Washington on One - June 9, 2025

THE LEDE:  Musk-Trump bromance ends in flames…Trump challenges Newsom with National Guard…The Congressional Budget Office said the GOP tax-and-spending bill would increase deficits by $2.4 trillion over the next decade. The nonpartisan CBO also said the bill would push about 11 million people out of Medicaid or other forms of health coverage…The Trump administration moved to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from imprisonment in a Salvadoran facility in order to file a criminal case against him with charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee… U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has made more than 100,000 arrests so far during President Trump’s second term, according to internal government data obtained by CBS News... A federal judge temporarily paused Trump’s proclamation to block visas for foreign students planning to attend Harvard University until a hearing can be held later in June… President Donald Trump has nominated Air Force Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich to lead U.S. and NATO forces in Europe…Putin will ‘respond’ to surprise Ukraine drone strikes, Trump says following call with Russian leader…Sen. Fetterman’s (D-PA) chief of staff leaves amid string of departures… Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary under former President Biden, writes in a forthcoming book that she has left the Democratic Party and is now an independent. "Independent," out Oct. 21, will urge Americans to "embrace life as Independents."

THE WEEK AHEAD:   GOP lawmakers have roughly four weeks before a self-imposed July 4 deadline to pass their sweeping multitrillion-dollar tax package—and progress is inching along…House to move recissions package aka DOGE Cuts…President Trump announced late last week that Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are meeting with top Chinese officials in London Monday. This is a result of last week’s phone call between Trump and China's Xi Jinping… Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) plans to force votes to block two weapons sales, one to Qatar and another to the United Arab Emirates.  The effort is in response to President Donald Trump’s acceptance of a luxury jet from Qatar, as well as the UAE pouring billions of dollars into Trump’s crypto venture. Senate GOP leaders could maneuver to delay the votes, but they’re expected to happen this week. 

NUMBERS:  The U.S. added 139,000 jobs in May, slightly outperforming expectations of 125,000.  The jobless rate held steady at 4.2 percent, showing the economy is holding steady despite uncertainty over tariffs.  American imports plummeted by about 16% in April — the largest one-month drop ever recorded

HEARINGS OF NOTE: Tuesday: The House Rules Committee will meet at 2 p.m. to set the floor process for the rescissions package.  The House Appropriations Committee has hearings with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and HUD Secretary Scott Turner. The Senate Appropriations Committee also has Hegseth and Caine.  The House Armed Services Committee will have a hearing on the U.S. military posture and national security challenges in the Middle East and Africa with Gen. Erik Kurilla, the commander of CENTCOM, and Gen. Michael Langley, the commander of U.S. Africa Command.  CIA Director John Ratcliffe will testify about the CIA’s budget in front of the House Intelligence Committee. Energy Secretary Chris Wright will testify about his agency’s budget in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.  The Senate Appropriations Committee will have a hearing with NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya.   Wednesday: The House Ways and Means Committee will have a hearing with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The House Agriculture Committee will have a hearing with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.  The Senate Commerce Committee will have a hearing on the confirmation of Bryan Bedford to lead the FAA.  Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will testify at Senate ENR. Senate Appropriations will have a hearing with Turner and Bessent.

MUSK-TRUMP:  President Trump and Elon Musk’s very public split continues to reverberate. After Musk replied “true” to a post suggesting the two should reconcile, Trump rejected the idea, telling ABC’s Jonathan Karl, “You mean the man who has lost his mind?” He told CNN he’s “not even thinking about Elon” and dismissed Musk’s recent criticism of his bill, saying Musk “knew the bill as well as anybody.” Trump used morning media calls to shift focus to the economy. Just a week ago, the two held a farewell event in the Oval Office, where Trump gave Musk a gold key.

US CHINA:  President Donald Trump said he spoke today with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, breaking the monthslong silence between the two men. It represents a significant, positive step for China-U.S. relations as the two countries work to deescalate a trade war Trump started this spring by levying 145 percent tariffs on China. The Chinese retaliated, halting trade between the two countries. It’s the first call between the two world leaders since Trump’s second term began, yet it was not immediately clear to what extent Trump and Xi had sorted out any of the sticking points between the two countries. 

