Latest from Politico
Politico
18 minutes ago
- Politics
- Politico
Trump launches new round of third country deportations with new flight to Eswatini
The five deportees all have a criminal history, according to McLaughlin's post. The Trump administration has made the practice of third country deportations a cornerstone of its immigration policy in an effort to speed up its mass deportation agenda, seeking to reach agreements with several nations to accept migrants from other countries. 'When you've got countries that won't take their nationals back, and they can't stay here, we find another country willing to accept them,' Trump border czar Tom Homan told POLITICO last week. It was not immediately clear the scope or scale of any agreement the Trump administration may have come to with Eswatini before Tuesday's deportations. While previous administrations have also used third country removals as a deportation mechanism, the Trump administration's practice of sending deportees to places like El Salvador, notorious for its CECOT mega-prison, and conflict-ridden South Sudan, has drawn scrutiny from immigration lawyers and advocates who have warned of the potential dangers of sending deportees to countries with known human rights violations. The legal battle over third country deportations came to a head earlier this month, when the Supreme Court cleared the way for eight men to be sent to South Sudan after they were detained for six weeks in a shipping container on a U.S. military base in Djibouti while the administration fought to deport them in the courts. Homan last week told POLITICO he was unsure of the status of the eight men, confirming that they had arrived in South Sudan but saying that he had no further information on their whereabouts, including whether or not they remained in detention.
Politico
18 minutes ago
- Business
- Politico
US businesses brace for impact of all-out trade war
But on Tuesday, the president struck a slightly less confrontational tone, dismissing the idea that the EU may go through with their proposed retaliatory tariffs. That's a much different reaction than when he threatened to put a 200 percent tariff on European wine and spirits in March. 'Well, I don't know how they can retaliate,' Trump told reporters at the White House, when asked about the EU's new trade war preparations. 'You know, they've made a lot of money. They've treated us very badly, but now they're treating us very nicely, and I think we'll end up, I think everybody's going to be happy with the EU.' Some EU countries, however, are not in the mood to make nice after Trump once again upended the negotiations, sending a blunt weekend letter saying he planned to raise tariffs on the bloc to 30 percent. 'We are partners, and we must reach an agreement,' French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said at a Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels Tuesday. 'The European Union is the United States' largest trading partner, but it is not destined to become a vassal of the United States.' The letter also outraged some in Japan, which has not, to this point, threatened any retaliation to Trump's tariffs. 'We may have to rethink whether being nice, polite, diplomatic, is something that would move President Trump,' a former Japanese official said last week. 'It appears that leverage is the only language that will be understood by the White House.' Domestic companies fear the increasingly harsh rhetoric could escalate into soaring tit-for-tat tariffs next month, which is especially alarming for those that have been in the cross-hairs of a Trump trade war before. Despite months of lobbying from Ireland and France, the EU included bourbon among its tariff targets, in a repeat of Europe's tariff strategy during Trump's first administration. The previous retaliatory tariffs, aimed at the signature industry of then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), caused American whiskey exports to Europe to drop by 20 percent between 2018 and 2021, according to the Distilled Spirits Council, a trade group representing the liquor industry. 'This is devastating for the bourbon industry,' said Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.). 'We don't have to guess, we can just look at what happened last time.' This time, the bourbon industry has also taken a hit in Canada, where the government-controlled liquor stores have pulled 'Made in the USA' products like bourbon from the shelves in response to Trump's threats to make Canada the 51st state.
