President Trump, and the economy, face a consequential week, as the president’s promised reciprocal tariffs are slated to go into effect on Wednesday.
Trump will announce the details of his so-called “Liberation Day” in the Rose Garden, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday. They’re expected to include sweeping reciprocal tariffs on other nations with duties on U.S. goods. Two days later, the March jobs report is released, which is expected to reflect broad federal job reductions.
On Capitol Hill, Congress returns. The Senate is expected to work on getting the budget resolution to the floor. On the House side, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will go head-to-head with Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) and her effort to allow proxy voting for new mothers, which Johnson opposes.
A new book, “Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House” from The Hill senior political correspondent Amie Parnes and NBC News senior national politics reporter Jonathan Allen, details the tension surrounding the transition from former President Biden to Vice President Harris as the 2024 Democratic nominee. The Hill has exclusive excerpts, ahead of the book’s release on Tuesday.
Republicans, meanwhile, are training their attention on Florida, where a pair of special elections will determine not only their margin of majority in the House but will indicate if discontent with the GOP has taken root since Election Day in November.
And in Wisconsin, the state’s Supreme Court majority hangs in the balance of the election there on Tuesday. Elon Musk campaigned for the conservative in the race, Brad Schimel, on Sunday night.
Follow along for updates on this and more.
Trump says he’s ‘not joking’ about a third term. Republicans insist he is
Congressional Republicans are brushing off President Trump’s latest comments about seeking a third term, downplaying them as a joke designed to needle the media even as the president insists he is serious.
Trump has teased the idea of a 2028 bid for years, remarks that were largely seen as an effort to mock his opponents. But his comments over the weekend to NBC, which were some of his most expansive yet on the topic, created new questions about his intentions despite the Constitution’s clear language barring any such push.
Still, Republicans in Congress largely believe his remarks were just another barb aimed at the left.
“We’ve got this little problem that’s probably going to prevent that from happening. It’s called the Constitution,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said. “I think it’s more tongue-in-cheek than anything else.”
Others agreed.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said that Trump has a “great sense of humor.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said he believes Trump is giving his opponents and the media a hard time.
“You guys keep asking the question and I think he’s probably having some fun with it,” Thune told reporters on Monday. “[He’s] probably messing with you.”
Groups sue over Trump’s order requiring proof of citizenship to vote
Three organizations sued Monday over President Trump’s executive order that aims to require proof of citizenship when individuals register to vote.
The lawsuit claims Trump is overstepping his authority and also challenges a provision that seeks to prevent states from accepting mail-in ballots received after Election Day.
“Under our Constitution, the President does not dictate election rules. States and Congress do,” the complaint states.
The suit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., by the League of United Latin American Citizensn (LULAC), Secure Families Initiative and the Arizona Students’ Association.
GOP leader: Trump ‘messing with’ opponents with third term talk
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Monday said he believes that President Trump is “messing with” his opponents and the media with his remarks about the possibility of seeking a third term in 2028 despite the 22nd Amendment.
Thune told reporters that despite Trump’s insistence that he is “not joking” about a third White House term, he is likely using the opportunity to make light of the chatter.
“Not without a change in the Constitution,” Thune told reporters.
“You guys keep asking the question and I think he’s probably having some fun with it, probably messing with you,” Thune added.
Whitmer to deliver speech on bipartisanship in Washington
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) will deliver a speech in Washington, D.C., on Thursday focused on her vision for working with both parties on a number of issues, including manufacturing and national defense.
According to a press release announcing her visit, Whitmer “will outline her bipartisan approach to bring supply chains home from China, create more good-paying jobs, and invest in our defense industry.”
“The governor is focused on a long-term strategy that puts America at the forefront of manufacturing and strengthens our national defense. Governor Whitmer will continue to work with anyone to continue getting things done, grow the economy, and protect our nation,” the press release said.
The governor will sit down with former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson following her speech.
Whitmer has served as Michigan governor since 2019 and is term-limited. However, Whitmer has been floated as a potential 2028 presidential contender. Whitmer hails from a swing state President Trump flipped in November, but Democrats have performed successfully at the state level during her tenure as governor.
