| | | |  | | By Ali Bianco and Makayla Gray | | Presented by |  | | | |  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks with reporters at the U.S. Capitol on March 26, 2026. Francis Chung/POLITICO | SHUTDOWN COUNTDOWN: The clock is ticking for Democrats and Republicans to find a solution to the nearly six-week shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. Both chambers are set to take off for a two-week recess starting tomorrow. The frustration and pressure have reached their boiling point. “This has got to stop. It needs to stop now,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Fox News this morning. “I think [Democrats are] going to come to their senses. I hope they do, because, if they don't … it's going to get really ugly out there.” And Thune warned once again that the lack of a deal could throw the entire recess out the window, saying “I think it's very hard to take off if we don't have the DHS funded.” His colleagues aren’t faring much better. The funding deal put together by Republican senators with the White House earlier this week was widely rebuffed by Democrats, and the Democratic counteroffer was thwacked as a nonstarter by Republicans. There’s no backup plan, and the deadlock was on full display yesterday when the Senate voted against funding for the sixth time, POLITICO’s Jordain Carney, Katherine Tully-McManus and Jennifer Scholtes write. Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said his fellow members are “mutually fatigued.” One GOP senator told our colleagues: “I just want to go home.” Republicans sent Democrats their “last and final” offer, Thune said, placing the ball squarely in Democrats’ court, Jordain reports. The revised offer still only leaves out funding for ICE’s enforcement and removal operations, but has some added language to assuage Democratic concerns. Behind the scenes: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has only said that “people are talking,” per Punchbowl. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), the top GOP appropriator, met with the House Problem Solvers Caucus over lunch — telling KTM that everyone is “pretty frustrated.” Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), who’s also been deeply involved in DHS negotiations, said he hopes the end-of-week pressure can get a deal out the door, per CBS. “You know how it works around here with deadlines,” he said. Largely absent from the pressure cooker is President Donald Trump, who — short of congratulating newly minted DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and blaming Democrats for the shutdown during a Cabinet meeting today — has said little about the negotiations and hasn’t publicly backed the deal Republicans helped broker. Trump did threaten “drastic measures” if the shutdown isn’t handled. The Senate is voting now on DHS funding, but it’s expected to fall short. If senators don’t act by this weekend, the shutdown will break the previous record come Saturday night. The House is also voting today for the third time on funding and a largely symbolic resolution expressing support for the department. House lawmakers privately are feeling “antsy” that the Senate has been moving too slow, per Jordain and co. It’s hard to overstate how sharp the pain points of the shutdown have gotten: multiple airports have call-out rates of TSA agents surpassing 40 percent, and over 480 TSA officers have quit, AP’s Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking report. “Some are sleeping in their cars, selling their blood and plasma, and taking on second jobs to make ends meet,” acting TSA Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill said during her House testimony on Wednesday. Lines at some airports have surpassed four-hour waits, and the threat of possible airport closures is growing. Whether the fatigue and TSA pain can be enough to get anything passed by day’s end remains to be seen. “We’re going to know soon,” Thune said. WHAT ELSE WE’RE WATCHING: The entire Republican Study Committee is backing plans for a second party-line reconciliation bill, which would include money for ICE omitted from DHS funding as well as a defense supplemental — and for it all to be “fully paid for,” POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill reports. “This will be the major fight with Senate Republicans — who mostly prefer a narrower package, without defense [money], and want to avoid a messy battle over spending cuts to fully offset the cost of another GOP bill,” Meredith notes. But but but: House Republicans will also have to deal with their own internal divisions, especially navigating their razor-thin margin. “You saw what I did on the first reconciliation bill,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) told Meredith. Good Thursday afternoon — and welcome to peak cherry blossom season. This is Ali Bianco and Makayla Gray. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Send us your thoughts at abianco@politico.com and mgray@politico.com.