Politico
43 minutes ago
- Politics
- Politico
Why I'm Rooting for Harvard, Just This Once
I don't expect my grandkids to attend Harvard University. After all, I didn't get in when I applied a half-century ago. Even though I'm now president of an elite college myself, I've enjoyed making fun of the fancy school in Cambridge whenever possible. 'They think they're so great,' is an attitude I've shared with many Americans whether the 'they' referred to graduates of our nation's oldest university or some other privileged group to which we don't belong. But now, as America's president targets Harvard with relentless vindictiveness, I'm seeing the school in a different light. As the White House insists on loyalty and subservience from all sectors of civil society, I find myself rooting for Harvard — and so should you, even if you share conservative priorities on other matters. When I was growing up, 'Follow the leader' was just a children's game in which players would mimic whoever was in charge no matter what silliness they indulged in. When I was a little older, I remember watching old newsreels of German and Italian adults in the 1930s and 40s marching in step, but my parents assured me that that would never happen here. As an American, they told me, I would never have to follow the leader. I could love my country without being subservient to those in power. And that's what I want for my grandchildren: to thrive in America without having to express loyalty to oligarchs and government officials. The logic of the current administration is that since many schools receive federal funding, they too are now expected to march in step. But countless groups receive financial support from Washington — from soybean farmers to computer chip manufacturers, from rural hospital workers to coal miners — and that funding has not, until now, depended on conformity with the ideology of those in power. So why would the Trump administration now demand exactly that from universities like Harvard? The answer is that the federal government's current assault on higher education is meant to erode the independence of colleges and universities, even though the excellence of this sector depends on that very independence. Although the president claims he is attacking 'woke,' liberal values, he and his administration are attacking core conservative values as well. The government's specific accusations are absurd on their face. Jim Ryan, the president of the University of Virginia, led a school where the fastest growing subjects were Computer Science and Data science, but he was targeted for leading an institution that was dominated, according to the government, by a bunch of leftist lunatics. Northwestern University and Cornell University have had grants suspended mostly from the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Education and Health and Human Services totaling more than $1.5 billion because of suspected civil rights violations. At Harvard, where the university president and several leading deans identify as Jews, the school is accused by the White House of deliberate indifference to victims of antisemitism. The funding threats to scientific research, especially in medicine, are astronomical. As an American Jew, I know that antisemitism is real, of course, and it has gotten worse in this country. But the administration's anti-antisemitism is a sham. The president and his minions have a long history of tolerating the most vile Jew hatred, whether being mealy mouthed about the extremists marching in Charlottesville or Nick Fuentes dining with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Elon Musk's Grok AI may have been praising Nazis last week, but this week the Department of Defense announced it was one of its bot-bros for government work. The truth is that the Trump administration's anti-antisemitism is a flimsy cover for their insistence on ideological conformity, particularly from institutions whose legitimacy has never depended in the past on expressions of loyalty to the leader. Another pretense Trump administration officials have used is enforcing the Supreme Court's decision last year to end race-conscious admissions. The White House does indeed have the authority to move away from programs that resemble affirmative action. Rejecting 'reverse discrimination,' the government can forbid attempts to deal with historical patterns of discrimination through preferences meant to counteract those patterns. Elections have consequences, and the new civil rights regime understands discrimination through a lens of individual fairness outside of a historical or social context. I don't agree with this approach, but I obey it as the current law of the land. The federal government also has the authority to insist that no one is discriminated against because of their political beliefs or protected speech. The political biases in some departments at some universities are real, and leaders of colleges and universities should be encouraged to do more to ensure that conservatives, for example, are not discriminated against in admissions or hiring decisions. But the recent moves against universities go far beyond reinterpretations of civil rights statutes. This White House wants to ensure that universities, like big law firms, media outlets and foundations, show their allegiance to those currently in charge. The mere independence of these organizations is seen as a threat to the concentration of power in the hands of the president. You don't have to be a progressive to worry about this assault on some of these key institutions of civil society. The president's supporters themselves rail against entrenched elites and a deep state that lords it over ordinary citizens. Indeed, at the core of modern conservative thought is the notion that a country needs 'countervailing forces' that push back against the centralization of state power. This was fundamental to Baron de Montesquieu writing about law in the first half of the 18th century, as it was for Edmund Burke writing about political culture in its second half. For the French philosopher, a healthy society depended on the freedoms that are preserved in local and regional traditions. Burke argued that we learned about freedom from what he called the 'little platoons' in our communities — those local associations that nurtured us without the intrusion of a central government. We learn about belonging as we develop allegiances to family, work associations, religious congregations. Schools are such associations, groups that come together for the purposes of learning and inquiry, communities that foster practices of freedom without being directed by a central power. Alexis de Tocqueville, another thinker beloved by many conservatives, underscored this dimension of American democracy when he wrote in the mid 1800s that 'without local institutions a nation may give itself a free government, but it has not got the spirit of liberty.' The spirit of freedom is built on the associations that develop without dictates from central government, and it guides educational institutions. 'The art of associating together must ... be learned,' Tocqueville wrote. 'In democratic countries the science of association is the mother of science; the progress of all the rest depends upon the progress it has made.' Colleges and universities in this country have long cultivated this subtle 'science of association,' and that's why it is so vital for all Americans to resist the current administration's efforts to force public and private schools to conform to the president's ideological preferences. It's not that the ecosystem of higher education is perfect — I know that firsthand. But neither are other institutions core to our nation's liberty, including churches and synagogues, scout troops and public libraries. Whatever the flaws of universities and other institutions, massive pressure from the executive branch cannot improve this vital part of our economy and culture; it can only impose conformity, something conservatives have long opposed. Nothing good will come from forcing schools as different as Hillsdale and Harvard, the University of Texas and the University of Virginia to conform to the president's image — any president's image — of what higher education should be. Chances are that when my little grandkids are old enough to go to college, if they apply to Harvard, they won't get in. (Even though I can assure you they are absolutely perfect!) That's okay, because if there are still great independent universities to apply to, that will mean that we were successful in fighting back against the tyrannical assault currently underway. It will mean that they can enjoy the freedoms that are my birthright and theirs.
