally symbolic) bill that would prevent foreign aircraft from being used as Air Force One.

Business

• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sold his stakes in the business group Cantor Fitzgerald, turning over ownership to his kids.
• Nippon Steel would invest $14 billion in US Steel’s operations if the Trump administration approves its takeover bid. — Reuters

Economy

• Billionaire Ray Dalio argued that Moody’s downgrade actually understated the risk to US Treasurys.
• The New York Times published a line-by-line analysis of a customs form to demonstrate the effects of President Trump’s tariffs.
• Pfizer licensed a new Chinese cancer drug for $1.25 billion, a sign of Chinese biotech’s steady move from imitator to innovator.

Courts

• Alina Habba, the interim US attorney in New Jersey, said that Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., is being charged with assault following a recent skirmish at an ICE facility. McIver called the charges “purely political.”
• The Supreme Court paused a lower court ruling that had blocked the Trump administration from stripping Venezuelan migrants living in the US of temporary protected status, potentially paving the way for them to be deported.
• The Trump administration plans to pay close to $5 million to the family of Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by police during the Jan. 6 riot, to settle an ongoing lawsuit. — WaPo

Campaigns

• Some fired federal workers are weighing running for office. — USA Today

Polling

• A quarter of US men aged 15-34 reported feeling lonely the day before they were polled by Gallup for a new survey — a higher percentage than other Americans and their peers in wealthy countries.

Media

• Wendy McMahon, the president of CBS News, was forced out amid tensions with others at Paramount over the network’s coverage of the Trump administration. — NYT

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

Former President Joe Biden’s first post since news of his diagnosis with aggressive prostate cancer broke included a selfie Biden took with his wife, Jill Biden, and their cat, Willow. “Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places,” he wrote.