Keeping Everyone Busy

Today’s notice: Trump floods the zone. “The posts are on ‘X,’ you say? Never heard of it.” Stopping a Senate campaign. Everyone’s changing their party registration.

Zones, Flooded: Last night, Donald Trump signed orders banning or restricting travel into the U.S. from 19 nations, launching an investigation into Joe Biden’s White House staff and restricting foreign students from attending Harvard.

The De-Eloning Continues: Shortly before all that, Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, told reporters on a conference call he hadn’t been “up on everything that’s been on Twitter” lately. By which he means his onetime DOGE partner Elon Musk’s relentless attacks on the “one big, beautiful bill.”

“I don’t think the extent to which there are opposing views on the outside are hurting our ability to pass this bill. I really don’t,” Vought said.

We Had to Pass the Bill so You Can Find Out What Is in It: Vought’s take on Musk’s X posts is not shared by some House Republicans who voted for the bill, however. Many of them regret their support, NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz reports, and hope the Senate’s version has substantive changes to help quell their buyers’ remorse.

“Thank God we have somebody like [Musk] that’s coming in with a wrecking ball and trying to help us here,” said Rep. Eric Burlison, who voted for the bill.

On the Senate cleanup: “I think they’re going to strip that part out. I’m very glad about that,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told NOTUS, a day after saying she was surprised she voted for a regulation moratorium on AI in the bill, which she hadn’t fully read.

DOGEpile? Not every member of the House DOGE caucus is feeling regretful as Musk’s critiques rain down. Rep. Aaron Bean, co-chair of the caucus, used X to post his support for the bill.

“We did the right thing,” Rep. Ralph Norman, another caucus member, told NOTUS’ Taylor Giorno.

In summary, bill supporters say Musk is mad because of what it cut (EV subsidies) and bill opponents say he’s mad because of what it doesn’t cut (the deficit). The Senate might put the EV subsidies back in, and no one is expecting it to make steeper cuts than what the House passed to things like Medicaid. Will that silence Musk? Does it matter if it does?

Democrats are hoping that Musk keeps going: They’ve embraced his “disgusting abomination” description of the bill, and welcome him keeping his profile high so they can use him as a top villain.

“The Musk stain on the administration will not go away just because he’s had an epiphany and has moved on because it has started to damage his own business interests,” Rep. Troy Carter told NOTUS’ Tinashe Chingarande.

How a Bill Does Not Become a Senator: The White House and Republican lawmakers are privately pressuring Rep. Bill Huizenga to stay out of Michigan’s Senate race, sources tell NOTUS’ Reese Gorman.

“Trump surrogates have made it very clear to him that he should not run,” a GOP operative told NOTUS. Though a Huizenga spokesperson said the congressman’s conversations with the president about the race have been “positive.”

The pressure campaign in action: At the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas last week, former Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita was working a room of crypto executives to keep Huizenga’s money spigot closed. LaCivita is advising former Rep. Mike Rogers, who the NRSC has publicly backed for the seat.

Dusting Off the Biden White House Group Chats: Former press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s book announcement and party affiliation change to “independent” inspired many “wtf” text messages in Biden world.

Former White House officials told NOTUS that no one could clearly understand whether the upcoming book would be slamming Biden or slamming the Democratic Party for pushing him out. But people had many thoughts (and not very kind ones) either way:

If slamming Biden: “She always talked about how close she was to Biden, and now to turn around and do this. It’s so gross,” said one former White House official.

If slamming Democrats: “How out of touch do you need to be that your takeaway from the past 12 months is: ‘I’m leaving the party because the party left Joe Biden,’” said another.

Changing Parties Is So In Right Now: Former Rep. David Jolly has gone from Republican to unaffiliated voter and now, as of April, registered as a Democrat to run for governor of Florida. “It is the strength of our campaign that over 10 years, I have grown and changed and evolved,” he told NOTUS’ Claire Heddles.

He’s keeping it DINO, however: “I was a disaffected partisan who loves the independent thought of being untethered from a major party, but looking to organize with a coalition that could win elections,” Jolly said. But he eventually realized that without one, he “cannot win a statewide election.”

Florida is so weird: Back in 2016, Jolly lost his Tampa-area seat to Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist, who also ran for governor as a Democrat (years after he had the job as a Republican).

The Dems Are Fighting Again: It billed itself as the “largest public gathering of centrist Democrats,” and for several hours in D.C. yesterday, WelcomeFest was a place where attendees could tell each other they are the real Democrats.

“I often get a lot of very quiet, ‘I agree with you,’” Third Way’s Lanae Erickson told the crowd on one panel.

“Say it out loud,” fellow panelist and strategist Adam Jentleson interjected.

Later when Rep. Ritchie Torres tried to say what he wanted to say out loud, he was interrupted by progressive activists upset at his staunch support for Israel. NOTUS’ Alex Roarty was there: The protestors were quickly removed, the crowd jeered and Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” started playing over the speakers.

New on NOTUS

• The Race to Be Trump’s Leading Foil in Congress Is ‘Wide Open’: Reps. Robert Garcia, Jasmine Crockett, Kweisi Mfume and Stephen Lynch are battling to lead Democrats on the Oversight Committee.
• Ukraine’s Allies in the Senate Feel ‘More Encouraged Than Ever’: Republicans sign on to the Russian sanctions bill despite it lacking Trump’s support.
• Ex-DOJ Lawyers Form a Legal Network to Protect Former Colleagues: Lawyers are offering free legal services to those Trump’s administration has targeted at the DOJ.
• The Senate Doesn’t Like House Republicans’ Carbon Capture Tax Credit Cuts: The carbon capture industry is used to benefiting from bipartisan support.
• Democrats Call on California to Hold the Line on Trans Rights: Trump threatened fines over California’s trans student athlete policies.

Not Us

• Internal document shows how UnitedHealth executives prepared to tamp down investor unrest, by Casey Ross, Tara Bannow and Bob Herman for Stat News
• This Conservative Is Doing Just Fine, Thank You, After Getting Dumped by Trump, by Maggie Severns, Josh Dawsey and John Jurgensen for The Wall Street Journal
• Inside Ron DeSantis’ tough year in Florida, by Gary Fineout for Politico

Be Social

Questionable meal advice on Capitol Hill.

https://x.com/repmikecollins/status/1930292381644910592?s=46

https://x.com/UrsulaPerano/status/1930305957357056385

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