1. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: Congressional Republicans are hammering out details of some of the reconciliation bill’s most contentious components. Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters today that key Ways & Means and Energy & Commerce markups are on track for next week. But there’s still a long way to go. Bessent told Congress today that the specific “X-date” by which Washington must raise the debt limit — which is included in reconciliation — will be coming soon, but “we are on the warning track,” per POLITICO’s Michael Stratford. The progress: Over the past day, House Agriculture Republicans have changed their SNAP reforms in the face of moderates’ concerns, POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill scooped. But their plan still amounts to “one of the largest overhauls to the country’s largest anti-hunger programs in decades,” which would add work requirements, cap future increases and notably foist some costs onto states (though fewer than before). The panel is trying to reach $230 billion in savings overall, but the changes could lead to millions of low-income people losing aid. Meanwhile, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) has a proposal for a new tax break for overtime pay, WSJ’s Richard Rubin scooped. It wouldn’t apply to some wealthy people and would be capped for others. The roadblocks: Among House Republicans agitating for a higher state and local tax deduction limit, divides over whether to include an income cap are gumming up movement, POLITICO’s Benjamin Guggenheim, Meredith Lee Hill and Emily Ngo scooped. This is a dispute between the wealthy and the very wealthy in high-tax states. And despite Johnson’s Memorial Day hopes to pass the legislation, Energy & Commerce health subcommittee leader Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) said the party would be “hard pressed” to finish by then, per POLITICO’s David Lim. (Carter also said bipartisan legislation on pharmacy benefit managers is slated to make it in.) The big one: Medicaid cuts are perhaps the most significant sticking point. One proposal, to end the Medicaid provider tax loophole, could yield huge savings but hurt red states’ budgets in particular, NYT’s Margot Sanger-Katz and Sarah Kliff report. Meanwhile, Republicans are steeling to protect against Democratic attacks on Medicaid: The American Action Network is going up with a $7 million ad campaign in swing districts, per Punchbowl’s Max Cohen. Follow all the latest from the Hill with Inside Congress Live 2. ED MARTIN IN TROUBLE: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said he won’t support the controversial pick for U.S. attorney for D.C, per CNBC’s Dan Mangan. Tillis cited disagreements over Jan. 6 in particular as a sticking point, per CNN’s Manu Raju. That could make it very difficult for Martin to get out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, as time ticks down on his ability to serve in an acting role until May 20, Punchbowl’s John Bresnahan and Max Cohen note. 3. HEADS UP: “Justice Department investigating 2022 Abrego Garcia traffic stop,” by ABC’s James Hill, Katherine Faulders, Alexander Mallin and Luke Barr: “Federal investigators involved in the inquiry recently spoke with a convicted felon in an Alabama prison and questioned him about potential connections to [Kilmar] Abrego Garcia … [It] appears to be a new and aggressive step in the government’s efforts to gather potentially incriminating information about Abrego Garcia’s background -- even as it resists calls for him to be provided typical protections to respond to such accusations through the American legal system.” 4. THE CUTS: The EPA plans to close divisions focused on climate change and climate protection partnership, CNN’s Annie Grayer and Ella Nilsen scooped. That will include shuttering the greenhouse gas reporting program, methane partnerships and the Energy Star public-private partnership program, despite bipartisan efforts to save it. … Major cuts at the VA have already damaged veterans’ health care, including stopping clinical research trials for head and neck cancer, ProPublica’s Eric Umansky and Vernal Coleman reveal. “Doctors and others at VA hospitals and clinics across the country have been sending often desperate messages to headquarters.” And the knock-on effects: Columbia University said it would have to lay off close to 180 researchers after the Trump administration canceled the school’s federal grants en masse, per NewsNation’s Anna Kutz. 5. TRAIL MIX: Democrat Angus King III (son of the senator) is launching a Maine gubernatorial bid, per the Portland Press Herald’s Rachel Ohm. The businessman previously led a green energy company; he’ll probably face a crowded field. … Illinois state Sen. Laura Fine jumped into the race to replace Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), per WGN-TV’s Gabriel Castillo. Race for the Senate: Democrats are dreaming about how close they might come to a longshot bid to flip the chamber next year, as NYT’s Shane Goldmacher runs down. That would require them to win deep into red territory. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is reportedly talking about possible openings in Mississippi and Louisiana, where he’s met with former Gov. John Bel Edwards. Republicans laugh off the map-expansion idea. Ad it up: A new group called the Cost Coalition, launched with Terry Holt and Andrew Bates, plans to run ad campaigns, events and more hammering Republicans over high prices, starting with Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania elections, AP’s Steve Peoples reports. 6. OUT OVER HIS SKIS? “Order by Hegseth to cancel Ukraine weapons caught White House off guard,” by Reuters’ Erin Banco, Phil Stewart, Gram Slattery and Mike Stone: “Roughly a week after Donald Trump started his second term as president, the U.S. military issued an order to three freight airlines operating out of Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and a U.S. base in Qatar: Stop 11 flights loaded with artillery shells and other weaponry and bound for Ukraine. In a matter of hours, frantic questions reached Washington … Within one week, flights were back in the air. The verbal order originated from the office of Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense … The president was unaware of Hegseth’s order.” 7. BIG IN TIRANA: “Make Albania Great Again: Trump Campaign Manager Chris LaCivita’s Next Act,” by WSJ’s Josh Dawsey: “He’s now trying to replicate [the Trump] playbook for Sali Berisha, a former prime minister in the Balkan country, who himself faces corruption charges and is sanctioned by the U.S. As leader of the opposition party, Berisha would be in line to be prime minister again if his party wins the majority in the May 11 parliamentary elections. … [LaCivita] has become a surprisingly central figure in the country of about 2.7 million people.”
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