| | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
President Donald Trump celebrated a solid jobs report and declared it evidence that his policies are working. | Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images | JOBS DAY: The U.S. added a better-than-expected 177,000 jobs last month, showing that the labor market kept humming even as President Donald Trump launched a major protectionist shift, per POLITICO’s Sam Sutton. What slowdown? The unemployment rate remained flat at 4.2 percent, and the number of new jobs was only slightly down from March. Wages rose 0.2 percent and 3.8 percent year over year, well outpacing inflation. The health care sector was a particularly strong accelerant of job growth. And the solid report overall somewhat defied economists’ predictions that Trump’s trade and immigration policies would crimp the labor market. Trump and his administration celebrated the good news and declared it evidence that their policies are working. Stock markets were up. But but but: There were some limited signs of deceleration, including a drop of 9,000 federal government positions and downward revisions to February and March numbers. And as other economic indicators flash warning signs, it may be too soon to tell whether Trump’s tariffs will take more of a bite as time goes on, which many economists still expect, per NYT’s Talmon Joseph Smith. “The question now is how long the labor market can withstand rising uncertainty across the economy,” WaPo’s Abha Bhattarai writes. Also bolstering markets: China indicated today that it’s considering trade negotiations with the U.S. to lower the temperature of the hottest trade war, per the WSJ. “If the U.S. wants to talk, it should show sincerity to talk,” a spokesperson said. At the same time, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) is pushing for the Trump administration to exempt more small businesses from tariffs, per Semafor’s Burgess Everett. BUDGET DAY: Trump officially sent Congress his fiscal 2026 “skinny budget” request, a document that calls for unprecedented cuts to federal spending, POLITICO’s Adam Cancryn and Jennifer Scholtes report. The proposal suggests a whopping $163 billion reduction in non-defense spending, doing away with whole federal agencies and taking a sledgehammer to programs from foreign aid to climate. The president’s budget request is often seen as largely symbolic, and Hill Republicans will surely reject some of the cuts. But the landscape is different this year, as Trump has already axed or frozen huge swathes of federal spending in contravention of congressional appropriations. Up next: The fully detailed version of Trump’s budget will likely come later this month. Sept. 30 is the deadline for Washington to fund the government for the next fiscal year. Now Congress must haggle over how many of these cuts to include in its budget. Already, Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she had “serious objections,” and Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) sharply criticized Trump’s budget for insufficiently boosting military spending. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) did too. And for Elon Musk’s huge DOGE cuts to take hold in the long term, they need congressional sign-off or could risk a constitutional crisis, WaPo’s Liz Goodwin and Jeff Stein report. But but but: Hill Republicans are signaling that they may OK only a small portion of DOGE’s cuts. An expected White House request for some budget rescissions for the current fiscal year has run into pushback from Collins, who may not support cuts to the lifesaving PEPFAR program, per the Post. House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) says he thinks foreign aid cuts will be easiest to pass. Still, “some Republican lawmakers are already thinking about how to reinstate some of the programs [Musk] scrapped,” NOTUS’ Haley Byrd Wilt reports, including cautionary words from Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) on USAID cuts. The impact: Major cuts to the National Weather Service have left the agency seriously struggling, CNN’s Andrew Freedman scooped. “The nation’s forecasting agency is in tatters” ahead of hurricane season, and meteorologists fear that “forecasts and life-saving warnings are not going to be issued in time.” … HHS is considering axing more than 150 research projects, including university grants studying Head Start and child development, AP’s Ryan Foley reports from an accidentally publicized list. MILLER HIGH LIFE: Deputy chief of staff/homeland security adviser Stephen Miller, chief architect of the administration’s intense immigration crackdown, is gathering momentum to be tapped as the next national security adviser, Axios’ Marc Caputo reports. Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | A message from Planned Parenthood Federation of America: 1 in 4 people have visited a Planned Parenthood health center for expert, affordable care, including birth control, wellness visits, cancer screenings and more.
But lawmakers who oppose reproductive health are targeting Planned Parenthood. They want to take away the health care millions of patients rely on — especially those with low incomes.
Planned Parenthood won't stop fighting for the care people need and deserve.
