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By Eli Okun and Makayla Gray |
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THE CATCH-UP |
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BREAKING: Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) announced he won’t seek reelection, the latest retirement in a cycle full of them. The eight-term congressman, who has run multiple times for House speaker, had warned Republicans against the gerrymander that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled yesterday.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents patrol Terminal C at LaGuardia Airport on March 24 in New York. | Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images |
IMMIGRATION FILES: A federal appeals court today ruled against a signature Donald Trump immigration policy, potentially setting up a Supreme Court showdown — right as the justices take up their next big immigration clash, and as the administration plows ahead on new frontiers of its crackdown. A 2nd Circuit panel unanimously rejected ICE’s mass detention policy, which locks up most deportation targets even if they’re non-criminals or longtime residents, POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney reports. The three-judge opinion, authored by a Trump appointee, warned of constitutional concerns with a policy that “would send a seismic shock through our immigration detention system and society,” creating “the broadest mass detention-without-bond mandate in our Nation’s history for millions of noncitizens.” That, of course, is precisely the point for Trump’s hawks, led by Stephen Miller, who have sought every tool to transform the country’s immigration system by instituting mass deportations and choking off avenues for legal and illegal arrivals. The ruling aligns with hundreds of lower-court judges who have said ICE’s approach violates the law and the Constitution. But it’s the first time an appellate court has reached that conclusion: Conservative panels on the 5th and 8th Circuits have sided with the administration. The appellate split opening today makes it likelier that this could head to the high court. In the meantime, the crackdown continues. The administration is now attempting to fast-track deportations of migrant children by frequently moving up immigration hearings by weeks or months with little notice, CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez scooped. That has made it more challenging for attorneys to collect the necessary support for their cases, sometimes leaving 4-year-olds in court by themselves. And the State Department today said that foreigners applying for non-immigrant visas to travel to the U.S. should be denied if they say they have a fear of returning home, WaPo’s John Hudson scooped. It’s an effort to clamp down on people who might seek asylum stateside. But conservative groups are keeping up the pressure, warning that new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin better not go soft on mass deportations, WaPo’s David Nakamura reports. This is the backdrop for tomorrow’s major Supreme Court hearing on temporary protected status: The administration has effectively shuttered most ways for vulnerable people around the world to come to or stay in the U.S., from refugees to asylum-seekers to TPS, NYT’s Jazmine Ulloa and Miriam Jordan write. As the justices weigh DHS’ effort to end some TPS designations, the fates of hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians — and some 1 million more TPS holders from elsewhere who’ll be watching the precedent — hang in the balance. The case could also have a personal wrinkle for Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who has two adopted children from Haiti, per WaPo’s Julian Mark. Administration officials have argued that TPS has bloated far beyond its original, and by definition temporary, focus. But at a presser today, supporters called for the protections to be saved. “It feels like all is doomed, but it’s not,” said Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), per Playbook’s Ali Bianco. “We have to remain hopeful, remain resilient, remain creative, and use every single tool at our disposal. And that means using, here in Congress, discharge petitions in a way we’ve never seen before.” On the other side: “‘We don’t know what will happen to us’: U.S. deportees in limbo in DRC,” by NPR’s Emmet Livingstone in Kinshasa: “The group — comprising [15] men and women from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru — is the first to arrive as part of a secretive migration deal brokered with the Trump administration. … Several also said that they were deported despite ongoing court cases regarding their right to remain in the U.S. … They are free to leave their hotel, but are being urged by security there to remain inside — effectively cut off in a country they have no links to, and whose language they do not speak.” Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop us a line at eokun@politico.com and mgray@politico.com.
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8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW |
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1. THE NICK SHIRLEY EFFECT: The FBI today significantly stepped up the administration’s investigation of fraud in Minneapolis-era daycares and other businesses, per the Minnesota Star Tribune. The raids, based on 22 search warrants, were the next step after the White House launched a fraud elimination task force last month. Authorities said today’s raids were not related to immigration enforcement. Unlike past disagreements between the administration and local leaders, today’s raids included cooperation with the state. “If you commit fraud in Minnesota you’re going to get caught — and that’s exactly what we saw today,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said in a statement. 2. IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A LICENSE: FCC Chair Brendan Carr may go after Disney’s broadcast licenses for eight ABC stations with an early license review, which could heap pressure on the company over the network, Semafor’s Liz Hoffman and Rohan Goswami scooped. The paperwork could come as soon as this afternoon, per CNN’s Brian Stelter. “It’s going to be a long fight,” Stelter writes. “The FCC is preparing to take action that will be widely seen as retaliatory.” Carr has previously maintained that he could threaten Disney’s licenses because of its diversity programs. And conservatives have stepped up their anger at ABC’s broadcasting in recent days in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’s joke last week about first lady Melania Trump, which led the president to call for his firing. But “there also has to be an evidentiary basis for an early review and any adverse decision would certainly be challenged in court,” The Guardian’s Jeremy Barr notes. 3. SPY GAMES: Congressional Republicans continued to struggle today for a way forward on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and all their other legislative priorities, amid intra-party and inter-chamber disputes. The House had to recess quickly this morning, POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill reports, because Speaker Mike Johnson lacked a breakthrough in talks with hard-liner holdouts over FISA — plus headaches over pesticides in the farm bill and the budget resolution for immigration enforcement funding. A frustrated Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters he’s talking regularly with House leaders about a way forward on FISA (which expires Thursday without action). As for the still-shuttered DHS, Thune said the White House may have to get involved to dislodge the House logjam: “We did it not once, but twice” in the Senate, he said, per Punchbowl’s Andrew Desiderio. 4. ANTI-VAX IN ACTION: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is blocking $600 million that Congress appropriated for vaccines as he pushes against “dangerous” ingredients — despite research to the contrary — used in shots that children in poorer countries receive, POLITICO’s Carmen Paun reports. The delay in funds is being used to pressure Gavi, the international humanitarian group that distributes the vaccines. “Advocates for Gavi say the withholding of funds will cost children’s lives.” Bill of health: “Dem pollster says party should do more to sell health care message,” by POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky: “Focus groups conducted by Democratic-aligned firm Navigator Research show voters are struggling with health care costs, but some blame both parties.”