| | 8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. IRAN LATEST: During another lengthy Cabinet meeting at the White House today, envoy Steve Witkoff said the administration had sent Iran its 15-point peace plan to end the war. “This has resulted in strong and positive messaging and talks,” Witkoff said. Though he didn’t give any firm details about the proposal, Witkoff delivered a fresh warning: “We have told Iran one last thing: Don't miscalculate again.” Trump, meanwhile, said Iran is “begging to make a deal” and claimed that the military operation has “obliterated” the country. “We'll see if we can make the right deal,” Trump said, pressing again for the Strait of Hormuz to open up again. Reality check: Despite Witkoff’s positive message on the peace plan, a senior Iranian official told Reuters’ Parisa Hafezi and colleagues that the proposal is “one-sided and unfair.” The plan “lacked the minimum requirements for success and served only U.S. and Israeli interests, the official said, while stressing that diplomacy had not ended despite the lack for now of a realistic plan for peace talks.” More moves: The Pentagon is “considering whether to divert weapons intended for Ukraine to the Middle East as the war in Iran depletes some of the U.S. military’s most critical munitions,” WaPo’s Noah Robertson and Ellen Francis report. And Western intelligence indicates that Russia is sending drones to Iran, Semafor reports. The global impact: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development issued a new report today projecting that inflation in the U.S. will average 4.2 percent this year — one percentage point higher than the group’s forecast last year, per NYT’s Eshe Nelson. On the Hill: Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) told Axios’ Andrew Solender she’ll “most likely” vote with Democrats on the next war powers resolution — a symbolic vote that isn’t enough to tip the scales, but a notable defection. “President Trump has won the war, time to exit,” Mace told Axios. And Pentagon officials are set to sit down with House Budget members today at 3:30 p.m. to talk through military funding requests, Meredith reports. 2. RULES FOR THEE: Trump — a relentless critic of mail-in voting — said during the Cabinet meeting today that he had voted by mail in Florida’s special elections this month because “I felt I should be here [in Washington] instead of in the beautiful sunshine.” Reminded that he is in Palm Beach frequently, Trump told a reporter today: “I decided that I was going to vote by mail-in ballot because I couldn’t be there, because I had a lot of different things.” But the president cast his mail-in vote from Palm Beach, Playbook’s Irie Sentner reports. Trump requested his mail-in ballot on Saturday, March 14, according to public Palm Beach County voter records. The ballot was sent to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate the same day and was received for processing the next day, on Sunday, March 15. The president was in Palm Beach both days, at his golf club from 8:45 a.m. to 2:37 p.m. on Saturday, and 9:21 a.m. to 1:55 p.m. on Sunday, according to press pool reports. He took off from Palm Beach International Airport, en route back to Washington, at 6:33 p.m. on Sunday. In-person early voting was open from Saturday, March 14 through Sunday, March 22 at 7 p.m. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 3. MADURO IN COURT: “Nicolás Maduro’s lawyer argues against US blocking funding for drug trafficking case defense,” by AP’s Michael Sisak and colleagues: “Maduro lawyer Barry Pollack contended that if Maduro got public defenders, investigating and preparing his case would sap legal resources meant for people who can’t afford their own attorneys, and that doesn’t make sense in ‘a case where you have someone other than the U.S. taxpayer standing ready, willing and able to fund that defense.’ Prosecutor Kyle Wirshba argued against letting Maduro use Venezuelan government funds.” In the meantime: “Nicolás Maduro held in a ‘jail inside of a jail’ under special administrative measures,” by CBS’ Cara Tabachnick and Katrina Kaufman 4. CPAC VIBE CHECK: As CPAC kicks off in earnest in Texas, Matt Schlapp’s goal for the conference is to rein in party divisions ahead of midterms, Reuters’ Nathan Layne reports. “If some of the luminaries of MAGA are all at each other's throats in a kind of continued disunity, I think that could be devastating in the midterm elections,” Schlapp told Reuters. “The question is: can we pull together to get the right guys elected and hold on to the majorities? That's one of the intents of this conference.” State of play: “Bigotry among young conservatives has Republicans on edge,” by WaPo’s Hannah Knowles: “Leaks of offensive group chats and infighting over the bounds of acceptable political discourse are fanning anxiety in the party: Maybe the kids are not all right.”
