Today’s notice: The audience is the star tonight. Democrats attempt to regain influence(rs). Raskin fights DOGE. DOGE fights the GOP’s battles. And a look at how Medicaid work requirements could translate to the states.
Remembering the Night ‘He Became President’
Back in February 2017, there was awe over how outside the norm President Donald Trump was. That conversation, if you’ll recall, took a pause during his first address to Congress, when pundits were universally amazed that a president addressing the American people from the Capitol could appear, well, presidential. Cable panels declared it, officially, a Normal President Moment.
Trending
Trump tonight will address a joint session of Congress again. But now it’s Trump who defines a Normal President Moment, not anyone else. NOTUS’ Jasmine Wright reports the speech has been “punched up” in recent days, previewing an address by a president “who isn’t willing to cede an inch.”
Jasmine writes that the speech, according to an administration official, will “focus on four things: a review of Trump’s early accomplishments, what Trump has done on the economy, a push for more funding for border security from Congress and a road map of how Trump plans to achieve peace across the globe.”
For the 2017 address, the attention was on how willing Trump was to be like Washington, to work within the traditional lines. This speech is about the hosts — the legislative branch that has, so far, stayed out of the way as Trump has pushed the executive branch onto its turf.
“He doesn’t have to worry about reelection,” a GOP strategist close to the admin told Jasmine. Just about everyone else in the room does, however.
—Evan McMorris-Santoro | Read Jasmine’s story.
Meanwhile, Democrats Have (Social Media) Plans
Democrats are trying to pry some eyes off of Trump, leaning heavily into influencer collaborations and attention-grabbing guests.
In the House, the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee — House Democratic leadership’s messaging arm — is hosting events before and after Trump’s speech so members can “engage with digital creators,” according to an invite sent to congressional offices and viewed by NOTUS.
Meanwhile, ahead of the address, dozens of Senate Democrats have been posting on social platforms a video hitting Trump’s promise to lower prices.
The video begins with a clip of Trump saying, “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One.”
In the video Sen. Cory Booker is releasing, he describes the clip as “shit that ain’t true.”
Chuck Schumer is also pushing Democratic senators to invite people affected by federal job cuts to the speech — and to get “influencer engagement” ahead of time, Axios reported. The minority leader’s guests reportedly include two Medicaid recipients, two recently fired federal workers and someone who received life-saving care from NIH funding.
It remains to be seen if Democrats plan to make noise — literally — during the speech itself, à la Marjorie Taylor Greene during the Biden administration.
—Riley Rogerson
Front Page
- DOGE Is Trying to Close a Field Office That Directly Manages a Nuclear Waste Site: The DOE office in Carlsbad, New Mexico, is specifically set up to handle emergency situations at a nuclear storage facility.
- An Immigration Group Is Targeting Republicans Over Potential Medicaid Cuts: America’s Voice is launching a new ad campaign tying mass deportations to potential benefits losses.
- Why Elon Musk Is Spending Big on a Wisconsin Court Race: The Wisconsin Supreme Court race is expected to be the most expensive state judicial contest in U.S. history.
- Trump’s Move to Pause Ukraine Aid Surprises Senators: “I’d be very disappointed if that occurred,” Sen. Mike Rounds said.
- Housing Advocates Are Blaming Elon Musk for Cuts at the Housing Department: At a rally outside HUD on Monday, Democrats focused on President Donald Trump’s wealthy ally rather than the cabinet secretary leading the agency.
- Democrats Propose Legislation to Reinstate Fired Probationary Federal Workers: They have also called for OPM to hand over documents related to the firings.
First in NOTUS: Raskin Pleads With NIH
Rep. Jamie Raskin — whose district includes the National Institutes of Health headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland — fired off a letter to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urging him to reinstate fired NIH and Health and Human Services staffers.
“Without immediate action, the harmful consequences of this outrageous purge will be with us for decades to come as the fired employees are forced to find new careers outside of their chosen field: medical research for the public good,” the letter, obtained first by NOTUS’ Margaret Manto, reads.
Kennedy, of course, isn’t likely to reinstate 5,200 probationary HHS staff just because Raskin — a leader of the #Resistance — and nine other DMV Democrats said so. But the letter is a prime example of the kind of fiery opposition Democrats are desperate to demonstrate to voters.
DOGE Report: Long-Term Strategy Edition
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency “laid off more than 100 people last month” as part of DOGE efforts, NOTUS’ Samuel Larreal reports. As we’ve reported from other government agencies, many experts said the cuts seemed random, and laid-off workers told Sam that some pink slips were given to those working on combating threat groups suspected of being backed by the Chinese government.
Though CISA was created during Trump’s first term, Republicans have attacked its funding for years. The reason? The agency’s “work to counter election interference and misinformation, which Republicans said singled out conservatives,” Sam writes. A Homeland Security spox told NOTUS that the CISA cuts so far amount to “roughly $50 million in savings for American taxpayers.”
What Medicaid Work Requirements Could Mean for States
The House’s budget resolution tasked the Energy and Commerce Committee — which has jurisdiction over the federal government’s Medicaid and Medicare spending — with cutting $880 billion. Republicans aren’t left with many clear options for how to accomplish that without cutting people’s direct benefits or drastically changing federal spending formulas, which pay more into poorer states’ Medicaid programs.
But one politically palatable option is emerging: tying Medicaid benefits to work requirements for able-bodied beneficiaries, which Speaker Mike Johnson has said he supports.
The move would affect about 36 million Americans, meaning that states’ social services agencies would have to process that much more paperwork. The additional cost and time is something that some states are little equipped to handle.
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- FAA Officials Ordered Staff to Find Funding for Elon Musk’s Starlink by Andrew Perez and Asawin Suebsaeng for Rolling Stone
- A Quick History of the Senate’s Candy Desk by Lydia Wei for Washingtonian
- Amid the debate over school vaccines, a look at opt-out rates in two Minnesota counties by Mike Kaszuba for Public Record Media
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