Politico
44 minutes ago
- Health
- Politico
Trump's next health nominee in the hot seat
Presented by With help from Simon Levien Driving the Day CHRISTINE FACES QUESTIONING — President Donald Trump's choice for a top post at HHS, Dr. Brian Christine, goes before senators today for a confirmation hearing. Christine will face questioning from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee as lawmakers consider his nomination to be assistant secretary for health — one of the highest-ranking jobs at HHS and a position often held by admirals in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. Why it matters: If he advances through the committee and is eventually confirmed by the full Senate, Christine, a men's sexual health doctor and GOP donor, would oversee thousands of uniformed public-health service members and be charged with carrying out Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s public health agenda, Simon reports. One of the highest-ranking positions at the agency, the assistant secretary for health advises the HHS secretary and recommends policy related to public health matters like disease prevention, vaccine programs and health disparities. He would also help lead a new HHS office called the Administration for a Healthy America, which consolidates existing agency offices to focus on primary care, maternal and child health, mental health, environmental health, HIV/AIDS and workforce development. Background: Christine, a urologic surgeon at Urology Centers of Alabama, has previously criticized the acceptance of transgender health care and the federal government's response to the Covid-19 pandemic. He's expressed opposition to trans athletes competing in women's sports and has said on his podcast — called 'Common Sense,' and last airing two years ago — that children experiencing gender dysphoria should seek counseling or 'pastoral care,' not gender-affirming treatments. He's also come under scrutiny after The Wall Street Journal reported in March that his Alabama urology practice advertised its work treating transgender men with erectile dysfunction. Christine has denied treating trans patients. Since taking office, Trump has directed HHS to restrict access to gender-affirming care treatments for children and teens. The Alabama GOP has praised Christine's nomination, calling him 'a longtime Conservative grassroots activist and dedicated supporter of the Alabama Republican Party.' In 2024, Christine contributed more than $8,500 to Trump's campaign. Key context: Dr. Rachel Levine, a pediatrician and the highest-ranking openly trans person to serve at the federal level, held the job during the Biden administration. Levine, who used the post to advocate gender-affirming care, was frequently the target of anti-trans attacks from Trump and his allies. WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY PULSE. Today marks the third anniversary of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, and awareness of the hotline is up dramatically from 2022, according to a new National Alliance on Mental Illness poll. Send your tips, scoops and feedback to khooper@ and sgardner@ and follow along @kelhoops and @sophie_gardnerj. HAWLEY'S ABOUT-FACE — Just weeks after voting for massive cuts to Medicaid in the GOP's 'big, beautiful bill,' Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a bill Tuesday that would walk back those cuts. Hawley repeatedly voiced his opposition to deep Medicaid cuts throughout the megabill negotiation process, specifically provisions that would hit rural hospitals. But he ultimately voted 'yes' on the recently enacted legislation, which contains more than $1 trillion in health care cuts and a provision that would cap state provider taxes — a move that hospitals have said could deeply reduce their revenue and limit access to health care for millions of Medicaid enrollees. Hawley said he voted for the bill's passage after negotiating for the inclusion of a $50 billion rural hospital fund but said at the time that he would 'continue to do everything in my power to reverse future cuts to Medicaid.' His new legislation, the Protect Medicaid and Rural Hospitals Act, would repeal the megabill's moratorium on taxes that states impose on providers to generate more Medicaid funding, which helps boost payments to hospitals. Hawley's bill would repeal megabill provisions that reduce state-directed payments — which enable states to increase the rates that privately run Medicaid managed care plans reimburse providers. His legislation would also double the megabill's investment in the rural hospital fund to $100 billion and extend the fund from five to 10 years. 'President Trump has always said we have to protect Medicaid for working people. Now is the time to prevent any future cuts to Medicaid from going into effect,' Hawley said in a news release. Global Health PEPFAR U-TURN — Senate Republicans on Tuesday stripped cuts to global AIDs funding from the White House's $9.4 billion spending clawback request, POLITICO's Jordain Carney and Cassandra Dumay report. Republicans will remove a $400 million cut to the global AIDS program known as PEPFAR, reducing the amount of cuts in the package to $9 billion, said Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), who's leading the rescissions effort in concert with the White House. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he expects the removal to be the only change made to the rescissions package, adding that there was a 'lot of interest' among Senate Republicans to address the cut to the program created under then-President George W. Bush and credited with saving tens of millions of lives. News of the change came after White House Budget Director Russ Vought briefed senators during a closed-door lunch Tuesday. Schmitt said the White House is on board with the change. 'We're fine with adjustments,' Vought told reporters. 'This is still a great package, $9 billion, substantially the same package. The Senate has to work its will, and we've appreciated the work along the way to get to a place where they think they've got the votes.' Background: Several GOP senators, including Appropriations Chair Susan Collins of Maine, had raised concerns about the AIDS funding cuts. It's unclear whether the $400 million rollback will be enough to secure her vote, but it might placate enough Republicans to advance the package through the Senate. Other Republicans being watched closely are Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell and Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran. At the Agencies HOSPITAL PAY CUT — The Trump administration is proposing cutting $280 million in payments to certain hospital clinics for administering drugs to patients, POLITICO's Robert King reports. