Today’s notice: A sad trombone plays in the Senate chamber late into the night. Who got booed at the White House Black History Month event? Texas Republicans are fighting again. But first: the path from Dobbs to Trump’s IVF EO.
Trump’s IVF Surprise
Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail that he’d make it so in vitro fertilization treatments would have zero out-of-pocket costs. But his recent executive order on the practice still came as a welcome surprise for IVF advocates, NOTUS’ Oriana González reports.
Two Trump allies in the Senate, Katie Britt and Ted Cruz, said they were largely not consulted on the EO despite being among the most prominent GOP faces in favor of improved access to IVF. Britt said she found out about the order hours before it was announced. Cruz said he didn’t get a call at all, but told Oriana he “certainly appreciated the announcement.”
The order does not go anywhere near as far as Trump’s campaign promise. But advocates see it as a first step.
With the order, and the IVF plank in the party platform that came before it, the GOP is now full-square behind the fertility treatment that the Alabama Supreme Court ruled against last February. That change in attitude is not welcome for some in the anti-abortion movement who helped make Dobbs happen. “It’s a huge problem that it seems that they’re kind of exploring this direction,” Lila Rose, president of Live Action, told Oriana.
Upper Chamber Lowers Expectations
The Senate spent Thursday night and Friday morning in a marathon voting session. But for all the Celsius downed in the name of speedily advancing the Trump agenda, senators know that their efforts to tee up a two-step reconciliation plan are potentially for naught.
“While this may be an unnecessary exercise, sort of, it does provide an immediate solution, should the House break down,” Sen. Kevin Cramer told NOTUS. “There’s plenty of evidence that that’s possible.”
Senators told NOTUS’ Ursula Perano and Reese Gorman they’re just happy to be “plan B” in case Mike Johnson can’t muscle his “one big, beautiful” bill through the House. Trump has made clear he’s on Team Johnson, but senators also made a point of mentioning on Thursday that Trump and JD Vance didn’t explicitly push back on them pursuing their two-bill strategy.
Some sources are even speculating that the White House is covertly banking on the upper chamber’s success. “There are some in the White House undermining” Trump’s decision and pushing a two-bill strategy, said one source involved in the reconciliation talks. “They want to see the House fail.”
Still, the Senate budget resolution will acquire dust unless Johnson proves he can’t deliver Trump’s agenda Trump’s way.
Front Page
- Senate Democrats Have a Dilemma With Trump’s Labor Nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer: A month ago, the moderate Republican could have gotten near-unanimous support. Now, it’s possible she won’t make it out of committee.
- The White House Takes a Victory Lap One Month Into Donald Trump’s Term: “President Trump is on what we call ‘Trump warp speed,’” Mike Waltz said.
- Republicans Just Put Kash Patel in Charge of the FBI: Despite two GOP defectors, Patel was confirmed by the Senate to lead the FBI for 10 years.
- Trump’s Administration Is Targeting California’s Gas Car Ban. Its Strategy Is Legally Uncertain.: EPA administrator Lee Zeldin wants Congress to overturn a Biden-era waiver on emissions standards.
An Awkward Moment in the White House
The president gathered a crowd of supporters, elected officials, cabinet members, celebrities and athletes in the East Room of the White House on Thursday to celebrate Black History Month. Among those in attendance were Sen. Tim Scott, Rep. John James, HUD Secretary Scott Turner, Black Conservative Federation president Diante Johnson and pro-golfer Tiger Woods. Almost everyone got a round of applause in the room when Trump shouted them out — with one major exception: Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.
Bourla and other pharma executives met with Trump in preparation for a new regime at HHS under Robert F. Kennedy Jr. When Trump called Bourla “one of the great businessmen,” boos broke out in the room. The president quickly moved on to more popular guests and repeatedly returned to praise Woods, who was on stage next to Trump the whole event.
—Calen Razor, reporting from the East Room
Republican Infighting? It’s Bigger in Texas.
Texas Republicans are once again trying to purge members from their own ranks in the statehouse. The party has been riddled with contentious feuds in recent years, and now they’re trying to punish members of the Texas House who didn’t vote for the party-endorsed candidate for speaker.
Insiders say it can all be traced back to Tim Dunn, a West Texas billionaire who has helped fund antagonistic political organizations and primary challengers to Republicans who don’t support his legislative priorities. He also largely funds the state party.
“There’s a purity test every year,” said state Rep. Carl Tepper, who did not support Dunn’s candidate for speaker.
This isn’t just a billionaire who keeps to Texas. Dunn has a connection to Project 2025 and donated several million dollars to the Trump campaign.
Quotable I: Nominees Are My Passion
“It gives me something to do. I’m not kidding … It gives me a purpose, a drive.”
That’s Sen. Markwayne Mullin on his gig as the Senate’s very own Trump nominee influencer. He’s been “ceaselessly tweeting” since the start of the Trump administration, NOTUS’ Em Luetkemeyer reports, using his platform for “real-time updates on nominees.”
Quotable II: DOGE at the Housing Department
“I would suspect that those receiving services will be impacted within 15 or 30 days of these cuts taking effect.”
That’s Antonio Gaines, president of the AFGE council representing 5,000 unionized workers at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. NOTUS’ Amelia Benavides-Colón reports that “as many as half” of the people working at the agency are expected to lose their jobs as the department gets DOGE’d.
HUD did not respond to a request for comment.
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by … not us.
- How Greg Gutfeld Became the Bill Maher of Fox News by Tatiana Siegel for Variety
- Texas Banned Abortion. Then Sepsis Rates Soared. by Lizzie Presser, Andrea Suozzo, Sophie Chou and Kavitha Surana for ProPublica
- Trump’s FBI Pick Stands to Make Millions From Fashion Brand Shein by Dave Michaels, Corrie Driebusch and Shen Lu for The Wall Street Journal
- What Musk’s Black Hat Means by Jonathan V. Last at The Bulwark
Be Social
Shapes are hard.
so a…..triangle? https://t.co/J1MBDWrajF
— Grace Panetta (@grace_panetta) February 20, 2025
Tell Us Your Thoughts
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