We need you in this fight. Visit http://ImForPP.org to learn more. | | | | | | 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. CIVIL SOCIETY WATCH: Trump reiterated his desire to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status, though his brief Truth Social post this morning didn’t make clear whether the IRS was actually now taking action to that effect. It would be illegal for Trump to direct an IRS investigation, and taking away tax-exempt status would usually require a thorough examination. The president’s latest attack on Harvard came shortly after POLITICO’s Bernie Becker reported that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Dems asked a Treasury IG to probe potential illegal pressure from Trump on the IRS here. Going after the press: Trump signed an “extraordinary order” to slash PBS and NPR funding, per POLITICO’s Irie Sentner. Trump accused their coverage of being “biased and partisan.” In response, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting emphasized that it’s an independent agency not “subject to the president’s authority,” per POLITICO’s Juan Benn Jr. Court challenges loom. 2. MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Newly elected Canadian PM Mark Carney will journey to D.C. on Tuesday to meet with Trump, Bloomberg’s Eric Martin, Brian Platt and Josh Wingrove scooped. 3. TOP TALKER: Ben Terris is out with his first story for N.Y. Mag, “All By Himself,” detailing Sen. John Fetterman’s health struggles: “[Last year,] Fetterman was, according to [former chief of staff Adam] Jentleson, avoiding the regular checkups advised by his doctors. He was preoccupied with the social-media platform X, which he’d previously admitted had been a major ‘accelerant’ of his depression. He drove his car so ‘recklessly,’ Jentleson said, that staff refused to ride with him. He had also bought a gun. … His circle of trust has shrunk, and people I spoke with made it clear that they expect more staffers to depart. … “Former and current staffers paint a picture of an erratic senator who has become almost impossible to work for and whose mental-health situation is more serious and complicated than previously reported.” Fetterman’s response: “When I spoke with Fetterman in April and shared those concerns, he denied anything was amiss. He told me that he felt like the ‘best version’ of himself and later texted that the staff turnover at his office was typical of Washington. ‘Why is this a story?’ he asked.” Gisele Barreto Fetterman says Jentleson told her “scary, untrue stories about John’s health.” The senator blamed disgruntled former staffers. The whole story is worth a read. 4. IMMIGRATION FILES: Trump officials are exploring the possibility of declaring alleged gang/cartel members in the U.S. “enemy combatants,” CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, Josh Campbell, Zachary Cohen, Haley Britzky and Priscilla Alvarez report. That could give the administration greater ability to lock them up and limit due process, restricting their rights — the latest attempt to prevent deportations from being reviewed by courts. But with the administration refusing to provide public evidence that many of its deportees actually were gang members, one legal expert tells CNN that “there is no good-faith legal argument here.” Knowing Kilmar Abrego Garcia: NYT’s Juliet Macur, Jazmine Ulloa, Annie Correal, Kirsten Noyes, Alan Feuer and Dan Barry dive deep into the complicated life of the wrongly deported man. His family says he escaped gang threats in El Salvador to build a better life in the U.S., becoming a sheet metal worker with three kids who have autism and epilepsy. He also was accused of spousal abuse. “Whether Mr. Abrego [Garcia] is an MS-13 gang member — as, with equal vehemence, the Trump administration insists and his family denies — remains unclear.”
| | | | POLITICO IS BACK AT THE 2025 MILKEN GLOBAL CONFERENCE:
From May 4–7, California Playbook will deliver exclusive, on-the-ground coverage from the 28th Annual Milken Institute Global Conference. Get behind-the-scenes buzz, standout moments, and insights from leaders in AI, finance, health, philanthropy, geopolitics, and more. Subscribe now for your front-row seat to the conversations shaping our world. | | | | | 5. AFFAIRS OF STATE: “Marco Rubio’s swift rise to a central spot in Trump’s orbit,” by NBC’s Carol Lee, Abigail Williams, Andrea Mitchell and Allan Smith: Early in his tenure, the secretary of State “was caught off guard by two policy decisions made in Washington: drastic changes to foreign aid and Trump’s publicly backing turning the Gaza Strip into a Middle East Riviera. … Since then, he has figured out a strategy to minimize such frustrations. First, he has adapted some of his foreign policy positions that, in the past, diverged from Trump’s. Second, he has been on a MAGA charm offensive … And he spends as much time as he can at the White House to be close to Trump.” 6. TO RUSSIA, WITH LOVE: Though Trump has made no decision yet about next steps on Russia, U.S. officials have created a menu of potential moves to squeeze Moscow economically and drive it toward ending its war on Ukraine, Bloomberg’s Alberto Nardelli and Natalia Drozdiak report. At the same time, Russian elites are starting to worry more that the new U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal could damage Moscow’s standing with Trump and close a window for Russia to land a ceasefire agreement it likes, WaPo’s Catherine Belton reports. 