John Thune’s budget play Senate Republicans are aiming to retake the lead in the race to advance Trump’s agenda. Watch for an official signal from the majority leader today on when Republicans will bring their budget blueprint up for a vote. Chuck Schumer’s call to arms The Democratic leader urged his caucus on a Saturday call to push amendments to the GOP budget plan during an upcoming “vote-a-rama” that could put Republicans in a tough spot. Democrats can’t stop the resolution from advancing, but they’re going to try to make it hurt by forcing votes that they hope make Republicans look like they’re in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy over the middle class. Schumer on Monday also criticized the Trump administration for firing FAA workers after a Delta Airlines plane from Minneapolis flipped over while landing in Toronto. Democrats’ letter-writing pushback campaign is also in full swing: Senators over the long weekend fired off missives urging an end to further cuts at HUD, sounding alarms about DOGE’s access to IRS data and raising concerns about the Pentagon’s involvement in immigration enforcement. House Democrats also criticized NIH research cuts. POLICY RUNDOWN REVIVING THE ICC BILL — Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday he's optimistic the Senate could still pass a bill that would sanction the International Criminal Court for charging Israeli officials over their handling of the war in Gaza — even after Democrats blocked a version of the measure last month. “I think there’s a breakthrough to be had where we could get 80 votes,” the South Carolina Republican said in a press conference while leading a bipartisan group of lawmakers on a trip to Israel. Thune has also signaled that the sanctions bill isn’t totally dead. TRUMP’S CRA STRATEGY — OMB Director Russ Vought on Monday threw his support behind a resolution that would overturn a Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that caps overdraft fees at banks and credit unions. The resolution would be taken up under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to skirt Senate filibuster rules to repeal agency rulemaking within a certain time frame. Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. French Hill, the Banking chairs of each chamber, introduced the CRA resolution on Thursday, arguing that the targeted rule hinders access to important financial services, our Katherine Hapgood reports. Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E:
THE BEST OF THE REST Dems concede Republicans ‘running circles’ around them online as Trump remakes Washington, from Elena Schneider Top Social Security official exits after clash with Musk’s DOGE over data, from Lisa Rein, Holly Bailey, Jeff Stein and Jacob Bogage at The Washington Post With Congress Pliant, an Emboldened Trump Pushes His Business Interests, from Eric Lipton and Maggie Haberman at The New York Times Senator Ruben Gallego on the Democrats’ Problem: ‘We’re Always Afraid,’ from Lulu Garcia-Navarro at The New York Times CAPITOL HILL INFLUENCE Former Sen. Joe Manchin is joining Bondi Partners as a senior adviser. Andrea Woods is now deputy director of the Office of Public Affairs at the Department of Energy, and Ben Dietderich is now press secretary and chief spokesperson. Woods most recently was director of media relations at the American Petroleum Institute. Dietderich most recently was deputy comms director for Sen. Dan Sullivan. JOB BOARD FIRST IN INSIDE CONGRESS: Sen. Jon Husted has made a slew of hires: Rebecca Card Angelson is his new chief of staff, Joshua Eck will serve as state director, Jess Andrews will become his deputy chief of staff, Sean Dunn will serve as senior adviser and counsel, Maggie Ward has been tapped to become his legislative director and Katie Tomko will be his director of operations and administration. Zach Fulton is joining the House Financial Services Committee as press secretary. He previously was deputy press secretary for Sen. Roger Wicker and is a French Hill alum. Betsy Holahan is now chief of staff to the Senate sergeant at arms. She previously was president of Great Point Strategies. June Zhu is now a policy adviser for Rep. Janelle Bynum. She previously was legislative assistant for Sen. Ben Cardin. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Reps. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), Steve Womack (R-Ark.) and Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) … James Hohmann … Rachel Martin … Bill Bertles … Kiara Pesante Haughton … Al Quinlan … Marc Lampkin … Abby Blunt … NBC’s Rebecca Kaplan … Angela Chiappetta … Elizabeth Kanick … Jesse Purdon … former Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) … Ayodele Okeowo TRIVIA FRIDAY’S ANSWER: Jackson Snellman correctly answered that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the youngest female member of Congress, sworn in at age 29. TODAY’S QUESTION, from Jackson: Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi came from a political dynasty in her family. To what office were both her father and brother elected? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com. | 