THE COURT:  The Supreme Court Thursday revived a lawsuit by an Ohio woman who said her bosses discriminated against her for being straight. The court unanimously ruled that members of majority groups do not face a higher legal standard than minorities to prevail in so-called reverse discrimination lawsuits under Title VII, the federal civil rights law that bars employment discrimination on the basis of race, sex and other protected characteristics.

RECONCILIATION:  Senate Republicans face a tight three-week window to pass their sweeping reconciliation bill before the July 4 recess. Though the deadline is self-imposed, GOP leaders hope it motivates action. This week, senators must finalize the Finance Committee’s text—resolving disputes over SALT, Medicaid, clean-energy credits, and business tax breaks. New York Republicans are pushing back on changes to the SALT cap, while several GOP senators are wary of phasing out IRA tax credits. Democrats, led by Schumer, are pressuring moderates and utility groups to oppose key provisions. Byrd Rule challenges begin next week, with Democrats aiming to strike controversial elements like limits on court powers and AI-related broadband restrictions—some with GOP support. Floor votes are expected the week of June 23, followed by a House vote requiring a 72-hour layover. Speaker Johnson, rallying donors and candidates, will make the case that this is the final push to enact the GOP’s top priorities.

MEDICAID: Medicaid and Medicare cuts present the most daunting challenge in the committee’s draft. While Republicans are generally in favor of new work requirements for able-bodied adults to be insured by Medicaid, some moderates like Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have expressed concern over giving states just a year and a half to implement the requirement.   House provisions instituting new co-pays for Medicaid recipients and limits on the ability of states to tax Medicaid providers in order to increase federal reimbursement payments are more disputed.

Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Jim Justice of West Virginia have said they oppose these changes.   To find savings to make up for removing these provisions, Republicans said last week that they are examining whether to put new restrictions on billing practices in Medicare Advantage. Large health insurers that provide those plans would be most affected by such changes.  

ON SECOND THOUGHT:  Thirteen House Republicans—nearly all from battleground districts—sent a letter to the Senate urging changes to the House-passed rollback of clean energy tax credits. While they supported the reconciliation package, they warned that the bill’s abrupt 60-day termination of certain credits would disrupt active projects and threaten jobs in their districts. “We remain deeply concerned,” they wrote, calling on the Senate to “substantively and strategically improve” the credit provisions. The signers—critical to the GOP majority—represent districts with ongoing clean energy investments. Democrats are expected to weaponize the vote in 2026, regardless of the Senate’s response.

LOS ANGELES:  President Trump’s decision to federalize 2,000 California National Guard troops and deploy them to Los Angeles amid anti-ICE riots—while threatening to send in Marines—has drawn sharp Democratic backlash. California leaders say the situation was under control and denounced the move as an unconstitutional power grab. Gov. Newsom formally requested a withdrawal and is weighing legal action. Democrats accused Trump of political deflection, while Republicans defended the deployment as necessary to protect federal agents. Trump escalated tensions on Truth Social, criticized local leaders, and even threatened their arrest if they interfered with deportations. The Guard didn’t arrive until Sunday, despite Trump claiming credit Saturday.

DOGE:  The Supreme Court delivered two major wins to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), lifting a block on DOGE’s access to sensitive Social Security data and halting discovery in a FOIA suit challenging DOGE’s status as a federal agency. Both rulings split along ideological lines, with Democratic-appointed justices dissenting. The decisions come amid rising scrutiny of DOGE following the public fallout between President Trump and Elon Musk. The Court’s unsigned rulings cited executive branch deference and criticized lower court orders as overly broad, marking key victories in the administration’s effort to shield DOGE’s operations from legal exposure.

KOREA:  Lee Jae-myung was elected today as South Korea's new president. Lee — who was stabbed in the neck last year — has said that President Trump is bringing "the law of the jungle" to foreign policy, and he may be more open to working with China than his predecessor

TRAVEL BAN:  Trump signed a travel ban on 12 countries and introduced more-limited travel restrictions on seven others. The sweeping ban, which reintroduced a controversial immigration policy that came to define the early days of his first term, will completely bar travel to the U.S. by citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.