| | | | |  | | By Debra Kahn | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine Happy Saturday. This is Debra Kahn, California policy editor, writing from Los Angeles nice and early. Get in touch: dkahn@politico.com.
|  | DRIVING THE DAY | | MR. SECRETARY — Pete Hegseth is set to be sworn in today as Defense secretary after surviving an unexpectedly dramatic confirmation vote last night. VP JD Vance rushed to the Capitol to cast a tie-breaking vote (only the second ever cast on a Cabinet nominee) amid drama over whether Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) would deal Hegseth’s nomination an eleventh-hour death blow. (He did not.) The Mitch is back … Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) joined GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) in opposing Hegseth, forcing the tiebreak. The former GOP leader’s vote “made clear to Donald Trump that McConnell, a longtime party man, is willing to buck the president even after stepping down from leadership, especially on national security issues,” Jordain Carney and Connor O’Brien write. Read McConnell’s statement On tap in the Senate … Homeland Security nominee Kristi Noem advanced on a 61-39 procedural vote last night and will likely be confirmed in an 11:30 a.m. vote today. A procedural vote on Treasury’s Scott Bessent will follow, with final action happening Monday. Votes on Sean Duffy’s Transportation nomination and sanctioning the International Criminal Court have also been locked in for early next week.
|  President Donald Trump played nice even with LA Mayor Karen Bass. | Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo | LA CONFIDENCE — As Trump returns east today, he’s got to be pretty satisfied with how the first official trip of his new term went. The lovefest between Trump and his political enemies representing fire-scarred Los Angeles shows he’s capable of making nice, a key presidential skill — and shows where he might be trying to make more inroads among California’s deep-blue coastal elite. Trump started the day by proposing to shutter FEMA. He followed that up by proposing to withhold disaster aid for California unless it tightens voting requirements and boosts water deliveries (and he ended the day by firing 17 federal watchdogs — more on that in a moment). But the storm cleared for his touchdown in Los Angeles, where he promised an assemblage of local officials — “great California leaders, both Democrat and Republican” — that “the federal government is standing behind you 100 percent” and professed a “great love” for the state that has often staked an aggressive anti-Trump posture, as Christopher Cadelago and Melanie Mason write. “I’m going to give you everything you want,” Trump said. “I’m going to give you more than any president would have ever given you.” It was anyone’s guess how yesterday’s trip would go. Trump claimed Wednesday not to have thought about whether he would meet with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and left him off the guest list that the White House released yesterday morning for a roundtable with elected officials. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made reference on Air Force One to “Gavin ‘Newscum,’” Trump’s preferred epithet for the governor. But Trump limited himself to some gentle taunting on the tarmac: “He’s the governor of this state, and we’re going to get it completed,” he said of Newsom and disaster aid. “They’re going to need a lot of federal help.” “Unless you don’t need any?” he added, turning to Newsom. He even pulled punches on LA Mayor Karen Bass, who has come in for heavy criticism for taking a trip to Ghana as the windstorms that drove the blazes began brewing. Even a sharp exchange about the pace of permitting for rebuilding ended on a conciliatory note, with Trump telling Bass, “If I can help you at all in that regard, you let me know.”
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Learn more about small businesses growing on Amazon. | | | It was a complete 180 from his attacks on California over the past two weeks, which hit on everything from water supplies to forest-management practices to immigration and insurance to Hollywood’s job market. He hit on those themes yesterday, too — but with nearly as much generosity as gloating. And while no one expects the three-hour cease-fire will turn into a detente — California AG Rob Bonta is already suing Trump over his executive order to end birthright citizenship and is seeking funding for more court fights — Trump’s performance gives him an advantage that he could choose to press. (We’ll see if he goes back to his antagonistic ways as soon as this afternoon, when he speaks at 3:30 Eastern time in Las Vegas.) “For most of the 20th century, this was an entirely Republican state,” said Darry Sragow, a veteran Democratic strategist in LA. “On the list of things he could accomplish if he decides not to be the vengeful Donald is the possibility that he could help accomplish a pretty significant shift in the electoral balance.” There’s an extremely strong ‘to be sure’ here: LA is overwhelmingly Democratic, and the area that he toured is even more so. More than 85 percent of political donations in the three ZIP codes most affected by the Palisades Fire went to Democrats or liberal groups in the 2024 election cycle, according to an analysis by Catherine Allen.
