| | | |  | | By Eli Okun | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
“What a big surprise that a bunch of leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images | FOR PETE’S SAKE: The Trump administration held steady in defense of Pete Hegseth today and instead went after his critics in the wake of this weekend’s revelations. Never back down: President Donald Trump said consternation about the Defense secretary was a “waste of time” at the Easter Egg Roll this morning. Last night, Trump called Hegseth to assure him of his support, NYT’s Jonathan Swan reports. It was an effort to calm the waters after the latest NYT report about him sharing Yemen airstrike info in a second Signal group and an opinion piece in POLITICO from former Pentagon spokesperson John Ullyot saying the Defense Department “is in disarray under Hegseth’s leadership.” Attack, attack, attack: Hegseth himself implied that the NYT report may have come from the top Pentagon officials who were recently fired after leak investigations. “What a big surprise that a bunch of leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out,” he told reporters, per NBC. “This is what the media does,” Hegseth said. “They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. Not going to work with me.” Going even further: On “Fox & Friends,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that “this is what happens when the entire Pentagon is working against you and working against the monumental change you are trying to implement.” But but but: NOTUS’ John Seward reports that some sources “are expecting more details about Hegseth’s conduct in the past month to come out this week.” And today Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) became the first congressional Republican to indicate that Trump should fire Hegseth, per POLITICO’s Rachael Bade. SCOTUS WATCH: “Supreme Court seems likely to uphold ACA preventive services mandate,” by Axios’ Maya Goldman: “At stake is access to no-cost screenings, tests, HIV drugs and counseling for the roughly 150 million Americans with private health insurance. … [L]awyers for Christian-owned companies challenging the mandate argued that the task force is unconstitutionally imposing coverage requirements because its members aren’t politically appointed. … Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett appeared skeptical of the companies’ reasoning.” Sticking to their guns: The Supreme Court declined to take up two gun-related cases today, notably killing Minnesota’s last attempt to save its ban on 18- to 20-year-olds getting permits to carry guns in public, per the AP. The justices’ rejection of the state’s appeal “was somewhat surprising” because both sides wanted the matter to go to the high court, in light of conflicting rulings about gun rights for young adults around the country. The Supreme Court also opted against hearing a challenge to the University of Michigan’s ban on guns. There were no comments or noted dissents from the justices in either case. A big one coming up: Will the Supreme Court hand Trump a major victory by hemming in lower courts’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions? The oral arguments on the matter next month, stemming from Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship, are a high-profile test for the White House’s contention that individual judges have too much power in constraining the executive, POLITICO’s Hassan Ali Kanu and Erica Orden report. (The Biden White House made some similar arguments, but the Supreme Court didn’t take them up.) The stakes: If the justices side with the Justice Department, “it could cripple the ability of Trump’s opponents to seek — and judges’ ability to grant — such blocks entirely,” our colleagues write. Four conservative justices have already indicated skepticism of nationwide injunctions, so this could come down to Chief Justice John Roberts and Coney Barrett. HAPPENING TODAY: Trump and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu have a call planned for today to discuss the efforts to reach a Gaza deal and the U.S. negotiations with Iran, per Walla/Axios’ Barak Ravid. Trump will also meet with leaders from Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Walmart to talk about tariff concerns, Bloomberg’s Stephanie Lai, Catherine Lucey, Jaewon Kang and Jenny Leonard scooped. Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
| | | | A message from The National Association of REALTORS®: A new survey shows Americans overwhelmingly back real estate provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. A massive 91% support preserving homeowner tax incentives like the mortgage interest deduction. 83% back the 20% tax break for small businesses and independent contractors, and 61% favor raising SALT limits. Real estate fuels 18% of U.S. GDP, with each home sale creating two jobs. Support for homeownership is a win for the economy and the middle class. Learn more. | | | | | | 9 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. IN THE MARKETS: Stock markets took a significant hit again today amid ongoing concerns about Trump’s tariffs and the economy, per the WSJ. Investors were also rattled by the latest renewed presidential criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell: Trump called him “Mr. Too Late, a major loser,” on Truth Social this morning. As POLITICO’s Victoria Guida notes, “Tariffs increased expectations for inflation in the short term, but risks to Fed independence are raising investor fears that there will be no one to credibly fight inflation long term.” As of 1:20 p.m., the Dow was down 2.9 percent, the S&P 500 3.1 percent and the Nasdaq 3.4 percent. 2. RUNNING DRY: “60,000 Americans to lose their rental assistance and risk eviction unless Congress acts,” by AP’s Jesse Bedayn: The Biden-era program “pays rent for some 60,000 families and individuals fleeing homelessness or domestic violence. … But the program, Emergency Housing Vouchers, is running out of money — and quickly. Funding is expected to be used up by the end of next year, according to a letter from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development … It would be among the largest one-time losses of rental assistance in the U.S., analysts say … [O]rganizations lobbying Republican and Democratic lawmakers to reup the funding told the AP they aren’t optimistic.” 3. IMMIGRATION FILES: Four House Democrats arrived in El Salvador today to call for the return of wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Migrant Insider’s Pablo Manríquez and Nicolae Viorel Butler scooped from San Salvador. Reps. Yassamin Ansari (Ariz.), Maxine Dexter (Ore.), Maxwell Frost (Fla.) and Robert Garcia (Calif.) self-funded the visit, decrying the Trump administration’s failure to bring Abrego Garcia back despite a Supreme Court ruling. 4. MORE DEPORTATION DIPLOMACY: South Sudanese officials will come to Washington soon to try to work out a deal with the U.S. to receive more than 100 deportees, per Bloomberg’s Okech Francis. Juba’s previous refusal to accept a deportee whom South Sudan said was actually Congolese sparked a tiff with Washington, which revoked all visas for the country. 5. PRO-NATALISTS IN POWER: “White House Assesses Ways to Persuade Women to Have More Children,” by NYT’s Caroline Kitchener: “The White House has been hearing out a chorus of ideas in recent weeks for persuading Americans to get married and have more children, an early sign that the Trump administration will embrace a new cultural agenda pushed by many of its allies on the right to reverse declining birthrates and push conservative family values. One proposal shared with aides would reserve 30 percent of scholarships for the Fulbright program … for applicants who are married or have children. Another would give a $5,000 cash ‘baby bonus’ to every American mother after delivery.”