7. POLITICAL VIOLENCE WATCH: “These judges ruled against Trump. Then their families came under attack,” by Reuters’ Ned Parker, Mike Spector, Peter Eisler, Linda So and Nate Raymond: There are “at least 11 federal judges whose families have faced threats of violence or harassment after they ruled against the new Trump administration … Amplified on X and other platforms by some of Trump’s most prominent allies, including Musk, [posts targeting judges’ family members] have been viewed more than 200 million times. … Pizzas are being sent anonymously to the homes of judges and their relatives, which authorities view as a we-know-where-you-live warning.” 8. IRAN LATEST: Iran blasted Trump’s latest sanctions and said they made Tehran “deeply suspicious” of the ongoing nuclear talks with the U.S., per Bloomberg. At the same time, those negotiations currently center on a framework that would largely revive the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal that Trump himself ended, Reuters’ Samia Nakhoul, Humeyra Pamuk and Parisa Hafezi report. Uranium enrichment could be a sticking point. Reuters reports that Israel was stunned by Trump’s move to launch negotiations with Iran. 9. 2026 WATCH: The White House and many Republicans feel good about holding the Senate next year, but they’re already sketching out an early midterm strategy to limit blowback from voters’ economic concerns, NBC’s Matt Dixon, Henry Gomez and Bridget Bowman report. GOP operatives say that to turbocharge turnout from infrequent voters who delivered Trump the White House, Republicans will try to amp up the energy and lean into a Trump-focused message. And they want to focus on immigration.
| | | | A message from Planned Parenthood Federation of America:  
| | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | NEWS YOU CAN USE — “House office complex to get major food overhaul,” by POLITICO’s Ben Leonard and Katherine Tully-McManus: “[V]endor Sodexo [is] out after a 10-year run. Beginning in August, Metz Culinary Management will take over, bringing a slew of new eateries with it … The most controversial move appears to be that Starbucks will replace Dunkin’ in the Longworth House Office Building. The impending demise of Dunkin’ sent shockwaves through the offices of the Massachusetts delegation.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — DNC Chair Ken Martin will be on “Fox News Sunday” this weekend, his first Sunday show and first appearance on Fox since taking over the Democratic Party. PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — “Trump’s Controversial US Attorney Is Coming for Medical Marijuana,” by POLITICO’s Michael Schaffer: “Pretty much any store, or even their landlord, could be in hot water for doing something that’s legally permitted, and increasingly common. Under longstanding, bipartisan federal budget provisions, feds can’t prosecute people abiding by state-level medical marijuana rules. Unfortunately for [the dispensary] Green Theory, D.C. isn’t a state — and [Ed] Martin, unlike every other U.S. attorney, is in charge of prosecuting its street-level crimes.” OUT AND ABOUT — Engage, David Brown, Pat Raffaniello, Michelle Altman, Loren Monroe, Kevin Kincheloe, John and Denise Bode, Jill Kozeny, George Baker, Chad and Amy Bradley, Andrew King, Aly Beley and Rachel Pearson hosted a lunch celebration for Sen. James Lankford’s (R-Okla.) new book, “Turnaround: America’s Revival” ($29.99), at the offices of the American Council of Life Insurers yesterday. SPOTTED: Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Jon Husted (R-Ohio), Chris Giblin, Kathryn Kennedy, Diane Boyle, Leslie Boissiere, Jonathan Martin, David Jimenez, Holly Page and Tracy Chadwell. MEDIA MOVES — The Atlantic is adding Jamie Thompson and Josh Tyrangiel as staff writers. Thompson previously was a contributing writer and won a National Magazine Award this year. Tyrangiel previously was a columnist at WaPo and is a former Bloomberg Businessweek editor. … Larry Liebert is retiring after 18 years at Bloomberg News, most recently as a senior editor on the national security team. He is a WaPo and St. Pete Times alum. TRANSITIONS — Common Cause is adding Alma Couverthie as SVP of its campaigns and organizing department and Omar Noureldin as SVP of the policy and litigation department, and elevating Marilyn Carpinteyro to SVP of impact and strategy. Couverthie previously was chief of programs at the League of Women Voters. Noureldin most recently was senior counsel to the assistant AG for civil rights in the Biden Justice Department. WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Joya Manasseh, senior comms manager at MSNBC, and Chris Dioguardi, an attorney at Walden Macht Haran & Williams, welcomed Julian Anthony Dioguardi on April 14. He came in at 6 lbs and 19 inches, and joins big brother Lucas. Pic 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 Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath.
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