|  | | And Republicans are near a historic nadir in California, accounting for just under 24 percent of registered voters. They hold a quarter of seats in the state Legislature and no statewide elected offices. Nothing is making a significant dent in that anytime soon. But Sragow points to the passage of 1994’s Proposition 187, which barred undocumented immigrants from public benefits, including education and health care — and prompted the state’s last political realignment. “It turned an entire emerging electorate of Latinos into Democrats,” Sragow said. Trump has already realigned many Latino voters. He improved his vote share in LA County last year by 4.5 percent compared to 2020. And LA’s wealthy classes — as well as the less wealthy ones — may not be significantly different from the tech titans that have also swung toward him. “We’re at a time when many things are a grab ball,” Sragow said. “If he listens to the angel instead of the devil, I think he could make some real political gains for his party, if that matters to him.” OH, CANADA — “‘Hit Him Back Twice as Hard’: Canada’s No. 1 Populist Has a Risky Trump Strategy,” by Alexander Burns: “Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, plans to rain economic punishment on Americans if President Donald Trump targets Canada in a trade war.”
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Amazon invests billions of dollars in people, resources, and services that support businesses at every stage of their journey. These tools and services have helped Cleveland-based NOOMA connect with customers across the country. Learn how Amazon helps sellers thrive. Sponsored by Amazon   | | | 9 THINGS THAT STUCK WITH US 1. PAGING CHUCK GRASSLEY: The White House purged the federal government’s inspectors general en masse in a Friday night massacre, perhaps allowing Trump to put loyalists in key watchdog rules, WaPo’s David Nakamura, Lisa Rein and Matt Viser scooped. They put the number of firings at 12 or more; NYT’s Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni report that it was 17. Many of the IGs had already been appointed by Trump himself in his first term. Critics sounded the alarm that Trump was doing away with officials who are supposed to remain independent, and the move appeared to break a law that requires giving Congress a month’s notice. There could be a legal fight ahead over Trump’s failure to comply with that law. And “Trump’s brazen move provides an early test for Congress,” especially outspoken GOP defenders of IGs like Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Megan Messerly, Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney write. Grassley’s initial statement said “[t]here may be good reason” for Trump’s move but noted that the White House had broken the law. Michael Horowitz, the watchdog at the Justice Department and perhaps the most closely watched of any IG, was notably not among the dismissed. But there was a big shift ongoing at DOJ, too: Several top officials were told they’d be placed in new jobs fighting against sanctuary cities, NBC’s Ken Dilanian and Ryan Reilly report, including Corey Amundson, who’d led the public integrity section that was involved in Trump’s federal criminal prosecutions. 2. IMMIGRATION FILES: Trump’s latest set of sweeping legal immigration crackdowns takes aim at Biden-era programs that allowed roughly 1.5 million people fleeing disaster to enter the U.S., potentially upending their status overnight. Trump officials argue that the programs were unlawful. Not only has a DHS memo laid the groundwork for ICE to quickly deport people who arrived legally via the CBP One app or via humanitarian parole programs, but a major pause on resettlement programs has now blocked pathways for Ukrainians and others to arrive, per NYT’s Hamed Aleaziz. With some uncertainty about which immigrants’ protected