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Hello, friends. Welcome back to another week in the wild and oft-chaotic world of Congress.
Republicans continued chipping away at President Donald Trump’s massive tax bill but obstacles still remain before they can finalize any details. The last three committees are expected to draft and advance their portions of the bill next week in marathon voting sessions (RIP to everyone’s sleep schedules).
More on that, and other developments, below.
The Big Idea
Republicans stage a silent rebellion
Republicans were stoked when they won the White House and both chambers of Congress in November. For the first time in five years, the GOP seemingly had no speed bumps to hinder their agenda.
But that is proving to be more difficult than Republicans thought. Not only is the party struggling to overcome internal disagreements to advance Trump’s agenda, but some factions of the party are even making quiet moves to combat portions of the president’s agenda.
FEMA fortification. As Trump publicly muses about eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Republicans on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee are working closely with their Democratic counterparts to reform the agency to ensure its survival.
Committee Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., released draft legislation on Thursday to improve FEMA by streamlining its disaster response and recovery programs while saving taxpayer money. The proposal would make FEMA a Cabinet-level agency that directly reports to the president and requires the agency to have “greater transparency and accountability.”
The bill comes as Trump has suggested paring away at FEMA’s resources or even eliminating the agency altogether. In fact, the bill would even expand FEMA’s authority in some ways — even as the Trump administration makes cuts to the program.
Crypto backslide. The Senate punted on a landmark bipartisan bill to establish a federal framework for stablecoin regulation after Democrats raised concerns about conflicts of interest and Trump’s ties to cryptocurrency.
The GENIUS Act would implement the first-ever regulation framework for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency that is considered more secure because it is tied to an underlying asset. Up until recently, the bill had bipartisan support and was on the fast track to package.
Then came Trump.
Days before his inauguration, the president announced his new $TRUMP meme coin, raising concerns among Democrats about conflicts of interest or possible influence peddling. Instead, Democrats pushed to include language in the bipartisan bill to prevent U.S. officials, including the president, from creating or endorsing any digital assets.
The bill ended up failing on the floor on Thursday after a substantial number of Democrats opposed it, demanding further negotiations. We’ll see if they can rally to bring it back to the table.
Nomination withdrawal. So far, Trump has had somewhat smooth sailing with his Cabinet nominations (except for Matt Gaetz, who withdrew his own name long before he was considered, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, who was dropped to maintain Republicans’ majority in the House).
But this week, Trump was dealt a blow for his pick as U.S. attorney for D.C. His nominee, Ed Martin, was pulled on Thursday after it became clear he did not have the support needed to advance the Senate.
Much of the opposition stemmed from Martin’s past comments defending Jan. 6 rioters — even those who were charged with assaulting police officers. His nomination was on thin ice entering this week, but the final nail in the coffin came when Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he would not support him.
“I have no tolerance for anybody who entered the building on Jan. 6,” he said on Tuesday.
Gulf of America. A partial win for Trump this week: The House passed a bill to codify his executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
But, but, but: There was one GOP defector. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., was the lone Republican to vote against the bill, telling me he found the resolution “sophomoric.”
“America stands for big ideas and this looks silly,” he told me.
But will the bill pass the Senate? Hard to say. It would need some Democratic support to overcome a filibuster, and there isn’t much appetite among the party to give Trump a win — no matter how small.
And it doesn’t seem like Senate GOP leaders are anxious to get moving on it.
“Does it take Congress to do that? I suppose,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said when asked if he’ll bring it to the floor. “I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead. … We have got a lot of other work directly in front of us at the moment.”
Stories driving the week
- American in the Vatican. Catholic leaders elected a new pope on Thursday, making him the first American to hold the role. Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, was elected around 10 a.m. MDT on Thursday, after just 24 hours of deliberation. Cardinal Prevost chose the name Pope Leo XIV.
- Georgia Senate race heats up. Republicans are lining up to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff, R-Ga., next November in what is likely to be one of the most competitive Senate races of the 2026 cycle. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declined to run, opening the floodgates for a potentially crowded primary. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., launched his Senate campaign on Thursday, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is also weighing a bid. The Senate race is so far rated as a tossup, but that could shift depending on who wins the GOP primary.
- Republicans get SALTy. A small, but powerful, faction of blue-state Republicans is putting Trump’s tax package at risk. GOP leaders have yet to make a deal to expand federal deductions for state and local taxes paid, also known as SALT. But the so-called SALT caucus has made it a crucial issue — even going so far as to threaten final passage if it’s not included.
Trump package hits final stretch
Eight of the 11 committees have advanced their portions of the massive reconciliation bill, and the final three are tentatively scheduled to hold their markups next week.
These will be the most consequential markups so far and contain some of the most controversial proposals. It will be a huge moment for Republicans and will be crucial for them to adhere to their self-imposed deadline on Memorial Day.
Here’s the tentative schedule, according to some of my sources familiar with planning.
Energy and Commerce Committee: 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
Ways and Means Committee: 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
Agriculture Committee: Tuesday evening.
Notice a theme? The meetings will overlap with each other and each is expected to last for hours as lawmakers debate cuts to Medicaid, SNAP food assistance, and more.
Also: Expect Democrats to make a huge fuss during these hearings. They’ll be pushing back against most, if not all, of the proposals on the table, and will even force some votes on amendments that are destined to fail — but will be used as messaging against vulnerable Republicans.
Quick hits
From the Hill: Congress paves the way to sell portion of Utah’s public lands. … Sen. Mike Lee sponsors bill to protect kids online. … ‘We have to make progress,’ Rep. Blake Moore says about competing tax demands.
From the White House: JD Vance outlines foreign policy vision at Munich Security Conference. … Canada is not for sale, Canadian prime minister tells Trump in Oval Office. … Trump ends default delay, meaning students must repay their loans.
From the courts: Supreme Court lets Trump administration’s ban on transgender troops move forward. … Trump asks SCOTUS to end humanitarian parole for 500,000 people from 4 countries (AP).
What’s next
The House and Senate are back next week to continue chugging away at Trump’s tax bill (one of these days, I won’t have to say that anymore in the ‘What’s next’ section!).
Other things to keep an eye out for: The White House was expected to send a formal rescissions package to Congress last month with official requests to approve his spending cuts. That hasn’t happened yet, but never say never. Also, Sen. John Curtis will deliver his first floor speech in the Senate on Wednesday — and you can help draft his remarks!
As always, feel free to reach out to me by email with story ideas or questions you have for lawmakers. And follow me on X for breaking news and timely developments from the Hill.