Principals

1. Senate takes up tax bill
2. Crypto bill movement
3. NASA nominee nixed
4. Anthropic vs. Trump
5. Ukraine peace talks
6. Dem state conventions
7. Poll shows ‘elite’ outrage
8. California vs. Paramount

PDB: Eight injured in attack on Colorado Israeli hostage event

Trump-backed Nawrocki wins Polish election … More than 20 Gazans reportedly killed near aid facility … Stocks fall as Lutnick vows ‘tariffs are not going away’

How to think about the Senate’s tax bill

The Senate starts renovating the House’s tax cuts bill this week, with two concurrent storylines playing out. The first is timing: In a perfect world, Republican leaders would like to wrap this up by July 4. Then there’s policy: The Senate will amend the House language on Medicaid, clean energy tax credits and tax specifics. Timing and policy are inextricably linked. Senate Majority Leader John Thune may use a pressurized deadline to get 50 Republicans to leap together on big policy decisions. It worked for Speaker Mike Johnson, who successfully teamed with President Donald Trump to corral a House majority behind the legislation before Memorial Day. “We deal and work best with deadlines. And I’m not sure the Fourth of July is a legitimate deadline,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. “We should really commit to getting it done” by Sept. 30.

— Burgess Everett

Crypto fight reveals dealmaking limits under Trump

The Senate is on track to soon pass crypto legislation after weeks of turmoil that transformed the bill from an easy win for the industry into a vivid example of how hard it is to strike a deal in Trump’s Washington, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller reports. Republicans first took up legislation governing stablecoins, which are pegged to other assets like the dollar, because they saw it as the lightest lift of the crypto bills the president wants passed by August.

But their bipartisan plan soon became, well, all about Trump — making the process far more contentious and drawn-out than expected. A series of amendment votes this week will likely reopen many of the same faultlines. Leaders are currently sussing out which proposals have enough support to advance, a person familiar with the talks said, and expect a vote on final passage next week.

Trump pulls NASA pick over Dem donations

The White House pulled its nomination of Jared Isaacman to be the next NASA administrator over the weekend — just days before he was set to receive a confirmation vote in the Senate, Semafor scooped. “It’s essential that the next leader of NASA is in complete alignment with President Trump’s America First agenda,” White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said in a statement, adding that Trump would announce a replacement “soon.” On Truth Social Saturday night, Trump said he came to the decision “after a thorough review of prior associations.” A source close to the White House told Semafor the decision to pull the nomination came after conservative senators presented Trump with data on Friday indicating that Isaacman — an ally of Elon Musk — had donated widely to Democratic campaigns, and had hardly donated to Republicans prior to the 2024 election.

— Burgess Everett and Shelby Talcott

Anthropic bucks the Trump administration

Silicon Valley giant Anthropic is going toe-to-toe with the Trump administration on artificial intelligence policy, irking White House officials and breaking with AI companies seeking closer ties with the federal government, Semafor’s Reed Albergotti reports. Anthropic has been lobbying members of Congress to vote against a federal bill that would preempt states from regulating AI, a key part of the Trump administration’s efforts to clear the way for US companies to advance the technology. One of Anthropic’s advisers also pushed against Trump’s recent AI deal with Gulf states. White House officials complained about the company during a recent meeting, calling out its hiring of several former Biden administration officials.

Ukraine-Russia talks resume

Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia will meet today in Istanbul for a second round of peace talks, even as both sides hammer each other on the battlefield. Moscow said it shot down 162 Ukrainian drones overnight, hours after Kyiv carried out an audacious attack in which it claimed to have destroyed 41 Russian planes using drones smuggled across the border. Kyiv, meanwhile, accused Moscow of firing nearly 500 drones and missiles, with one strike killing 12 Ukrainian soldiers at a training ground. The upsurge in fighting underscores the challenges of reaching any deal, despite persistent US pressure on both sides to agree a truce: “For now,” Kyiv’s former foreign minister wrote in Foreign Affairs, “a ceasefire in Ukraine is impossible.” If this round yields no progress, Trump faces a decision on whether to move forward with more Russia sanctions.

Dems debate which Trump tactics to use

At state party conventions in South Carolina and California, Democrats who may seek the party’s 2028 presidential nomination urged delegates to take their cues from Trump. In the home of the “first in the South” primary, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said that they needed to prove to voters that they’d act on their needs. “If Trump can do so much bad in such a small amount of time, why can’t we do so much good?” Moore said on Friday. “People still give you credit for getting something done,” Walz said on Saturday. “Think how powerful a tool that could be.” In California, Walz and Sen. Cory Booker denounced the Medicaid cuts in the GOP’s tax bill, and Walz urged Democrats to “bully the sh*t” out of Trump: “Maybe it’s time for us to be a little meaner.”