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the cut would ensure that Medicare beneficiaries aren't charged more for the same service at a hospital than at an independent clinic. The proposed rule is likely to generate fierce pushback from the hospital industry, which has successfully fought similar congressional efforts. The rule also outlines 2026 Medicare payment rates for hospital outpatient services and ambulatory surgical centers and includes new changes to boost price transparency. 'These reforms expand options and enforce the transparency Americans deserve to ensure they receive high-quality care without hidden costs,' CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz said in a statement. Background: The first Trump administration adopted a policy in 2019 to lower payments for outpatient hospital clinics to align them with those of independent clinics. Now, CMS wants to expand that policy to include services for storing or administering pharmaceuticals to patients. The agency estimates the change will reduce Medicare spending by $280 million, with $210 million allocated to Medicare and $70 million to Medicare beneficiaries thanks to lower co-insurance rates, according to a fact sheet on the rule. Key context: Site-neutral payments — when Medicare pays the same amount for the same service regardless of where it's provided — have gotten bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. But packages have never made it across the finish line partly due to fervent lobbying from the hospital industry, which argues the payment cuts would imperil the finances of vulnerable hospitals. What's next: The rule has a 60-day comment period before final approval. WHAT WE'RE READING POLITICO's Lauren Gardner reports on Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal suggesting he's open to changing the federal vaccine injury program. KFF Health News' Darius Tahir reports in NPR that researchers fear a program that collects DNA data from millions of retired military service members could be in limbo. Endpoints News' Jared Whitlock reports on the Trump administration's disbanding of a newborn screening panel for rare conditions.
Politico
44 minutes ago
- Business
- Politico
Cassidy holds cash advantage over GOP challengers
Speaker Mike Johnson is trying again to pass landmark cryptocurrency legislation this week after Tuesday's failed rule vote. This time, President Donald Trump says he has the votes. After 12 hard-liners tanked the procedural vote setting up debate on three cryptocurrency bills, the president announced he flipped the holdouts after a meeting with them in the Oval Office on Tuesday night. 'Johnson was at the meeting via telephone, and looks forward to taking the Vote as early as possible,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. Some of the House Republicans who tanked the crypto rule were also at the Treasury Department on Tuesday night talking through their concerns about a possible central bank digital currency, according to two Republicans granted anonymity to discuss the talks. House Freedom Caucus members were initially demanding a ban on any government sponsored digital currency be added to the GENIUS Act, the Senate-passed stablecoin bill, out of concerns over privacy and stifling private sector innovation. That language already exists in the CLARITY Act, a crypto market structure bill also slated for action this week. 'Central bank digital currency — we have to put a stake in its heart once and for all,' House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) told POLITICO on Tuesday after the failed vote. 'The action under that rule wouldn't have done it.' It's not clear what assurances the holdouts got. But the House is now flipping its schedule: Lawmakers will vote on the GENIUS Act on Wednesday after the rule vote, rather than voting first on the CLARITY Act. Trump has said he wants the Senate-passed stablecoin bill sent to his desk this week. After the party-line rule vote, all three cryptocurrency bills are expected to easily pass with some Democratic support. Speaking of central banks: Several Republicans left the Oval Office meeting under the impression that Trump is about to move against Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) posted to X last night that an announcement is 'imminent.' Powell has steadfastly insisted he will remain in his post, and firing Powell could easily backfire on Trump and cause markets to tank. What else we're watching: — Vote-a-rama begins: Senate Majority Leader John Thune can let out an initial sigh of relief after Republicans cleared the first procedural hurdles Tuesday on Trump's effort to claw back billions in funding. Senators will move forward with a vote-a-rama on amendments starting at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, when rescissions skeptics like Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) plan to take another shot at further tweaks to the bill. — Crypto hearing: The Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee will meet Wednesday morning to discuss ways to harmonize the tax code with the other regulatory blueprints for digital assets pending votes on the chamber floor. The hearing will feature testimony from industry players including Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger and Jason Somensatto, director of policy at Coin Center. — Epstein fallout: Most Republican members are steering clear of the Epstein turmoil, but signs of discomfort are showing. Johnson broke with Trump on Tuesday to call on the Department of Justice to release all of its information on Jeffrey Epstein and for Attorney General Pam Bondi to explain her previous statement about having some sort of 'client list.' Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) is pushing House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) to invite Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell to testify in a public hearing before the committee. Meredith Lee Hill, Calen Razor and Benjamin Guggenheim contributed to this report.
