Principals

1. Tariffs blocked
2. Rescissions package
3. Fannie, Freddie uncertainty
4. Trump’s higher ed risk
5. Trump influences S. Africa
6. Permitting reform talks
7. Dem challenges Graham
8. Congressional fanfiction

PDB: Musk begins offboarding from gov’t job

GDP data to be released … Trump taps Bove for circuit court … US stock futures up after tariff ruling

Federal court blocks Trump tariffs

A federal court late Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump from imposing sweeping global tariffs, marking another blow to his agenda. The trio of judges at the US Court of International Trade argued that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — the law Trump used to invoke the tariffs in the first place — does not “confer such unbounded authority and sets aside the challenged tariffs imposed thereunder.” Trump argues his tariffs — which have caused market uncertainty — will bring manufacturing back to the US and generate revenue. White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement that “it is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency.” The administration already filed a notice of appeal. Regardless of outcome, Trump has plenty of other ways to impose duties. “This ruling represents a setback,” Goldman Sachs wrote, “but might not change the final outcome for most major US trading partners.”

— Shelby Talcott

White House to send DOGE cuts to Hill

The White House plans to send Congress legislation on Tuesday that would codify key DOGE cuts to public media and foreign aid by rescinding some $9.4 billion in federal funds, an Office of Management and Budget spokesperson told Semafor. That includes $1.1 billion from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, which sends money to NPR and PBS, and $8.3 billion from the US Agency for International Development and the African Development Foundation. The US Institute of Peace, which Trump has also sought to shutter, will be affected as well. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that lawmakers will “act quickly” to pass it. But expect pushback from some Republicans, who have hesitated at cementing the trims. Asked last month if he had concerns over a rescissions package, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told Semafor, “yeah, I do a little bit.”

— Eleanor Mueller

Uncertainty on mortgage giants

The Trump administration has provided little clarity on plans for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after Trump said he is “taking these amazing companies public.” Republicans have long floated releasing them from government conservatorship — including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who’s suggested they could seed a sovereign wealth fund. But it’s still unclear when or how Trump would do it. “He’ll eventually make whatever decision that he wants to make on his own timeline,” Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte said at a press conference Wednesday. Investors don’t seem to mind the murkiness, but it’s left an opening for Democrats to raise concerns. “The last thing we need is to privatize them in a way that rewards Wall Street while driving up housing prices,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said. It will “upend middle-class Americans,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

— Eleanor Mueller

Trump’s higher ed campaign risks US leadership

Trump’s broadside against universities threatens US leadership, critics say. The administration is trying to squelch Harvard’s federal contracts and bar it from admitting international students, while planning legal action against schools like the University of California as it tries to force them to change their policies.

AEI’s Michael Strain said the administration is “absolutely right” to criticize universities but argued Trump’s moves risk the country’s “ability to lead the world in new technology, innovation, and entrepreneurialism.” Jason Furman, a Harvard economist, said Trump’s efforts could eventually yield “fewer innovations, fewer startups, a reduction in overall American exports, and a shift of talent to other countries around the world.” White House spokesman Harrison Fields said that “suggestions that there will be economic impacts for enforcing federal law and holding institutions accountable for their failure to protect civil liberties miss the forest for the trees.”

— Morgan Chalfant

Trump grows influence on S. Africa

Trump has become “an unlikely catalyst” in shifting South African policies, writes journalist Sam Mkokeli in a column for Semafor. In a bid to stabilize relations after last week’s confrontational Oval Office meeting between Trump and the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Pretoria has proposed importing around $1 billion of US liquefied natural gas annually in exchange for duty-free access for South African steel, aluminum, and vehicles. It has also dialed back its criticism of Israel, a senior ruling party insider told Sam, after filing a genocide case against the country at the International Court of Justice. Meanwhile, Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama hit out at Trump’s ambush of Ramaphosa in a rare op-ed in The Guardian, saying the US president’s “unfounded accusations” of a genocide targeting South Africa’s white minority were an “insult to all Africans.”

The outlook for permitting reform

As Republicans press forward with their tax and spending package, some lawmakers are already looking ahead to the next big energy fight: Permitting reform. Bipartisan discussions “are being seeded now” on the scope of a bill that could speed up approvals for new grid lines and pipelines, and restrict the use of litigation to block such projects, Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., said. But the appetite for compromise on permitting will depend on the outcome of budget reconciliation: Democrats may feel burned by tax credit cuts, and Republicans may be able to score permitting wins without a separate bill. For now, hearings on the subject this year “showed the consensus around developing bipartisan permitting reform legislation,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. “I continue to work with my colleagues across both chambers to make our permitting and environmental review processes more efficient, predictable, and transparent.”