— David Weigel

Dem poll shows outrage at ‘elites’

Most voters blame elites in government and business for rising costs, according to new polling from a Democratic-aligned organization obtained exclusively by Semafor. Of the 11,773 respondents, 72% of Kamala Harris voters, 67% of swing voters, and 61% of Trump voters say elites “don’t understand the pain” of their economic struggles.

The survey, conducted by Blue Rose Research and commissioned by House Majority Forward, also found widespread skepticism toward corporate power, with most Americans viewing the current rise in insurance rates as a form of price manipulation in the guise of inflation. While frustrations with corporate greed cut across party lines, partisan messaging is steering how Americans interpret the economy: Eighty percent of Harris voters blamed Trump-era tariffs for rising costs, while 73% of Trump voters pointed to what they see as wasteful government spending.

— Kadia Goba

California panel probes Paramount

The California State Senate invited a pair of former top CBS employees to testify at an upcoming hearing on whether the network’s parent company violated state laws against bribery and unfair competition, Semafor’s Max Tani scooped. Paramount offered Trump’s 2024 campaign $15 million to settle a lawsuit filed against CBS over a lightly edited interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris in October, The Wall Street Journal reported. Trump refused, but the talks have infuriated CBS staffers as well as many national Democrats, who believe Paramount is caving to political pressure from the president as it seeks FCC approval for a merger. A settlement by Paramount, state lawmakers wrote in a letter, “would damage public trust in CBS News and other California-based outlets, diminishing the state’s stature as a national leader in ethical journalism.”

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Debatable: US government control of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac

Trump’s return to the White House could mean an end to government control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Trump recently floated taking public the government-sponsored enterprises that together process most US mortgages. His administration is providing little insight into its current strategy, however, and releasing the companies from conservatorship is easier said than done. It risks higher mortgage rates and less liquidity in the multifamily housing sector, said Daniel Hornung, a senior fellow at MIT. But Norbert Michel of the Cato Institute said that the federal government should sell its stake in the mortgage giants. “The US mortgage market should not include government-sponsored enterprises because private firms can purchase and securitize mortgages without a federal guarantee,” he said.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Army leaders will pitch Congress on their new plan to cut spending on unnecessary programs when they appear for testimony before the House and Senate Armed Services Committees later this week. “What’s occurred in the federal government, kind of at scale for 30 or 40 years, is decision making that is not always optimized for the logical outcome that a taxpayer may want,” said Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.

Playbook: Mike Rogers is picking up an endorsement from Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso in his quest to win Michigan’s 2026 Senate race — and avoid a bruising primary against Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich.

WaPo: A provision buried in Republicans’ tax bill that would limit courts’ ability to enforce nationwide injunctions may not make it through the Senate.

Axios: Global favorability of China is rising, while America’s reputation is on the decline.

White House

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping would speak by phone “very soon.” Meanwhile, Beijing accused the US of “severely” violating their tariff truce, driving stocks lower.

Congress

• Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, signed onto a letter criticizing the Trump administration for revoking temporary protected status for Afghan immigrants.
• Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, sarcastically apologized for saying at a town hall that “we are all going to die” in response to questions about potential Medicaid cuts.

Outside the Beltway

• Eight people were wounded at an event in Boulder, Colorado, honoring Israeli hostages in Gaza. Authorities have arrested a suspect, who they believe acted alone; they allege he threw an “incendiary device” into the crowd and yelled, “Free Palestine.” FBI Director Kash Patel characterized the incident as a “targeted terror attack” and local officials are investigating it as a potential hate crime.

Business

• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick will give an award to Indian billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, who chairs the Aditya Birla Group, the largest Indian investor in the US, during an event for the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum in Washington later today. Second lady Usha Vance is also slated to deliver remarks.

Economy

• OPEC+ called for another oil output hike in July.

National Security

• The Army parade President Trump has promised for later this month could cause $16 million in damage to DC streets, Pentagon officials said.
• FBI Director Kash Patel is commencing a purge of the agency and increasingly subjecting agents to polygraph tests. — NYT

Foreign Policy

• The EU is poised to curb Chinese access to its medical-device market, blocking Chinese firms from bidding for public contracts.

Education

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s move to cancel visas belonging to Chinese students in the US was triggered by his discovery that Beijing was “withholding precious rare-earth minerals and magnets as a tariff negotiating tool.” — Axios

Technology

• The Trump administration is scrutinizing tech companies that contract with the federal government to find potential cuts. — WSJ

Media

• A One America News reporter said she was fired after criticizing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. — CNN
• Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is considering compiling the president’s daily brief into a video produced like a Fox News segment. — NBC

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

Jim Banks is a Republican senator from Indiana.