status could now be jeopardized, millions of people are now in limbo: “The news is overwhelming me with fear,” one Haitian tells NYT’s Miriam Jordan and Edgar Sandoval. The policy change prompted at least one Republican, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (Fla.), to ask Trump not to deport the Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who have arrived through humanitarian parole. A new State Department memo yesterday also directed refugee resettlement groups to stop work funded by federal awards, threatening aid for tens of thousands of people, including Afghans, CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez reports. “We’ll have refugees going homeless,” warns one advocate, who calls the move “completely unprecedented.” Border song: The Pentagon is preparing 5,000 experienced combat troops to deploy to the southern border, WSJ’s Gordon Lubold scooped. There are also potential plans to send “20-ton Stryker combat vehicles,” WaPo’s Dan Lamothe reports; it all “could become a major long-term and politically fraught mission for the Pentagon.” In a forthcoming interview on ABC’s “This Week,” border czar Tom Homan tells Martha Raddatz that the U.S. is now using military flights for deportations for the first time ever — and will do so every day. But Mexico blocked one such flight from landing in the country, NBC’s Courtney Kube and Jonathan Allen scooped. More reading: “As schools brace for Trump’s immigration raids, Dems split over how to respond,” by Juan Perez Jr., Shia Kapos, Madina Touré and Andrew Atterbury … “The Tech Arsenal That Could Power Trump’s Immigration Crackdown,” by NYT’s Adam Satariano, Paul Mozur, Aaron Krolik and David McCabe 3. HELP YOURSELVES: A new State Department memo yesterday put Trump’s 90-day pause on almost all foreign aid into action, stunning officials in its scope, Devex’s Michael Igoe scooped. The big shock is that Trump’s executive order applies to not only new but already existing funding (with some carve-outs for Egypt, Israel and emergency food aid). That apparently means a stop to Ukraine and Taiwan aid, for instance, and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which has saved an estimated 25 million lives. “It’s not hyperbole to say that people will die,” one State Department official tells WaPo’s Adam Taylor, John Hudson, Dan Diamond and Missy Ryan of the latter. 4. BIG SCOTUS CASE INCOMING: “U.S. Supreme Court to take up Oklahoma religious charter school case,” by the Tulsa World’s Andrea Eger: “The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether the nation’s first religious charter school should be allowed to open here in Oklahoma. … The high court’s decision could come down this summer. Justice Amy Coney Barrett will not participate, offering no reason publicly on Friday.” 5. LIFE ITSELF: Trump signed multiple anti-abortion executive orders yesterday, bringing back some key policies from his first term for which advocates had pressed him, RealClearPolitics’ Philip Wegmann scooped. They include the revival of the Mexico City Policy, which blocks potentially billions of dollars in aid to foreign groups that provide or promote abortions, and enforcement of the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funding for abortion domestically. (Alice Miranda Ollstein and Carmen Paun note that one 2022 study estimated Trump’s foreign-aid restrictions in his first term led to more than 100,000 deaths by hamstringing groups that prevented sexually transmitted infections.) In another global anti-abortion move, Secretary of State Marco Rubio moved to rejoin the Geneva Consensus Declaration, Robbie Gramer and Carmen scooped. And the Justice Department’s Chad Mizelle said yesterday that federal prosecutors will cut back on cases targeting prosecutors who block abortion clinics, WaPo’s Jeremy Roebuck and Perry Stein report.
