What to know about Trump’s big speech

Mar 04, 2025

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IN TODAY'S EDITION:

What Republicans expect from Trump’s joint address
GOP appropriators’ two-track plan
Latest on budget blueprint problems

FIRST IN INSIDE CONGRESS: Why some Dems are ready for a shutdown — Rachael Bade reports in her latest Corridors column that Democrats are itching for a government funding fight ahead of the March 14 deadline. The reason? Growing unease with giving President Donald Trump and Elon Musk a blank check as they make sweeping federal workforce cuts. “At some point you’ve got to have a goddamn backbone," one senior Democratic lawmaker told Rachael.

President Donald Trump gives the State of the Union address to Congress Tuesday night.

President Donald Trump will deliver his first address to Congress of his second term tonight. | Mario Tama/Getty Images

JOINT ADDRESS — Congressional Republicans are giving Trump a long leash at his joint address tonight despite mounting backlash in their districts to his Washington disruptions.

GOP lawmakers widely agreed they’d like the president to focus on the economy, immigration and continuing peace talks with Ukraine. But they don’t expect him to shy away from talking about Musk’s federal government cuts, either.

Sen. Rick Scott told Lisa that Trump should talk about his plans to “get inflation under control” and balance the budget. Sen. John Kennedy said he expects Trump will talk about DOGE’s spending cuts. But Republicans broadly declined to give the president suggestions for his big speech.

Trump is expected to talk about immigration and the economy, our colleague Megan Messerly reports — with some surveys now showing that majorities of Americans think the president is steering the economy in the wrong direction. But that’s if he stays on script. Trump’s already said he plans to “TELL IT LIKE IT IS” tonight.

Here’s what Rep. Chris Smith told Mia about Trump’s penchant for meandering: “I love ad libs. That doesn't mean everybody else likes it.”

Trump has also indicated he plans to address whether a peace deal with Ukraine can be revived during the speech — a day after he halted military aid to the war-torn country following a contentious meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday.

Don’t expect a large Democratic boycott this time. Some are skipping the speech (against the wishes of House Democratic leaders). But the party out of power is planning to pack the chamber with fired federal workers and people who could be affected by potential cuts to public benefits.

Among the notable Democratic guests: Sen. Richard Blumenthal is bringing former Veterans Affairs watchdog Michael Missal, one of the inspectors general that Trump fired.

Republicans plan to use Trump’s address to make some political statements of their own. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is bringing Riley Gaines, the former college swimmer who is now a leading advocate for keeping transgender athletes off women’s sports teams. Speaker Mike Johnson is hosting the widow of a man killed by an undocumented immigrant in a drunken-driving incident, according to Fox News, as well as Trump border czar Tom Homan.

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING. We’ll have eyes and ears on Trump’s big speech and the multiple Democratic rebuttals that will follow.

Follow our live coverage at the Inside Congress blog at politico.com/congress and email your Inside Congress scribes at lkashinsky@politico.com and mmccarthy@politico.com.

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THE SKED

The House is in session and voting at 1:30 p.m. on reversing three Biden-era energy regulations under the Congressional Review Act, among other measures.

— Republicans and Democrats will hold their separate weekly conference meetings at 9 a.m.

— GOP leaders hold their post-meeting news conference at 10 a.m.

— Judiciary will have a hearing on defending the Second Amendment at 10 a.m.

— Oversight will have a hearing on using technology to improve immigration enforcement at 10 a.m.

— T&I will have a hearing on air traffic control infrastructure and staffing at 10 a.m.

— Financial Services’ monetary policy task force will have a hearing on economic opportunity at 10 a.m.

— Homeland Security will have a hearing on the future of FEMA at 10 a.m.

— E&C will have a hearing on name, image and likeness rights in collegiate athletics at 10:15 a.m.

— Democratic leaders will hold their post-meeting press conference at 11 a.m.

— Majority Whip Tom Emmer will host the Stanley Cup in his Capitol office tomorrow from noon to 3 p.m.