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5. WEAPONIZATION WATCH: A federal judge ruled in favor of Maurene Comey, saying she can move forward with her lawsuit claiming that the Justice Department fired her because her dad was James Comey and/or for her perceived politics, per POLITICO’s Erica Orden. The judge lent credence today to Comey’s claims of wrongful termination from the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, saying she can continue in federal court rather than at the Merit Systems Protection Board. Read the opinion 6. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Survey says: A new poll commissioned by VoteVets, which is backing Iowa state Rep. Josh Turek in the Democratic Senate primary, finds him leaping into a big lead, per Playbook’s Adam Wren. Turek is up 48 percent to 28 percent over state Sen. Zach Wahls — a massive shift from their previous poll a month ago, which had Wahls leading by 9 points. FM3 conducted the survey last week among 600 likely primary voters. The memo Meanwhile in Texas: Democratic state Rep. James Talarico leads Republican AG Ken Paxton by 5 points and incumbent John Cornyn by 3 in the Senate race, according to a new poll from Texas Public Opinion Research, a nonpartisan outfit led by a Dem strategist. More from The Texas Tribune’s Gabby Birenbaum 7. KNOWING ALEX ADAMS: “Trump’s Top Child Care Official Wants a ‘Bonfire of Regulations,’” by NYT’s Coral Davenport: “Among his top targets [at the Administration for Children and Families]: the most sweeping overhaul in a generation for Head Start … Mr. Adams intends to loosen or eliminate the rules that limit how many children can be supervised by each teacher … Conservatives say the changes could give more poor children access to the service, yet many child care experts say they could jeopardize quality and safety. … He is planning regulatory changes that would disqualify American children from receiving child care subsidies if one or more of their parents are not U.S. citizens.” 8. WAR REPORT: Inside the Trump administration, officials now worry that the war with Iran will enter a protracted, Cold War-esque stalemate, with U.S. troops remaining in the Middle East, Axios’ Marc Caputo and Barak Ravid report. If that happens, both Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports could drag on. Trump now is torn between some of his top advisers who want him to keep pressuring Iran financially, and outside hawks who have his ear and are encouraging him to restart the bombing. An unhappy milestone: Average national gas prices have now hit $4.18 a gallon, their highest mark since right after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, per AAA.
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TALK OF THE TOWN |
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THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP: Amid the royals’ state visit, the U.K. has gifted a large bespoke coin to the American people to mark the U.S.’ semiquincentennial, the N.Y. Post’s Samuel Chamberlain and Emily Goodin scooped. King Charles III gifted President Donald Trump a framed facsimile of the 1879 design plans for the Resolute Desk, while Trump gave Charles a custom facsimile of a letter written from John Adams to John Jay in 1785, per POLITICO’s Alex Gangitano. Follow all the latest from the royals’ visit with POLITICO’s live blog HEADS UP: “State Dept. Finalizing Plan to Put Trump Picture on U.S. Passports,” by The Bulwark’s Benjamin Parker: “The redesign is ostensibly part of a larger celebration of the 250th anniversary of American independence.” X MARKS THE SPOT: A couple of months ago, VP JD Vance removed X from his phone for Lent, reports Semafor’s Ben Smith, who reckons that Vance remains the 2028 GOP frontrunner — now being underestimated by the chatter about a Marco Rubio rise. AND THE AWARD GOES TO: The National Headliner Awards announced this year’s winners across several dozen journalism categories for work in 2025. Among the notable first-place awardees were coverage of ICE operations by the Miami Herald and WBEZ Chicago/the Chicago Sun-Times and the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism’s investigation of Trump’s foreign aid cuts in Africa. And our POLITICO colleagues took home two top prizes: Karl Mathiesen and Corbin Hiar for “The Strange and Totally Real Plan to Blot Out the Sun and Reverse Global Warming,” and Jason Beeferman and Emily Ngo for “‘I Love Hitler’: Leaked Messages Expose Young Republicans’ Racist Chat.” EXIT INTERVIEW: As Stephen Colbert approaches the final weeks of his late-night CBS show, he sat down with NYT’s John Koblin to reflect. Why does he think FCC Chair Brendan Carr and Trump have gone after him? “Authoritarians don’t like anybody who doesn’t give them undue dignity,” Colbert says. “Comedians are anti-authoritarian by nature. And authoritarians are never going to like anybody to laugh at them.” OUT AND ABOUT: Ashley Davis sat down with Kevin O’Leary at the Kennedy Center’s rooftop Terrace Theater last night for a conversation tied to her new book, “The Power Pivot: With Grit, Grace, and Growth” ($24.99). SPOTTED: Rob Carson, Brian Glenn, Jacqueline Juffer, Blake Ruppe, Lindsey Curnutte and Casin Spero. MEDIA MOVE: Rachel Siegel will join CNN’s D.C. bureau as a reporter for CNN Business, covering economic policy and its impact on American life. She previously worked at WaPo. TRANSITION: Denise Fleming is now director of federal legislative affairs for NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani. She most recently worked for WorkMoney and is a Hill veteran. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Giuseppe Macri and deputy editor Garrett Ross. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook PM misspelled Brinker Harding’s name.
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