Immigration advocates challenge rule requiring migrant registry
A coalition of immigration advocates has sued the Trump administration over a policy that requires migrants to self-register with the government.
The Trump administration’s interim rule points to a little-used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that requires anyone over the age of 14 who is unlawfully present in the country to register with authorities and alert the government of any change in address.
“This rule is an invitation for widespread abuse. We’re talking about a new reality in the United States, in which anyone perceived to be an immigrant would have to carry their identity documents any time they leave the house and be prepared to show them to law enforcement on demand, at risk of being arrested,” Michelle Lapointe, legal director at the American Immigration Council, said in a statement.
“The United States is not a ‘carry your papers’ country, and this rule jeopardizes the freedoms and rights of millions of people who live here.”
White House says Signal controversy is ‘closed’
The White House said Monday that its probe into how a journalist was added to a group chat of officials discussing military strikes is closed, as the administration seeks to move past the controversy.
“This case has been closed here at the White House, as far as we are concerned,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
“There have been steps taken to ensure that something like that can obviously never happen again moving forward, and the president and Mike Waltz and his entire national security team have been working together very well, if you look at how much safer the United States of America is because of the leadership of this team,” Leavitt added, referencing Trump’s national security adviser.
Leavitt did not specify what steps were taken. Some administration officials have defended the use of Signal despite the controversy, and Trump has indicated he does not intend to fire anyone over the incident.
Trump ‘hare-brained’ third term talk a distraction from Signal leak: Ana Navarro
Ana Navarro, a co-host of ABC’s “The View,” says President Trump is floating the idea of a third term as way to distract from other headlines that are swirling around his administration.
“He is the distractor in chief,” Navarro said. “So he doesn’t want us to keep talking about Signalgate, which is a real threat to national security and everyday more details are revealed that show us how incompetent and reckless his national security team is.”
Navarro said she has “learned the lesson of taking him seriously,” no matter “how hare brained” what the president says is.
Trump to announce tariffs in Rose Garden
President Trump plans to make his sweeping announcement of reciprocal tariffs on other nations at a Wednesday event in the Rose Garden.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared the plans with reporters at the White House on Monday as the administration signals it’s full speed ahead with the tariffs, despite concerns from parts of the business community.
It will mark the first major Rose Garden event of Trump’s second term.
Leavitt blasts statement by WHCA leaders
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Monday that the West Wing is “seriously considering” making changes to the White House Press Briefing room seating chart and blasted the White House Correspondents Association for a statement pushing back on rumors it was seeking to take control of the room.
“We’ve made a lot of changes across the board that have benefited the American public to how this White House is covered,” Leavitt said Monday afternoon during an appearance on Fox News. “We believe that it’s fundamentally unfair that a group of D.C.-based elitists get to choose who gets to cover the president of the United States.”
Leavitt had been asked about a report in Axios over the weekend suggesting the West Wing was considering taking control of the briefing room seating chart, a job typically reserved for the correspondents association.
In a statement on Monday, the WHCA board issued a blistering statement pushing back on those rumors.
“The White House should abandon this wrong-headed effort and show the American people they’re not afraid to explain their policies and field questions from an independent media free from government control,” it said.
GOP senator: Trump ‘wasn’t advocating’ for third term
Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) on Monday argued President Trump “wasn’t advocating” for a third term when he floated a possible 2028 run over the weekend, adding that such a move would require a “highly unlikely” change to the Constitution.
“The president was responding to a question. He wasn’t advocating for that,” Husted told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“We all know that you would have to change the Constitution,” he continued. “And that would be highly unlikely.”
Trump, during a phone interview with NBC News on Sunday, said there are potential workarounds to allow him to serve a third term.
“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump said. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration. … I’m focused on the current.”
When asked to clarify, Trump maintained that he was “not joking” and told the network that there are “methods which you could do it.”
Trump pointed to one where Vice President Vance runs for the White House and passes off the job to him.
“But there are others, too,” Trump added, declining to go any further or list any other avenues.
Any change to the Constitution would need either a two-thirds vote of Congress or two-thirds of the states calling a constitutional convention to lay out possible alterations. The change would then need to be ratified by three-quarters of the states.