| | | | 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. | | | | | 6. MUSK READ: The Elon Musk-fueled emails demanding that federal workers account for five things they accomplished every week have somewhat fizzled amid an inconsistent approach, WaPo’s Hannah Natanson, Faiz Siddiqui and Emily Davies report. From agency to agency, policies vary widely: Some departments are strict while others have made it optional; many civil servants don’t take it seriously. Notably, the Post got records from OPM shortly after Musk’s first email went out in February showing that the government considered the emails voluntary and wouldn’t do anything with them. 7. IN THE DOGE HOUSE: A Mine Safety and Health Administration and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health program called Part 90, which helps coal miners with black lung still get paid while moving to different jobs, “is grinding to a halt” due to DOGE’s mass firings and closures, Reuters’ Valerie Volcovici reports from Oak Hill, West Virginia. Multiple other programs to help miners have been put on hold too, including screenings for black lung through the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program, due to the ongoing slashing of the federal workforce. 8. KNOWING LINDSEY HALLIGAN: “She told Trump the Smithsonian needs changing. He’s ordered her to do it,” by WaPo’s Maura Judkis: “Halligan, 35, is a Trump attorney who seems to have tasked herself as a sort of commissioner — or expurgator, according to critics — of a premier cultural institution. After moving to D.C. just before the inauguration to continue working for Trump as a special assistant and senior associate staff secretary, Halligan visited local cultural institutions … She didn’t like everything she saw. Some exhibits, in her view, did not reflect the America she knows and loves.” 9. FOR YOUR RADAR: “How Nexstar dodged a Trump lawsuit,” by Semafor’s Max Tani: “[O]n December 1, 2023, Truth Social dropped The Hill’s parent company, a giant in the local television business, from the [defamation lawsuit over aggregation of an inaccurate earnings story], noting that the companies had reached a settlement. Days later, The Hill fired [Olafimihan] Oshin. One person with direct knowledge of the situation told Semafor that Nexstar, eager to avoid Trump’s wrath, had agreed to fire the reporter in exchange for being dropped from the case — which a spokesperson for Nexstar, Gary Weitman, denied.”
| | | | A message from The National Association of REALTORS®:  
A new national survey shows overwhelming support for pro-housing policies in TCJA. Learn More. | | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | Kristi Noem had her bag stolen from a D.C. restaurant where she was eating dinner last night, losing her passport, keys, DHS badge, $3,000 in cash and more, CNN’s Josh Campbell and Kit Maher report. It was Capital Burger, per Washingtonian’s Jessica Sidman. NOT THAT AARP: The leading advocacy group for older Americans is moving to shut down a flood of questions it got over the weekend after a flurry of litigation related to President Donald Trump’s effort to deport another wave of Venezuelan men under the Alien Enemies Act, POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein writes in. The Supreme Court’s order early Saturday blocking those deportations was issued under the caption A.A.R.P. v. Trump, based on the initials for one of the Venezuelans facing expulsion. That caused some distress to the elder-advocacy organization AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons, whose lawyers filed a motion Saturday asking the lower court where the case originated to change its title. “AARP is concerned that the nomenclature adopted by the caption of this case will create substantial confusion among journalists and the public. Indeed, in the 72 hours since the litigation was filed, it has already resulted in numerous misplaced inquiries to AARP,” the group’s lawyers wrote. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the potential deportees, and the Justice Department, which represents the Trump administration, do not object to renaming the case, the filing said. U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix has not yet acted on the motion. MEDIA MOVES — Andrew Freedman is joining CNN’s climate and weather desk as a senior reporter. He previously was a senior climate reporter at Axios and is a WaPo alum. … Adam Klasfeld and Tim Mak have launched All Rise News, a new outlet focused on law, protest and what people can do about “Trump’s assault on democracy.” Klasfeld previously was an MSNBC legal contributor and a reporter at The Messenger and Law & Crime. Mak is founder of The Counteroffensive, covering the war in Ukraine, and an NPR alum. TRANSITIONS — Reema Shah is joining O’Melveny as a partner. She previously was deputy general counsel for the Commerce Department, and is a Biden White House alum. … Andrew Kolb is joining the Human Rights Foundation as VP of marketing and comms. He previously was director of comms and advocacy for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems. … Geng Ngarmboonanant will be a managing director at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. He previously was deputy chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. … … Timothy Longman is now a partner at BakerHostetler. He previously was acting assistant chief of the DOJ Antitrust Division’s civil conduct task force. … Kurtis Bradley Brown is now studio director at the DNC. He previously ran the studio for the Harris campaign. … Josh Cohen-Doron is now a comms associate for the Republican Jewish Coalition. He previously was a digital strategy analyst at Targeted Victory. BONUS BIRTHDAY: White House’s John Hiller Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our deputy editor Zack Stanton and Playbook Daily Briefing producer Callan Tansill-Suddath. Correction: This morning’s Playbook included reporting from Reuters about JD Vance’s itinerary in India that his office says is incorrect. The VP is not attending a wedding, they told us.
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