Today’s notice: 100 takes for 100 days — well, not really, but interesting people talking about what comes next. Also: What Tim Burchett is making for Tulsi Gabbard in his spare time.
Why This First 100 Days Is Different
In most recent presidencies, the 100-day mark is essentially meaningless, a rhetorical flourish to declare the end of the beginning of a term. But this First 100 Days is worth paying close attention to.
Both sides of the political debate believe they’ve learned enough in the opening months of Donald Trump’s striking second term that the next 100 days will belong to them.
The president will make a big show of his accomplishments today in Michigan, amid sagging poll numbers that suggest many of those accomplishments still have a sales problem. Trump is setting about doing that as he usually does: attacking polls as fake and pollsters as “enemies of the people.”
But there are signs that some in his orbit think actual things need to be done in order for the next 100 days to poll better than first.
NOTUS’ Reese Gorman reports on Trumpworld members “privately warning House Republicans” against some cuts as the “big, beautiful” budget bill comes together. Those “obsessed with cutting Medicaid are in danger of unwittingly breaking up the coalition Trump created,” one of these Trump allies told Reese.
It’s a reflection of warnings issued in public. Republicans as disparate as Steve Bannon and Rep. Don Bacon warn those cuts will make the House map even more challenging for the incumbent party next year — with hints that Trump could take a political hit, too. “The president has run up historic margins in rural parts of the country that are disproportionately reliant on Medicaid,” a different Trumpworld source told Reese.
We asked around to get a feel for what various GOP factions think they need to do now.
“I don’t think any of us have done a good enough job sort of explaining where we’re trying to take things,” Rep. David Schweikert, a member of the Tea Party class who has criticized Trump in the past, told NOTUS. Republicans need to focus, he said, on “actually just sort of explaining, mathematically, we don’t have a choice. We’ve got to change a number of things.”
“I don’t believe in polls,” said Rep. Clay Higgins, who was recently seen shopping for a MAGA candidate to primary Sen. Bill Cassidy. Does the president need to change tack? we asked. “Absolutely not.”
—Evan McMorris-Santoro and Emily Kennard | Read Reese’s story.
Meanwhile, on the Blue Channel…
The White House has done so many things to outrage Democrats’ traditional allies, but there has not been a moment in the last 100 days one can clearly point to showing that outrage increasing support for the Democratic Party.
But there is blood in the water now, for sure, and ample opportunity for more as Republicans engage in a painful fight over cutting “big, beautiful” things.
And so the Democrats press on, counterprogramming Trump today with an eclectic mix of governors: Tim Walz of Minnesota, Kathy Hochul of New York, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Maura Healey of Massachusetts will all appear together in a virtual town hall hosted by Democratic-supporting online outlet MeidasTouch. The sponsors are promising a focus on resistance from a group that contains at least one believed-to-be presidential contender, if not two.
But before 2028, the party needs to capitalize on the public feeling about Trump in the short term. And NOTUS’ Alex Roarty reports that Democrats will need a better 100 days when it comes to Senate candidates than the one they just had.
Alex writes that Dems are hoping they’ll soon have Gov. Janet Mills in Maine, former Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina and former Sen. Sherrod Brown running active Senate races.
But they don’t have that yet, with Alex noting how “next year’s Senate battleground map remains in flux to an unusual degree even this early.”
The story so far for Democrats has been one of “potential top-tier recruits” taking a pass: Govs. Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan, Andy Beshear in Kentucky and Laura Kelly in Kansas.
Can Democrats get people, well, excited to be Democrats again? We asked members of various factions what they thought their party should do for the next 100 days, too.
“I’m not going to say we can’t be doing more. Certainly, I’m always looking for more ways to do more myself,” moderate Rep. Seth Moulton said, humbly. “But there’s a certain degree to which this is shooting fish in a barrel, because this administration is such a disaster.”
This sit-back-and-enjoy-the-show idea appears to cross Democrats’ ideological divide. “If we just let him,” Rep. Ro Khanna told NOTUS, “he’s just self-imploding.”
—Evan McMorris-Santoro and Emily Kennard | Read Alex’s story.
Front Page
- Hill Republicans Love Trump’s 2028 Merch But Aren’t Lining Up to Wear It: “I really don’t believe we’re going to change the Constitution,” said one House Republican. “So I don’t think I’ll be wearing the hat.”
- Gerry Connolly Will Step Down as Top Democrat of the House Oversight Committee: The longtime Virginia Democrat beat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the spot last year.
- Trumpworld Is Privately Warning House Republicans Against Big Medicaid Cuts: “Leave it to House Republicans to screw up a two-car processional,” a source close to Trumpworld said of Republicans’ reconciliation bill negotiations.
- White House Says Trump Will ‘Comply’ With El Salvador’s President on Abrego Garcia: President Nayib Bukele “does not intend to send that individual back,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Maybe Not by Memorial Day
It’s time to hit the ground running for Congress, with Republicans spending the next few weeks negotiating a reconciliation bill that can pass both chambers. There are plenty of competing factors including Trump’s own agenda, a debt ceiling growing closer and closer and members’ varying levels of comfort with Medicaid cuts.
NOTUS’ Hill team spoke with Republican leadership and some members on Monday, who generally were softening on the original Memorial Day timeline for getting the package locked up in both chambers. (Tentatively) Plan for a busy June.
For Your Reconsideration
The Trump administration has yet to take a firm position on the abortion pill mifepristone. But the Food and Drug Administration seems to be leaving the door open to bringing back restrictions on the pill, NOTUS’ Oriana González reports.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a staunch anti-abortion advocate, sent an open letter Monday to Marty Makary, the FDA’s commissioner, urging him to reimpose restrictions on mail-order mifepristone.
What Did You Accomplish This Recess
A new one, from NOTUS’ Haley Byrd Wilt.
Haley: “Did you enjoy your recess?”
Rep. Tim Burchett: “Yeah! I’m making a skateboard for Tulsi Gabbard, so I worked on it a little bit at night.”
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- The MAGA Lobbyists Upending Washington With McDonald’s and Bear Hunting, by Maggie Severns and Kristina Peterson for The Wall Street Journal
- The group chats that changed America, by Ben Smith for Semafor
- Josh Hawley and the Republican Populists, at War With Their Party, by Robert Draper for The New York Times
Be Social
Not aboot to blame them, we can really be hosers sometimes.
One couple at a voting station in Port Credit said they would rather not speak to American media. They then apologized three times.
— Kaleigh Rogers (@KaleighRogers) April 28, 2025
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