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Jarred and Brandon Smith are using Amazon’s services, like Fulfillment by Amazon and Subscribe and Save, to grow their small business, NOOMA. “The great thing about Amazon is it’s easy to pick what works best for us,” said Jarred. See the impact. Sponsored by Amazon   | | | 6. SYRIA LATEST: “U.S. shared secret intelligence with Syria’s new leaders,” by WaPo’s Warren Strobel, Ellen Nakashima and Missy Ryan: “In at least one case, the U.S. intelligence helped thwart an Islamic State plot to attack a religious shrine outside Damascus earlier this month … The back channel with Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham, which overthrew former president Bashar al-Assad’s regime last month, reflects rising U.S. alarm that the Islamic State could mount a resurgence as Syria’s new leaders try to consolidate control.” 7. STAYING PUT: Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced yesterday that he will remain in the Senate rather than running for governor next year, per the Albuquerque Journal’s Dan Boyd. Heinrich said he’d considered a bid for months but opted against it due to family reasons and a desire to fight back against Trump’s administration in Washington. That could make former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland a frontrunner in the gubernatorial race if she chooses to run. 8. THE TRUMP TRIALS: “Trump Revives Bid for Immunity Against Jan. 6 Civil Lawsuits,” by Bloomberg’s Zoe Tillman: “Trump’s personal lawyers filed a brief on Friday evening arguing that he should be immune from civil claims because he was acting in his official capacity as president as he tried to overturn his 2020 election loss. … The latest court filing revives a legal fight that had been largely dormant for more than a year.” 9. KENNEDY CENTER: “RFK Jr. skipped meeting where officials planned fight against a future pandemic,” by WaPo’s Dan Diamond: “For two hours [last week] … members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet hashed out their roles and responsibilities in the event of a crisis — splitting their time between a hypothetical avian flu outbreak and a hypothetical terrorist attack in New Orleans — as outgoing Biden officials shared lessons and guidance from their real-world experience. … But a top figure was notably absent: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.” CLICKER — “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker — 20 funnies
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Michael Deadder - cagle.com | GREAT WEEKEND READS: — “This Icebreaker Has Design Problems and a History of Failure. It’s America’s Latest Military Vessel,” by ProPublica’s McKenzie Funk: “That the first of the revamped U.S. fleet is a secondhand vessel a top Coast Guard admiral once said ‘may, at best, marginally meet our requirements’ is a sign of how long the country has tried and failed to build new ones. It’s also a sign of how much sway political donors can have over Congress.” — “Why Is the Mastermind of Trump’s Tariff Plan Still Sitting at Home in Florida?” by The New Yorker’s Benjamin Wallace-Wells: “Robert Lighthizer, the former U.S. Trade Representative, lost his bid to rejoin the White House, but he still believes the President’s protectionist instincts can jump-start American manufacturing.” — “The warlord, the oligarch and the unravelling of Russia’s Amazon.com,” by Nataliya Vasilyeva in The Economist’s 1843 Magazine: “Before the Ukraine war, Wildberries was a giant of e-commerce. Now it’s caught up in a medieval blood feud.” — “What Trump’s Supporters Want for the Future of America,” by Philip Montgomery and Charles Homans in the NYT Magazine: “Scenes from a return to power in Washington.” — “My Last Trial,” by Amanda Knox in The Atlantic: “I’ve been fighting this charge for half my life.” — “The Private Firefighters On Call for the Californians Who Can Afford Them,” by Joseph Bien-Kahn in Rolling Stone: “‘I had people calling me, “If I write you a check right now for a million dollars, will you come to my house?”’ says Andrew Sarvis of West Coast Water Tenders.”
| | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Jared Kushner and the Trump Organization are working jointly to build a major luxury hotel in Serbia, uninhibited by conflict-of-interest concerns. JD Vance outrage notwithstanding, Skyline Chili ice cream is getting released Monday with Graeter’s. Dan Snyder “f---ing hates” the Commanders’ successful underdog playoff run without him. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — In his last full day in office, President Joe Biden awarded Cappy McGarr the National Medal of Arts. He is the co-creator of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Trump announced a long list of new appointments: Alex Pfeiffer as a deputy assistant to the president and principal deputy comms director, Kaelan Dorr as a deputy assistant to the president and deputy comms director, Harrison Fields as special assistant to the president and principal deputy press secretary, Anna Kelly and Kush Desai as deputy press secretaries, Ian Kelley as special assistant to the president and war room director, Dylan Johnson as special assistant to the president and assistant comms director for special projects, Sonny Joy Nelson as special assistant to the president and