Johnson and Thune are in lockstep, speaker says Johnson declared in a Thursday CPAC interview that there’s “no daylight” between the speaker and the Senate majority leader — a “necessity” as they navigate slim Republican majorities in both chambers. Rank-and-file Republicans might beg to differ amid the current budget drama. Also: John Thune cleared another nominee hurdle Thursday when Kash Patel was voted in as FBI director. Collins and Murkowski sided with Democrats in opposing Patel's nomination. Plus, the Senate HELP Committee advanced Trump’s Education secretary pick, Linda McMahon, in a party-line vote. Mitch McConnell calls it The Senate’s longest-serving party leader said Thursday — his 83rd birthday — that he will not seek reelection next year, bringing to a close a four-decade run in which the Kentucky Republican focused intently on reshaping the federal judiciary. More recently, he has (somewhat unsuccessfully) encouraged his party to resist Trump’s brand of populism and isolationist foreign policies. With McConnell’s retirement now official, the shadow primary to succeed him is coming out into the open. Former Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron, who is widely seen as McConnell’s heir apparent, is in. GOP Rep. Andy Barr reiterated his interest in the seat. But GOP Rep. James Comer (who’s “strongly considering a run for Governor in 2027,” per a spokesperson) and Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear are out, per our Ally Mutnick. POLICY RUNDOWN CALL OFF THE DOGE — A growing number of congressional Republicans are privately venting to White House officials about DOGE’s sweeping firings of federal workers, Meredith Lee Hill reports, even as they still largely feel helpless to stop Musk from taking a chainsaw to the federal government (he literally wielded one onstage at CPAC). A few Republicans are starting to take their concerns public. Ohio Rep. Troy Balderson lamented to a business group in his district that Trump’s executive orders are “getting out of control” and eroding Congress' power (he later posted on X that he fully supports Trump's agenda and wants Congress to make his executive actions permanent). Meanwhile, Georgia Rep. Rich McCormick was met with anger over DOGE’s cuts in a town hall, as well as possible cuts to Social Security and Medicaid. Reps. Cliff Bentz and Stephanie Bice also appeared to take some heat. But Johnson at CPAC Thursday credited DOGE for “exposing” fraud, waste and abuse where Congress could not. The speaker did downplay the idea of DOGE sending taxpayers checks with the savings from their ongoing cuts. CUE THE CR — The chance that negotiators reach a funding deal before the March 14 shutdown deadline is diminishing. Collins, the top Senate appropriator, said negotiators “appear to be at an impasse,” while her Democratic counterpart Sen. Patty Murray said even if they do get a deal on toplines soon, they may need more time to assemble the 12 funding bills. RFK JR’S ASSURANCES — HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is already making moves that could undermine the assurances he gave to Sen. Bill Cassidy to win his support for confirmation — he’s preparing to remove members of the outside committees that advise the federal government on vaccine approvals, our Adam Cancryn, Lauren Gardner and David Lim report. Cassidy said he received commitments that changes would not be made to the CDC’s vaccine committee. NEXT UP: JUDGES — Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley is starting talks with the White House about moving Trump’s judicial nominees, Hailey Fuchs reports. Trump has fewer judicial slots to fill this time around than he did in his first term. Still, the White House has recruited Steve Kenny, a former Grassley staffer and senior counsel at the RNC, to help steer the process. Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E:
CAMPAIGN CORNER Rep. Byron Donalds is signaling he might run for Florida governor in 2026, after Trump said in a Truth Social post that the congressman would have his “total endorsement.” Donalds teased there was an “announcement coming soon.” Our Kimberly Leonard and Gary Fineout report that Trump’s endorsement is likely to have a chilling effect on the race. THE BEST OF THE REST Trump’s legislative agenda is in turmoil, from Burgess Everett at Semafor Murkowski calls on fellow Republicans to stand up to Trump, from Liz Ruskin at Alaska Public Media Mike Lee pushes to limit judges from blocking Trump’s agenda, from Cami Mondeaux at the Deseret News CAPITOL HILL INFLUENCE Danny Meza is now director of trade at the Global Business Alliance. He is a former chief of staff to Rep. Joaquin Castro and a State Department alum. JOB BOARD Thomas Falcigno is now comms director and senior adviser for Rep. Julie Johnson. He previously was comms director for Rep. Eric Sorensen. Philip Murphy, the former White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s assistant director for spectrum and telecom policy, has joined Senate Commerce as senior professional staff for the Subcommittee on Communications, Media and Broadband. Abigail Orlaski is now senior adviser for intergovernmental affairs at the Transportation Department. She previously was senior legislative assistant to Rep. David Rouzer. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) … Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) … Maya MacGuineas … Paul Teller … Kristie Greco Johnson … former Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) … Ashley Etienne … former Reps. Charles Boustany (R-La.), Phil Hare (D-Ill.), John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.) … Ryan Rudominer of Red Horse Strategies … Holland & Knight’s Beth Viola … POLITICO’s Mona Zhang and Jaime-Lee Reichman … Kilmeny Duchardt … Purple Strategies’ Stephen Smith … Bob Chlopak … Daniel Yim of House Oversight … Marcus Davis-Mercer of the Herald Group … Zach Volpe of the Senate Armed Services Committee … Ron Pollack … Jacob Trauberman of Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) office TRIVIA THURSDAY’S ANSWER: Larken Egleston correctly answered that Martin Van Buren was the only president to have learned English as a second language. TODAY’S QUESTION, from Larken: In 1992, Eva M. Clayton won election to become the first African-American woman to represent North Carolina in Congress and the state’s first Black representative since 1901. Who was the Black representative from North Carolina who preceded her? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com. | 
