Washington, DC

1. Vote-a-rama Thursday
2. Trump vs. bureaucracy
3. Trump’s new tariffs
4. Violence escalates in Gulf
5. College sports luminary blitz
6. Democrats’ polling nightmare

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ▼ halting a multi-week winning streak on turmoil in Iran.

Republicans advance immigration bill

Senate Republicans are on the cusp of passing their long-stalled immigration enforcement package after voting 53-46 to open debate this afternoon. That progress came after the Justice Department said it’s dropping President Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund and after the Senate GOP omitted security funding for Trump’s East Wing renovation and his new ballroom. No Republicans opposed advancing the $70 billion bill, but there’s still some drama. Democrats are set to force votes tomorrow banning the weaponization fund permanently, and some Republicans are still considering adding restrictions to the fund. “We’ll keep forcing Republicans to answer for their priorities: Trump’s corrupt slush fund, his rogue police force, and his endless corruption,” said a spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Republicans can only lose three of their members and still pass the bill.

— Burgess Everett

Trump order allows easier firing of federal workers

Trump signed an executive order today reclassifying about 8,000 federal workers with policy duties into a category that makes it easier for White House officials to fire them. A senior administration official said the order is meant to empower agency leaders to remove employees who are obstructing the president’s agenda, not to enforce ideological conformity or to serve as a tool for mass layoffs. Trump has accused career civil servants of hampering his agenda since the start of his first term. Curbing the power of the bureaucracy was an early priority in his second. “This is very much about accountability,” Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor told reporters. “[It’s] about making sure that when the American people elect a president … that they can have confidence that the policy priorities and objectives of the administration are ultimately carried out.”

— Lauren Morganbesser

Trump makes new play for tariffs

The Trump administration is floating tariffs of up to 12.5% on some 60 countries and the European Union, which officials say have failed to enforce bans on forced labor. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told France 24 today that “both sides are committed” nonetheless to honoring the US’ trade deal with the EU: “A deal’s a deal … while also trying to get at all of these trade practices,” he said. On Capitol Hill, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent promised senators that the recent surge in inflation would be a “short-term blip” that ends after the Iran war. He also dodged questions on the administration’s now-defunct $1.8 billion fund, citing “ongoing litigation,” and said Treasury would begin production on a $250 bill with Trump’s face on it only once Congress passes legislation allowing it.

— Eleanor Mueller

Iran launches fiercest assault since war began

Tit-for-tat attacks between the US and Iran escalated today into Tehran’s most aggressive assault on one of its neighbors since the start of the conflict. Iran launched a barrage of drones on Kuwait this morning, killing at least one person and injuring dozens of others at Kuwait International Airport. US Central Command said Iran also targeted Bahrain. The precipitating event was a US strike on an empty tanker that officials said was attempting to bypass the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz last night. Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it launched rockets at troops in Israel today, testing a US-mediated deal. Trump confirmed a report that he had called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “crazy” in an expletive-laden call this week, explaining he’s “perturbed” by Netanyahu’s military operations in Lebanon, which are complicating US efforts to end the war.

College sports bill momentum masks hurdles

The momentum behind bipartisan college sports legislation was on full display on the Hill today, with luminaries like former Alabama Coach Nick Saban touting the bill during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing and former quarterback Dan Marino pitching it to Senate Republicans at lunch. There are still big challenges ahead. The Congressional Black Caucus wants Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., to “pause” consideration of the bill, something noted by Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., as she hears “concerns” from constituents. “The timing is horrible. Voting rights are the main issue for Americans across this nation right now,” CBC Chair Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., told Semafor. Across the aisle, Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said he has “grave concerns” that the bill doesn’t address “keeping men out of girls sports” and later said he’ll vote no. And the SEC and Big 10 have their own objections.

— Burgess Everett and Nicholas Wu

Democrats see a polling trust fall

The head-to-head ballot test in Marquette’s national poll is the stuff that gives Democrats night sweats. The president’s approval rating is down to 38%, but the generic ballot question is a tie. The issue-by-issue questions explain what’s happening: Democrats have yet to win back trust on the GOP’s best issues from the last three elections. Voters side with Republicans on crime, years after Democrats abandoned “defund the police.” Voters also still side with Republicans, and Trump, on immigration. That’s a strike against the Democrats’ unofficial message on the issue: that the borders should be controlled, but that Trump has gone too far with enforcement. On the bright side, Democrats see a notable advantage on inflation and a slimmer one on the economy, which is a growing weak spot for the GOP and the president.

— David Weigel

White House

• The Trump Presidential Library, which is responsible for preserving records from the White House, said it was unable to locate any records of President Trump’s direct messages on Twitter from his first term. — WaPo
• The Trump administration is diverting at least $90 million in national park entry fees to prepare for the US’ 250th anniversary celebration in Washington, including $1.6 million for a pyrotechnics display and $76 million for repairs. — WaPo
• Trump said in a podcast interview that Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio teaming up for a 2028 presidential run would be “very hard to beat.”

Congress

• DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Congress that his agency would increase training requirements for ICE officers to their previous levels, and that DHS had no problem sending Kilmar Ábrego García to Costa Rica, reversing course on two ongoing fights.
• House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill, R-Ark., said he is skeptical of President Trump’s executive order demanding banks not extend “credit or financial services” to undocumented immigrants.

World

• Around 20 flights carrying medical equipment and special staff landed at a base in Kenya to build an Ebola quarantine facility for Americans, despite Kenyan court orders blocking the planned facility. — Reuters
• Cuba’s central bank announced the country will suspend Visa and Mastercard transactions starting June 6, citing US-imposed sanctions.

Media

• A federal judge blocked NOTUS from rebranding itself to The Star, finding the name was too similar to The Washington Star.
• Two advisory board members accused the Pentagon of censoring military newspaper Stars and Stripes.

Health

• The Food and Drug Administration found that popular acne-control skincare products contained up to 15 times the permitted level of benzene, a toxin that can cause leukemia.
• NASA’s Maven spacecraft, which was launched in 2013 to study Mars’ atmosphere from orbit, was declared dead after going radio silent for six months.
• The Health and Human Services Department’s top lawyer has been reassigned following reporting on his stock-trading moves. — NOTUS

Technology

• Data center construction is falling behind schedule nationwide in part because of opposition from local residents. — WSJ
• Elon Musk’s xAI paused hiring for professionals to train its Grok chatbot. — Bloomberg
• Anthropic picked Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to lead its initial public offering. — Bloomberg

— Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., questioning Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent before the Senate Finance Committee on Trump’s appointment of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence.

Laura McGann, editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor, and Morgan Chalfant, Washington briefing editor

Graph Massara and Lauren Morganbesser, copy editors

Contact our reporters:

Burgess Everett, Eleanor Mueller, Shelby Talcott, Nicholas Wu, David Weigel