Today’s notice: The administration is not sweating the Hegseth stuff. Elon is taking a step back. Conservative court complaints. Flipping seats in TX and FL is so last midterm. But first: Are Democrats taking the bait on Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia?
The Immigration Conundrum
As quickly as some Democrats jumped on the Klimar Armando Abrego Garcia case, the backlash was just as immediate, with some strategists wondering why Democrats would focus on this issue when Donald Trump’s economic problems are such a clear political winner.
Tim Walz recently theorized that he and Kamala Harris made a mistake when they took the bait on Haitians supposedly eating cats and dogs. Even though it wasn’t true and outraged many voters — read: Democrats — it got everyone talking about a winning issue for Trump: immigration.
Meanwhile, Democrats could now be talking about the economic effects of Trump’s proposed tariffs and how the stock market has lost trillions since Trump took over. Which one would the president rather discuss?
These arguments are common among Democratic strategists, with one telling us Tuesday that Democrats should be “setting our own agenda” and not “responding to every single thing.” Democrats have been saying this about Trump’s second term since the day it started.
The problem is no one can ever agree when something is “responding” and when something is “agenda-setting.” NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz reports this morning that New Democrats — the party’s centrist wing — are hosting an event in Phoenix to talk to voters about border security and… immigration.
Is it smart politics to engage on an issue they care about or is it a mistake to distract from the economy? “What I think is unique about this is that it is solutions driven,” Rep. Nikki Budzinski tells Daniella.
Some Democrats say there’s an easy way to have both: respond to moments like the Abrego Garcia case and also set the agenda. “These people don’t care about following law, like that’s the bigger issue. They don’t care about following the law when it comes to the economy and ruining it. They don’t care about following the law when it comes to immigration,” Democratic strategist Tom Bowen told us. “You know who can do that? Rich and powerful people. You know who can’t do that? Ordinary people. There’s the contrast.”
Another problem with the avoidance argument is that one never really knows what’s going to become a liability for the opposition. NOTUS’ Calen Razor reports that Trump’s offhand comment on wanting to give some American citizens the El Salvador deportation treatment did not go over well at NRCC Chair Richard Hudson’s tele-town hall Tuesday night.
“I don’t know what the president meant by that,” Hudson said in response to a voter’s question. “I intend to ask him.”
—Evan McMorris-Santoro and Helen Huiskes | Read Daniella’s story. | Read Calen’s story.
The White House’s No Scalp Policy
The White House take on the Pete Hegseth saga is that only the media and Democrats care about it and neither group will be allowed to force the defense secretary out.
“Everyone knows the media wants a scalp,” a source familiar with White House thinking tells NOTUS’ Jasmine Wright. “They are not going to have that opportunity.”
A good place to be if you’re Hegseth. He went on Fox News on Tuesday morning and cast the people out to get him as a bunch of anti-MAGA haters who are actually out to get Trump. That view was well received at the White House, with the source referring to the White House as “dug in.”
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is still in chaos. “The vibe is very tense and operating in silos of excellence and not collaborative due to a lack of trust,” a defense official told NOTUS’ John T. Seward.
Jasmine reports that there will be no new guidance on the use of Signal for federal employees, despite the fact that it got Hegseth in trouble twice. The administration feels that since it got through the first Signal-gate, the second won’t derail its agenda. “There’s nothing to clean up,” the source familiar with White House’s thinking told Jasmine.
—Evan McMorris-Santoro
Front Page
- Pete Hegseth’s Posts Are Making DOJ’s Transgender Military Ban Defense Harder: Administration lawyers are arguing the transgender military ban is not a total ban, while the defense secretary suggests otherwise on X.
- Elon Musk Says His Time at DOGE Will Drop ‘Significantly’ as Tesla Reports Poor Earnings: Musk blamed Tesla’s grim first-quarter report on the blowback against his work at DOGE.
- FEC Unanimously Dismisses Conservative Complaint Against NPR: The ruling comes as Trump pushes Congress to slash funding for the public broadcaster.
- The Supreme Court Case on Public Religious Charter Schools Has Republicans Split: The St. Isidore case has potentially giant ramifications.
- Senate Democrats Say DOGE’s Labor Cuts Will ‘Hurt Children’: A letter led by Sen. Brian Schatz calls out DOGE’s cuts to the Bureau of International Labor Affairs.
The New Conservative Push Against Judicial Power
The House already passed a bill to limit the power of federal district court judges to issue nationwide injunctions, and Sen. Chuck Grassley just introduced one in the upper chamber. Trump allies have been repeatedly condemning federal judges lately. There’s an irony to all this, NOTUS’ Emily Kennard writes: “Legal experts have been surprised and puzzled by the newfound level of ire toward the judicial branch that Republicans long revered and sought to stack with allies.”
The frustrated say this is all consistent. “The conservative complaint is that too many of the district judges ruling on challenges to administration actions this second term are going too far by intruding on presidential prerogative,” Ilya Shapiro of the Manhattan Institute told her.
Of course, tell that to Leonard Leo, who has been on a yearslong victory lap celebrating the impact Federalist Society-backed judges will have on presidential prerogative for decades to come.
Are Texas and Florida on the Map for Democrats?
Democrats spent a lot of energy (read: money) on their attempts to flip Senate seats in Florida and Texas last year. If they want to retake the Senate, they’ll need to flip four seats next cycle. So you may think the party’s two white whales would be back on Democrats’ target list. But you’d be wrong. There’s not a lot of Democratic buzz about Florida and Texas, NOTUS’ Ursula Perano and Daniella Diaz report. Why? Looks like recruitment problems.
“The folks I would consider to be serious nominees, most of them are sitting out,” said Steve Schale, a Florida-based Democratic strategist.
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- 4-year-old migrant girl, other kids go to court in NYC with no lawyer: ‘The cruelty is apparent’ by Arya Sundaram for Gothamist
- Trump Laid Off Nearly All the Federal Workers Who Investigate Firefighter Deaths by Mark Olalde for ProPublica
- As Harvard Is Hailed a Hero, Some Donors Still Want It to Strike a Deal by Rob Copeland, Maureen Farrell and Michael S. Schmidt for The New York Times
- One Phone Call Set Off a Chain of Events That Could Topple Pete Hegseth by Ryan Grim for Drop Site
Be Social
The “OK, you got me” moment from Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s recent in-depth interview with the “Talk Easy” pod.
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