— Veterans Affairs will mark up a bill that would limit what information the VA can send for firearm background checks and another bill that expands the VA’s ability to suspend or demote employees at 2 p.m.

The Senate is in session and voting at 11 a.m. to reverse a Biden-era regulation that imposed stricter reporting requirements on decentralized financial participants.

— Armed Services will have a hearing on Elbridge Colby’s nomination to be undersecretary of Defense for policy at 9:30 a.m.

— Foreign Relations will have a hearing at 10 a.m. to consider several State Department nominations, including Christopher Landau to be deputy secretary, Michael Rigas to be deputy secretary for Management and Resources and Matthew Whitaker to be the U.S. permanent representative to NATO.

— Republican and Democratic senators will have separate weekly conference lunches at 12:45 p.m.

The rest of the week: The Senate will continue to move through confirming Trump’s nominations and moving towards overturning Biden-era regulations.

THE LEADERSHIP SUITE

Tom Cole looks on during a meeting.

House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole looks on during a House Rules Committee meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 23, 2024. | Francis Chung/POLITICO

GOP appropriators skirt leaders on spending

Top Republican appropriators Tom Cole and Susan Collins are still negotiating on new spending bills, despite Johnson and Trump endorsing a stopgap bill through September. They’re preparing the long funding patch, but also a short-term one in case they can reach a more comprehensive spending deal with Democrats. The text of the spending patch through September is expected this weekend, Meredith Lee Hill reports.

Top Senate Democratic appropriator Patty Murray is pushing a short-term stopgap. And she was noncommittal Monday when asked if the party would insist on language preventing DOGE’s cuts in exchange for supporting the bill: “The only one who wants a shutdown right now is Elon Musk. … We are all working to get this done,” Murray told reporters.

Former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell registered his disapproval for the long-term stopgap in a Washington Post op-ed, saying: “Never in recent history has Washington forced the U.S. military to spend a full year applying yesterday’s budget to tomorrow’s challenges.”

John Thune faces filibuster on trans bill

The Senate majority leader failed Monday to advance a bill from Sen. Tommy Tuberville to bar transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports. No Democrats supported the bill that needed 60 votes to move forward and had earned the backing of the Trump administration, our colleague Bianca Quilantan reports.

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POLICY RUNDOWN

FILLING IN THE BUDGET BLUEPRINT — House Ways and Means Republicans are tentatively scheduled to start drafting the GOP’s party-line bill enacting Trump's tax agenda next week, our Benjamin Guggenheim reports with Meredith. They’ll have to juggle extending Trump’s expiring 2017 tax cuts with adding on campaign promises that include no taxes on tips.

On the other side of the Capitol, Senate GOP leadership staffers told other Republican offices on Monday that they’re not even close to resolving Senate demands on the House budget plan, Meredith and Ben report. Thune later told our Jordain Carney that he doesn’t expect to put the House budget resolution on the floor until at least late March. The two chambers need to adopt the same budget resolution if they eventually want to enact Trump’s massive agenda.

GOP OPTIMISM OVER UKRAINE DEAL — Top Republicans, including Johnson and Thune, believe the mineral rights deal that unraveled after Trump and Zelenskyy’s Oval Office showdown can be salvaged, Jordain and Lisa report with Connor O’Brien.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, who suggested after Friday’s dustup that Zelenskyy should apologize or resign, struck a notably softer tone on Monday: “I've told President Zelenskyy: Do the minerals deal, see if we can get an arms package, and we'll talk about a good ending to the war. And that's the sequence.”

REQUESTED ADD TO CR — GOP Rep. Greg Murphy is already calling for a potentially expensive addition to Johnson’s “clean” CR: ending cuts for doctor pay in Medicare, which has reduced doctor payments for years to stay budget neutral as required by law. Murphy, who co-chairs the GOP Doctors Caucus, got a partial version of that fix attached to a spending measure at the end of last Congress before Musk and Trump tanked it, our Ben Leonard reports.