media affairs director, Dan Boyle as White House director of research … … Johanna Persing as Cabinet comms director, Charyssa Parent as congressional comms director, Jacki Kotkiewicz as policy comms director, Jake Schneider as rapid response director, Jim Goyer as deputy assistant to the president and director of the Office of Public Liaison, Lynne Patton as deputy assistant to the president and director of minority outreach, Brette Powell as special assistant to the president and deputy director of the Office of Public Liaison, Hailey Borden as special assistant to the president and director of business outreach in the Office of Public Liaison, Alex Flemister as director of strategic initiatives in the Office of Public Liaison … … Lea Bardon as a special assistant to the president and director of Cabinet affairs, Thomas Bradbury as associate director for policy, and Cami Connor as associate director for agency outreach. STAFFING UP — The Education Department is filling out its senior ranks with Rachel Oglesby as chief of staff, Jonathan Pidluzny as deputy chief of staff for policy and programs, Chase Forrester as deputy chief of staff for operations, Steve Warzoha as White House liaison, Tom Wheeler as principal deputy general counsel, Craig Trainor as deputy assistant secretary for policy in the Office for Civil Rights, Madi Biedermann as deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Communications and Outreach, Candice Jackson and Joshua Kleinfeld as deputy general counsels, and Hannah Ruth Earl as director of the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. TRANSITIONS — Devan Barber has been named executive director of the DSCC for this cycle, Axios’ Stephen Neukam scooped. Jessica Knight Henry will be deputy executive director and chief diversity and inclusion officer, and Andrew Piatt will be head of campaigns and paid media strategy. … Mark Bescher has launched a new consulting firm, Legacy Public Policy, focused on packaging and recycling advocacy and compliance. He previously was head of government affairs at Mondelez International. … … James Mazol is now performing the duties of the undersecretary of Defense for research and engineering. He previously was Republican policy director for the Senate Armed Services Committee. … Dao Nguyen is now chief of staff for Rep. Derek Tran (D-Calif.). She previously was a principal at Cornerstone Government Affairs, and is a Future Forum Caucus and Stephanie Murphy alum. … Ryan Rasins is now legislative director for Rep Riley Moore (R-W.Va.). He previously ran the Senate Values Action Team and is a Marco Rubio alum. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Andy Harris (R-Md.), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) and Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) … Ashley Jones … NYT’s Jeremy Peters … WaPo’s Michael Scherer … Jim Axelrod … POLITICO’s Caroline Amenabar, Alessandro Sclapari and Chris Parisi … Joe Conason of The National Memo … Navy Vice Adm. George Wikoff … Danielle Inman … BP’s David Woodruff … Will Sexauer of Sandpiper Strategies … Mallory Hunter … Luke Graeter of Sen. Bernie Moreno’s (R-Ohio) office … Jason Jay Smart … Erin Heeter … Nancy Gibbs … Evan Lukaske of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D-N.Y.) office … Connor Wolf … NAM’s Mark Isaacson … Brunswick Group’s Kevin Helliker ... Joelle Terry ... Erika Reynoso of Amazon … Ed Payne … Tina Tchen … former Iowa Gov. Chet Culver … Dan Kaniewski … Adam Kovacevich of the Chamber of Progress … Adam Falkoff … Eleni Towns … Zach Pleat … Josh Randle … Aidan McDonald of Sen. Alex Padilla’s (D-Calif.) office … BakerHostetler’s Kristin Shapiro … Claire Fogarty of Crooked Media … Meaghan Lynch THE SHOWS (Full Sunday show listings here): CBS “Face the Nation”: VP JD Vance … Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) … Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.). MSNBC “The Weekend”: Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) … Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson … Minnesota Dem Chair Ken Martin … John Brennan … Michael Fanone. ABC “This Week”: Tom Homan … Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) … Walter Isaacson. Legal panel: Chris Christie and Preet Bharara. Panel: Rachael Bade, John Harris and David Sanger. NewsNation “The Hill Sunday”: Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) … DNC Chair Jaime Harrison … Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.). Panel: Domenico Montanaro, Shelby Talcott and Julia Manchester. NBC “Meet the Press”: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) … Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Panel: Leigh Ann Caldwell, Carlos Curbelo, Ashley Etienne and Garrett Haake. CNN “State of the Union”: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker … Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Panel: Karen Finney, Brad Todd, Kristen Soltis Anderson and Rep. Josh Harder (D-Calif.). Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures”: Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) … Texas Gov. Greg Abbott … CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Panel: Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and Steven Mnuchin. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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