Grijalva’s daughter running for his Arizona seat
The daughter of the late Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) is running for his House seat in the special election set to replace him this fall.
Adelita Grijalva, a member of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, announced her candidacy on Monday in a post on X, saying that Arizona deserves a “progressive champion” who will stand up to President Trump and fight for working families.
Supreme Court appears swayed by Catholic charity group’s tax exemption bid
The Supreme Court on Monday seemed swayed by a Catholic charity group’s bid for tax relief in Wisconsin in a case that could drastically alter eligibility for religious tax exemptions.
A Wisconsin chapter of Catholic Charities, a social services arm of Catholic dioceses nationwide, challenged the top state court’s determination that it does not qualify for a religious tax exemption because it isn’t “operated primarily for religious purposes.”
Catholic Charities Bureau is controlled by the Diocese of Superior but claims it was denied an exemption from a state unemployment tax because it serves and employs non-Catholics, completes work that could be administered by non-religious groups and doesn’t attempt to proselytize, swaying those it serves to become Catholic.
Eric Rassbach, a lawyer for Catholic Charities, argued that no court would hold that clergy who preach on Saturday aren’t ministers because preaching on Sunday is more typical, nor would a court suggest that religious leaders who help the poor aren’t ministers because secular leaders help the poor, too.
“By that measure, Mother Teresa might not qualify,” Rassbach said, suggesting the Wisconsin Supreme Court erred in declining to qualify Catholic Charities for the exemption.
60 percent disapprove of Trump tariffs: Survey
Nearly 60 percent of Americans disagree with President Trump’s handling of tariffs and trade negotiations two months into his second term, a new poll finds amid Trump’s escalating trade wars with Canada, Mexico and China.
The sentiment surrounding Trump’s economic policies was the lowest among areas surveyed in the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Monday, while Trump received considerably higher marks on his sweeping immigration crackdown.
Just 38 percent of respondents said they approve of Trump’s approach to trade negotiations with other countries, while 40 percent said they agree with his handling of the economy overall. Comparatively, half of respondents in the AP poll said they agree with the president’s immigration policies, which have included mass deportations and other efforts to crack down on both legal and illegal immigration.
Judge schedules hearing on whether administration violated deportation flight order
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg has scheduled a 3 p.m. EDT Thursday hearing on whether the Trump administration violated his order to turn around flights deporting migrants under the Alien Enemies Act.
The judge announced the hearing in a brief docket entry entered Monday.
Boasberg has vowed to “get to the bottom” of whether his order was violated as the administration invokes the state secrets privilege in refusing to hand over more information about the contested flights, which brought hundreds of migrants to an El Salvador prison earlier this month. The judge has faced significant public criticism from Trump and his allies for ruling against the administration.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has gone to the Supreme Court to try to lift Boasberg’s orders.
Trump faces crucial week on the economy
President Trump is entering a critical week for the economy amid growing fears that his penchant for tariffs could stall growth and undercut progress on inflation.
Trump has described Wednesday as “Liberation Day,” when his administration will impose sweeping reciprocal tariffs on other nations with duties on U.S. goods. The March jobs report will also be released Friday, providing additional data about the strength of the labor market, particularly in the wake of thousands of federal government employees being fired by the administration.
Experts described the economy as at something of a crossroads. Data about the labor market and wages have been generally positive, economists said. But the closely watched University of Michigan Survey of Consumers issued a report Friday that found consumer sentiment dropped to its lowest point since November 2022 amid fears of rising prices that could be worsened by tariffs.
How Biden’s frailties hampered Harris
Democratic Party officials and White House staffers were well aware of President Biden’s frailties ahead of his choice to end his ill-fated reelection bid last summer, according to exclusive excerpts of a new book released to The Hill.
The excerpt from “Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House” by The Hill senior political correspondent Amie Parnes and NBC News senior national politics reporter Jonathan Allen reveals extensive steps to cover up the signs of Biden’s aging and contingency planning if Biden chose to step aside or even died in office.
“It shows what we had to do to prepare with the unique circumstances we had, which was an eighty-plus-year-old president who was running,” one party official who was involved in the secret discussions said, according to Parnes and Allen.
Read the full story here.