CALIFORNIA DECODED: The technology industry and its key characters are driving the national political narrative right now, but it is also a uniquely California story. To understand how the Golden State is defining tech policy and politics within its borders and beyond, we’ve launched POLITICO Pro Technology: California Decoded. This new daily newsletter will track how industry players in Silicon Valley are trying to influence state and national lawmakers – and how government officials are encouraging or foiling those figures. Sign up now to get a limited, free trial of this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.

FIRST IN INSIDE CONGRESS — Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is leading nine other Democratic senators in a letter to the Trump administration that reminds the president that Congress has the authority over trade restrictions on Russia. Trump said Monday night that “we’re going to do deals with everybody” in response to a question about whether he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Best of POLITICO Pro and E&E:

THE BEST OF THE REST

Inside the Democratic Battle to Go Viral, from Riley Rogerson and Oriana González at NOTUS

'We have become the party of the status quo': Chris Murphy makes his case to lead Democrats forward, from Ben Kamisar, Julie Tsirkin and Andrew Arenge at NBC

Trump Prepares the Tim Scott Whack-a-Mole, from Leigh Ann Caldwell at Puck

Lincoln Díaz-Balart, defender of immigrants and democracy for Cuba in Congress, is dead, from Nora Gámez Torres at the Miami Herald

CAPITOL HILL INFLUENCE

FLYING IN: Fly-in season is in full swing as talks for a potential stopgap spending bill and Republicans’ reconciliation legislation heat up:

— Breakthrough T1D is on the Hill today and tomorrow to push for funding for type 1 diabetes research with Rep. Kim Schrier, the only member of Congress who has type 1 diabetes.

— The National Association of Broadcasters has more than 565 broadcasters from all 50 states coming to town this week to campaign for updating broadcast ownership rules and for legislation to maintain AM radio in new cars.

— VoteVets shared first with us that they’re bringing a half-dozen veterans to the Hill today who either lost their jobs as a result of the Trump administration’s mass firings or could be affected by funding cuts. They’ll attend a morning reception, followed by meetings with lawmakers.

Former Rep. Mary Peltola has joined the law and lobbying firm Holland & Hart as senior director of Alaska affairs. Anton McParland, who was Peltola’s chief of staff, is also joining the firm as senior director of federal affairs. The firm has also hired Lauren Reamy, who was former Sen. Marco Rubio’s deputy chief of staff and legislative director, as a senior vice president.

Liz Johnson is joining Emerson Collective as senior director of policy and government affairs. She previously was chief of staff to Sen. Mitt Romney and is a Kelly Ayotte and Collins alum.

JOB BOARD

DJ Griffin is now press secretary for Sen. Eric Schmitt. He most recently was comms director for Rep. Brett Guthrie.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) … Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Troy Downing (R-Mont.) … NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard… Doug Hoelscher … Ellen Gilmer of Bloomberg Government … Jesse Solis … POLITICO’s Mark McQuillan and Nick Reisman… Seth Washington … Stephanie Gidigbi Jenkins … Abby Jagoda … Fenton’s Valerie Jean-Charles … Larkin Parker of Sen. Michael Bennet’s (D-Colo.) office … Simone Ward … Callista Gingrich … Brooke Nethercott of the House Financial Services GOP

TRIVIA

MONDAY’S ANSWER: Amy Camilleri correctly answered that Daniel Webster, Henry Clay and Jefferson Davis all have desks named after them in the Senate.

TODAY’S QUESTION, from Amy: What is the site of the first assassination attempt of a U.S. president?

The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Inside Congress. Send your answers to insidecongress@politico.com.

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But for two years in a row, Medicare Advantage has been cut even as medical costs continue to rise. Now millions of seniors who rely on Medicare Advantage are feeling squeezed, with widespread plan closures, higher costs, and reduced benefits.

President Trump and his Administration can keep their promise to protect Medicare for seniors by ensuring adequate funding for Medicare Advantage moving forward.

Seniors need affordable health care. That means protecting Medicare Advantage.

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