Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) is recovering back in North Dakota after falling on Sunday and suffering a “severe concussion,” he said in a Facebook post, Politico reports.
Cramer said that he was walking down to his dock earlier this week when he “stepped on ice and evidently fell hard, hitting the back of my head.”
He added: “I do not remember anything from the fall.”
“House Republican leadership’s plans to put their multi-trillion dollar budget blueprint on the floor today are in flux as senior GOP lawmakers work to build support for the proposal designed to pass President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda,” Punchbowl News reports.
Said Speaker Mike Johnson: “There may be a vote tonight, there may not be. Stay tuned.”
“Here’s the danger for Johnson and the House. If it starts to look like House Republicans are struggling to pass this budget resolution – which they are – White House sources say Trump could get impatient and back the Senate’s ‘narrow’ plan. It still may be a few days away from that dynamic playing out, however.”
New York Times: “It was a familiar conundrum for the speaker, who is working to quell discontent from both flanks of his fractious conference, all while dealing with a razor-thin majority that will accommodate almost no defections. If all members were present and voting, Mr. Johnson could afford to lose no more than a single Republican, and a handful have already said they are against the measure.”
Wall Street Journal: House Republican budget plan runs into trouble ahead of vote.
“Kyiv has agreed terms with Washington on a minerals deal that Ukrainian officials hope will improve relations with the Trump administration and pave the way for a long-term US security commitment,” the Financial Times reports.
“Ukrainian officials say Kyiv is now ready to sign the agreement on jointly developing its mineral resources, including oil and gas, after the US dropped demands for a right to $500 billion in potential revenue from exploiting the resources.”
“Last week, Elon Musk’s government cost-slashing initiative, dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, posted an online ‘wall of receipts,’ celebrating how much it had saved by canceling federal contracts,” the New York Times reports.
“Now the organization, which is also known as the U.S. DOGE Service, has deleted all of the five biggest ‘savings’ on that original list, after the New York Times and other media outlets pointed out they were riddled with errors.”
“The owners of Donald Trump’s former hotel in Washington are quietly shopping the rights to the property, which has reemerged as a hot watering hole for the MAGA crowd and those looking to influence it,” Semafor reports.
“The hotel, opened in a landmarked Post Office building in 2016, embodies the boom and bust of Trump’s political and commercial fortunes. During Trump’s first term, it served as a kind of bazaar for politicians, foreign officials, and executives seeking favor or access.”
A Roanoke College poll finds Virginia’s gubernatorial race has taken a dramatic twist as Abigail Spanberger (D) surged to a healthy lead over Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R), 39% to 24%.
The two were tied at 39% in the same survey in September.
NBC News: “At least four GOP rabble-rousers — Reps. Victoria Spartz of Indiana, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Warren Davidson of Ohio and Thomas Massie of Kentucky — emerged from a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday morning and said they would vote against the budget plan over concerns it doesn’t cut spending enough.”
“Those four votes could be enough to kill the measure. The GOP’s 218-215 House majority means Johnson can afford only a single GOP defection, unless lawmaker absences change the math.”
More than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services,” the AP reports.
Government Executive: “An independent federal oversight agency has deemed at least some of President Trump’s mass firings of probationary period employees unlawful, creating a pathway for those employees to regain their jobs.”
“The Office of Special Counsel, the agency responsible for investigating illegal actions taken against federal employees, issued its decision for six employees, each at different agencies. While the decision was technically limited in scope, it could have immediate impact on all terminated staff at those six agencies and could set a wide-ranging precedent across government. It has not been made public and was provided to Government Executive by a source within the government.”
House Republicans kicked off their press conference by addressing the viral town halls and protests in GOP districts, NBC News reports.
Said Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI): “Democrats are soliciting sob stories from bloated bureaucrats with six figure salaries… Give me a break.”
For members: It’s Happening Again
James Carville: “The Republican Party is all too often effective at campaigning and winning elections, but there’s another fact about it that a lot of Americans forget: The Republican Party flat out sucks at governing…”
“With no clear leader to voice our opposition and no control in any branch of government, it’s time for Democrats to embark on the most daring political maneuver in the history of our party: roll over and play dead. Allow the Republicans to crumble beneath their own weight, and make the American people miss us.”
“Only until the Trump administration has spiraled into the low 40s or high 30s in public approval polling percentages should we make like a pack of hyenas and go for the jugular. Until then, I’m calling for a strategic political retreat.”
“Speaker Mike Johnson said in a brief interview Tuesday he’s not worried that a late-night post from Elon Musk signaling concerns with the GOP budget plan could tank support ahead of a vote this evening,” Politico reports.
“He is still, however, facing an array of opposition.”
“Rep. Gerry Connolly, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, plans to investigate Washington’s top prosecutor for making threats against the Trump administration’s political adversaries — including one of his own members,” Politico reports.
“Alarmed by cuts already made to federal agencies that help safeguard elections, and fearful that more could be coming, a bipartisan group of the nation’s top state election officials has appealed to Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, for help,” the New York Times reports.
“In a rare move, the ordinarily restrained National Association of Secretaries of State wrote to Ms. Noem, the former South Dakota governor, on Friday asking that critical election programs and protections be spared during an upcoming agency review.”
“A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a new trial for Oklahoma death-row inmate Richard Glossip, whose long-running appeal attracted support from a broad coalition after independent investigations revealed prosecutorial misconduct,” the Washington Post reports.
“House Republicans hunting for ways to pay for President Trump’s tax cuts have called for cutting the federal government’s share of Medicaid spending, including a proposal that would effectively gut the Affordable Care Act’s 2014 expansion of the program,” the New York Times reports.
“Cutting Medicaid spending, which is central to the budget bill that House Republicans may bring to a vote on Tuesday, could result in millions of Americans across the country losing health coverage unless states decide to play a bigger role in its funding.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.