— Tim McDonnell

Lindsey Graham gets a Democratic opponent

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has a general election opponent this morning, as Democratic pediatrician Annie Andrews launches a bid against the longtime GOP senator, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports. Graham faced a tough challenge from Jaime Harrison in 2020 — it was one of the most expensive Senate races that year — but ultimately won by 10 points. “Jaime Harrison ran a really strong campaign, but that was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He could not have an effective ground game, and you can’t win an election without that,” Andrews said in an interview. “I don’t sit out because things are hard.” Democrats face a difficult uphill battle despite Graham’s polarizing reputation, which Harrison used to juice his campaign. Fritz Hollings was the last Senate Democrat to win in the Palmetto State… in 1998.

AI political fanfiction racks up clicks

AI-generated slop on Facebook, TikTok and YouTube has become a barometer of political fame, just as it has of pop culture celebrity — and some lawmakers are starting to worry. Cabinet secretaries, members of Congress, and presidential family members regularly appear in fake stories with tidy narratives, as Semafor’s David Weigel and Kadia Goba write. Take the account known as “Mr. Noah’s Stories,” which publishes lengthy fanfiction about Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s crusades against Republicans, reported from an alternate reality where clapbacks and call-outs can instantly send people to prison. Crockett says she’s gotten some fakes taken down, but has ignored the rest: “I’ve just told people at this point, if it’s an AI-generated voice, it’s probably a lie.” New York Rep. Yvette Clarke told Semafor she wants to reintroduce legislation to regulate and ban AI deepfakes, saying AI “supercharges” the threat.

The global workforce is at an inflection point. New tech continues to impact how we work, and managers are struggling as organizations undergo major changes.

Join Semafor for newsmaking conversations in partnership with Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report. Explore new data on how employees and managers are navigating ongoing uncertainty in the global labor market. Experts will discuss key findings on productivity, resilience, and well-being, and examine how leaders and policymakers are responding to shifting workplace expectations.

June 12, 2025 | Washington, DC | RSVP

Blindspot: WHO and CPAC

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 US and Argentina reaffirmed plans to withdraw from the World Health Organization and launch an alternative global health framework.

What the Right isn’t reading: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stumped for a conservative presidential candidate in Poland at a Conservative Political Action Conference gathering.

Beltway Newsletters

Playbook: Newly departed special government employee Elon Musk “failed on his own terms, getting nowhere near his much-vaunted $1 trillion savings target and making little impact on America’s debt and deficit crises.”

WaPo: Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory is buoying ​​Republican support for a plan to select the president by the national popular vote.

Axios: Leaders of Gulf countries told Trump during his recent trip to the region that they oppose strikes on Iran and encouraged him to press forward to achieve a new nuclear deal with Tehran.

White House

• President Trump confirmed that he warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against taking steps that could undermine US talks with Iran over its nuclear program.
• Elon Musk’s time as a government employee is ending, as his relationship with DC Republicans has grown increasingly strained. His offboarding began last night, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott reports.

Congress

• Former Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., has a new gig: The Democratic super PAC Unite the Country is bringing him on as a senior adviser to help Democrats better connect with working- and middle-class voters, according to an announcement shared with Semafor.
• Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., faced angry constituents at a town hall after admitting he wasn’t familiar with a provision in the House GOP budget bill that would restrict federal courts’ ability to enforce contempt-of-court rulings. GOP Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson got a similarly hostile reception.

Education

• President Trump said that Harvard should cap the percentage of international students it enrolls at 15%. “We have people who want to go to Harvard and other schools, they can’t get in because we have foreign students there,” Trump said.
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration would move to “aggressively revoke” the visas of Chinese students studying in the US, though he gave no indication of how many.

Outside the Beltway

• The Trump administration has launched a civil rights investigation into California and a state interscholastic sports federation, accusing them of violating girls’ civil rights by allowing transgender students to participate in school athletics.

Business

• Elon Musk attempted to derail an OpenAI-led deal for data centers in Abu Dhabi if it didn’t include his company, xAI. — WSJ

Economy

• At their meeting earlier this month, Federal Reserve officials braced for stagflation and a job market “expected to weaken substantially,” according to minutes released Wednesday.
• President Trump bristled at the notion of the “TACO” — “Trump Always Chickens Out” — trade.

Courts

• A federal judge ordered ICE to release a Russian scientist working at Harvard who was detained over a failure to declare scientific samples she was bringing into the US.
• President Trump pardoned former Republican Rep. Michael Grimm, who pleaded guilty to felony tax fraud.

Health

• The Department of Health and Human Services is withdrawing millions in funding it promised to Moderna to make a bird flu vaccine using mRNA technology.

Foreign Policy

• NATO is pushing Germany to contribute an additional 40,000 troops to defend the alliance against Russia. — Bloomberg
• The State Department plans to restrict visas for foreign officials and persons “complicit in censoring Americans.”

Technology

• Nvidia beat earnings expectations, reporting 69% growth in quarterly revenues.

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

Andy Barr is a Republican congressman from Kentucky.