Lindsey Graham’s Long Day

Today’s notice: The House and Senate reconciliation divide heats up. Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for energy programs is frozen. Also, senators think Trump is playing 4D chess re: Ukraine.

Reconciling With Trump

Sen. Lindsey Graham had a long Wednesday.

The day started with Donald Trump unexpectedly announcing his support for “one big, beautiful” budget reconciliation package to pass his agenda rather than — what he called — “the Lindsey Graham version.” Trump was referring to Graham’s proposed two-step plan, preferred by many Senate Republicans who fear House GOP leadership won’t be able to wrangle its conference around one massive bill. On Tuesday night, the Senate advanced the “Graham version,” setting up a vote-a-rama for today.

As NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz and Reese Gorman report, Graham was caught off guard by Trump throwing his weight behind the one-bill strategy. As he walked into a Wednesday morning meeting with Senate leadership, Graham was overheard on a call asking, “Did you see Trump’s tweet?”

The drama consumed the day: Republicans hoped JD Vance might resolve the strategic dispute by persuading senators to ditch their plan over lunch. Instead, they too doubled down.

Graham insisted to reporters that the Senate was charging ahead. “Nobody wants one big, beautiful bill that gets it right more than I do,” he said. “But we need to move forward.”

The holdup on the House side comes as lawmakers squabble over $2 trillion in entitlement cuts over the next decade; that’s too much for moderate Republicans and too little for conservatives. With a razor-thin House majority, Graham is worried that Speaker Mike Johnson won’t be able to get the bill just right.

Meanwhile, NOTUS’ Ben T.N. Mause reports that if debt hawks are actually worried about bringing down the deficit, they should probably pay more attention to the proposed tax cuts.

Read Daniella and Reese’s story. | Read Ben’s story.

NOTUS Investigation: White House Energy-Funding Freeze

Despite a court ruling ordering otherwise, hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of federal funding for energy programs in the states remains frozen by the White House, NOTUS’ Anna Kramer and Nuha Dolby report. This is somewhat confusing considering a federal judge ordered funding restored on Jan. 31 and again on Feb. 10.

NOTUS dug into the numbers and found “there is virtually no part of the country and no energy or environmental program untouched” by administration efforts to choke off funding. Executive orders signed by Trump aimed at rescinding the so-called “Green New Deal” (a program that does not actually exist) appear to have paused funding for programs in many states.

One prime example is Arizona, which is among the states that received the most federal funds for environmental justice programs. Officials told NOTUS that as of Tuesday, the state wasn’t able to access federal grant money.

The Office of Management and Budget did not respond to a request for comment.

Read the story.

Front Page

• Is Kamala Harris Running for Governor? California Senators Would Also Like to Know.: “She’d be an outstanding governor,” Sen. Adam Schiff told NOTUS.
• A Federal Judge Left the Justice Department’s Eric Adams Drama Hanging: The hearing follows a Justice Department order to dismiss the corruption charges against the New York City mayor.
• The Trump Administration Is Moving to End New York’s Congestion Pricing Program: “Every American should be able to access New York City regardless of their economic means,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
• ‘Raw Tension': FBI Agents Brace for More Upheaval at the Agency: In Trump’s first month, agents have had to go to court to protect their anonymity and the White House has pushed FBI leaders — with more cuts expected to come.

Trump’s International 4-D Chess

Republican senators supporting Ukraine’s war efforts were left to justify yet another left-field comment from Trump when the president called the Ukrainian president a “dictator” on Wednesday, after suggesting on Tuesday that Ukraine started the war with Russia.

“He’s factually wrong on those points,” North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer told NOTUS. “I also don’t know his motive behind it. As a negotiator, he’s always positioning, and he’s in a negotiating mood these days.”

The argument that the president is playing 4D chess on the global stage has become a frequent refrain for senators on all manner of subjects, from trade to TikTok. Many said his latest comments were really meant to encourage a peace deal, NOTUS’ Haley Byrd Wilt reports.

“It’s sort of like the banter before the heavyweight fight,” Cramer continued, when contenders “show off their muscles.”

Read the story.

Q&A: Rep. Carlos Giménez on Temporary Protected Status

Rep. Carlos Giménez, a Florida Republican, recently expressed support for Venezuelans receiving Temporary Protected Status, which the Trump administration revoked for many recipients from the country. It’s a rare break from Trump for a member of the GOP. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

You said that you hoped to get case-by-case considerations for Venezuelans with Temporary Protected Status. Can you explain why?

Not all Venezuelans should be treated the same. I’ve said that while all Tren de Aragua members are from Venezuela, not all Venezuelans are Tren de Aragua. So I support deporting the criminals, the gang members and those that have valid deportation orders.

I disagreed with the assertion that somehow conditions have gotten better in Venezuela. They have not gotten better. And so there are people that if they go back will be persecuted, and we should protect those people.

There are thousands of Venezuelans in the country on TPS right now. Do you think it’s realistic to do case by case for all of them?

They’re probably going to be looking for a different kind of mechanism, maybe asylum? Once you do that, then they have to have their day in court. I would hope that that’s part of the process.

Are you disappointed with how the administration has handled this so far?

I don’t want to be critical. You can always look back and say, in 20/20 hindsight, I would do things a little different. Would I do things a little bit differently? Yeah, but I’m not the president.

—Casey Murray

Not Us

We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by … not us.

• Careful reader by Lachlan Cartwright and Ravi Somaiya for Breaker
• Joe Rogan’s Infatuation With Elon Musk Is Angering His Fans by Calder McHugh for Politico
• The deeply online origins of MAGA 2.0 by Andrew Prokop for Vox

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