Today’s notice: Putting a finger in each ear and saying “la-la-la I can’t hear you.” We choose to go to the moon not because it is easy, but because we already paid for it. Some DOGE scoops. Rubio vs. Thailand. And, how many times can you tell a joke before it stops being funny?
Spending Time
There has been so much talk about cutting spending lately, so it’s OK if you forgot that the thing Congress really does well is spend. It’s basically its whole deal, outside of the traditional stalemates. That skill will get majorly tested this week, with another round of dramatic days that could easily end in a shutdown.
Over the weekend, NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz and Reese Gorman gave House leadership’s “clean CR” proposal a close read. Turns out, it isn’t that “clean” after all, offering up some $8 billion in reduced spending from the last Resolution it is supposed to be Continuing. Daniella and Reese report that House leaders want to vote on Tuesday, and between now and then, there are CR-averse Republicans to convince and (very) angry Democrats to soothe in order to pass this thing. Not passing it could bring a shutdown closer.
Trending
The interesting thing about the plan is that it largely ignores the most dramatic government spending cuts in recent memory. Daniella and Reese write that the bill “doesn’t codify any of the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.” Democrats want to stop those cuts, and plenty of Republicans have complained about some of them too. A real conversation about spending requires Congress to at some point talk about DOGE, and the general take from the White House is that the executive branch can spend as it wants, without input from the legislative branch.
For now, though, that is not what House leadership wants to talk about. A good ol’ fashioned CR fight has understood outlines — Democrats who want to get something for their votes in favor, and Republicans who want to oppose it on principle. Deals have been made in this situation by this speaker several times already. If he can get enough House members to briefly close their ears to the sound of all the unencumbered DOGE-chopping going on around them, maybe House leaders can pull a spending deal off once again. <Raises voice to be heard over thundering DOGE chainsaw> FEELS LIKE A TOUGH SELL THOUGH.
—Evan McMorris-Santoro | Read Daniella and Reese’s story.
Congress Really Likes This Rocket
Elon Musk might not like it, but Congress is all in on NASA’s 322-foot Space Launch System rocket.
The rocket is slated for a manned mission next year, but Musk has long been a critic of it and finds manned missions to the moon “a distraction.” NOTUS’ Mark Alfred reports that Republican lawmakers on the House Science Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics aren’t fazed.
“I understand what Musk has said publicly, and I love what he’s done at SpaceX, but at this point, the Congress has spent the money,” subcommittee chair Mike Haridopolos told NOTUS.
Front Page
- No One Is Jumping to Meet Trump’s Call to Repeal the CHIPS Act: The president’s directive unsettled and concerned lobbyists, but Republicans on the Hill are still praising the legislation.
- Republican China Hawks Say the Next Government Funding Bill Won’t Have China Policies: They say they’re going to get shut out again.
- Even the Crypto Bros Are Skeptical of Trump’s Crypto Reserve Plans: “This is a pig in lipstick,” one crypto hedge fund founder wrote on X.
- More Troops Are Going to an Already Militarized Border. Local Officials Say They Can’t See Much Difference.: Thousands more troops are headed to the border.
- Thom Tillis’ Spat With Trump Advisers Raises a New Challenge for His Reelection: 2026 is starting early.
DOGE Report: Health Policy Cuts
It has been a busy few days for shrinking science policy infrastructure, and many of the scoops on it have been found in the pages (pixels?) of NOTUS dot org. NOTUS’ Anna Kramer and Margaret Manto revealed two independent committees of scientists at the Dept. of Agriculture were summarily disbanded, leaving high-profile investigations into bacteria in powdered baby formula and listeria in deli meat in limbo. An internal email the reporters obtained said one of the committees was “disbanded in accordance with the Trump executive order to shrink the federal government.”
Margaret also reported that Health and Human Services employees were offered in an email blast Friday night “up to $25,000” to quit. The email says employees can apply for the buyout through this week, she writes.
Marco Rubio’s First Big Test Didn’t Go Well
Marco Rubio’s first weeks as secretary of state will likely be best remembered by him sinking into an Oval Office couch as a meeting between Trump, JD Vance and Volodymyr Zelenskyy devolved.
Apparently that wasn’t Rubio’s only bad day atop the State Department. NOTUS’ Haley Byrd Wilt dug into a little-known diplomatic crisis that went sideways for the secretary.
Both outgoing Biden administration officials and incoming Trump ones have been adamant that 40 Uyghur refugees must stay in Thailand rather than be repatriated to Xinjiang, China, where the U.S. has said the country is committing a genocide. But Rubio, long an advocate for Uyghur refugees, failed to convince Thailand’s government of this, which sent the Uyghurs back to China in a stunning rebuke of U.S. influence in Southeast Asia.
T3ump
NOTUS’ Torrence Banks has filed a string of stories in recent weeks on politics’ biggest joke that may not be one. In Congress, one House Republican introduced a resolution to amend the Constitution so Trump could serve again. A long-shot legal argument in which Trump runs as the vice presidential candidate in 2028 spread across the recent CPAC. And after last week’s joint address, Sen. Lindsey Graham tweeted “Trump 2028!”
Torrence’s latest piece features Democrats not laughing (no, really, this is being taken seriously by some) but also trying not to get distracted.
—Lissandra Villa de Petrzelka | Read the story.
Week Ahead
- Government funding elapses on Friday, March 14. Congress is pursuing a stop-gap extension until Sept. 30. But if it fails, it’s shutdown-o-clock.
- The Senate is set to vote on the confirmation of Trump’s labor nominee, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, on Monday.
- Trump envoys are expected to meet with Ukraine officials in Saudi Arabia this week.
- House Democrats are attending their annual Issues Conference in Leesburg, Virginia, from Wednesday to Friday.
- The Office of Personnel Management’s deadline for federal agencies to release federal employee layoff plans is Thursday.
- The Senate HELP committee is scheduled to host a hearing on David Weldon, Trump’s pick to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on Thursday
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- Mike Lawler’s real New York gubernatorial dilemma by Kadia Goba at Semafor.
- Sex, Drinking and Dementia: 25 Lawmakers Spill on What Congress Is Really Like by the team at Politico.
- National Parks Had a Record Year. Trump Officials Appear to Want It Kept Quiet. By Lisa Friedman at The New York Times.
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