| | | | A message from Venture Global: Who says Americans don't build big things anymore? Through innovation, Venture Global is delivering American energy at a fraction of the cost, in a fraction of the time. That's Venture Global. That's Unstoppable Energy. ventureglobal.com | | | | 5. TRAIL MIX: Graham Platner holds a major lead over Gov. Janet Mills in another Maine Senate Democratic primary poll out of the Pine Tree State: Emerson College’s first survey of 2026 finds Platner with 55 percent and Mills with 28 percent. The polling also shows that both candidates hold an edge over incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Platner leads a hypothetical general-election matchup, 48 percent to 41 percent, while Mills leads 46 percent to 43 percent. What she’s up to: Kamala Harris is ramping up her 2026 travel. The former VP is set to make appearances in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia the week of April 13, then head to Arkansas on April 25, CNN’s Isaac Dovere scooped. “Though she has not made any decision on a repeat run, her geographic choices for this swing are reminiscent of what her 2020 campaign team used to call its ‘SEC strategy.’” Crypto candidates: The advocacy group Stand With Crypto is launching its first midterm backing with “a new ‘voter hub’ where digital assets users can learn candidates’ stances on the digital assets and view featured battleground races ‘where we think that our advocates will have a material impact,’” Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller reports. Warning signs with Latinos: “Latino Support for Trump Is Fading in California Farm Country,” by NYT’s Jennifer Medina: “In many ways, the Central Valley, which stretches 450 miles up and down the middle of the state, is a microcosm of a larger political shift taking place across the country.” 6. TRADING SPACES: Trade ministers from Europe and a group of Asia-Pacific countries are meeting on the sidelines of a gathering of the World Trade Organization in Cameroon this week, POLITICO’s Victoria Guida writes in her latest Capital Letter column. “The goal, as I understand it, is not to craft a future without the U.S., so much as one where these countries are less vulnerable to its whims, which these days often come in the form of tariffs. There’s also a deeper significance that might matter more for whoever occupies the Oval Office after President Donald Trump: The rest of the world is rejecting Trump’s unbridled enthusiasm for trade restrictions, and they still want rules to govern them.” 7. FOR YOUR RADAR: “Fourth Labor Dept. staffer leaves during IG probe of Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer,” by NY Post’s Josh Christenson: “A fourth employee has left the Department of Labor after being sidelined amid a sprawling watchdog probe of Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer involving alleged travel fraud and other misconduct … Melissa Robey, who served as director of advance in the secretary’s office, was fired on Tuesday at the prompting of the White House, sources said, making her the latest DOL aide in the secretary’s office to exit during the inspector general’s investigation. … In a statement Thursday, Robey said she was wrongfully terminated ‘with no explanation.’” The White House did not comment. 8. MEGATREND: “Growth rate slowed in US metro areas in 2025, with steepest drops along the southern border,” by AP’s Mike Schneider: “The estimates showed that a majority of metro areas and counties had slower population gains last year, which the agency attributed primarily to a slowdown in international migration. A year earlier, an influx of immigrants had helped urban areas recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The average growth rate for metro areas fell from 1.1% in 2024 to 0.6% in 2025.”
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| | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | OUT AND ABOUT — The Middle East Institute held its 80th anniversary gala last night at the Ritz-Carlton in D.C. SPOTTED: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, John Kerry, Amos Hochstein, Lana Nusseibeh, Nada Hamadeh, Omani Ambassador Talal Al Rahbi, John Abizaid, Mohamed Abushahab, Alex Gray, Samantha Dravis, Kristan Nevins, Teresa Carlson, Kristalina Georgieva, Barbara Leaf and James Cunningham. — Alumni and supporters of the University of Wisconsin-Madison gathered for a reception last night at the Reserve Officers Association Building to celebrate their annual UW-Madison Day in Washington, D.C. The program honored prominent Badger alum, Undersecretary of War for Acquisition and Procurement Michael Duffey. Wisconsin Rep. Tony Wied (R-Wis.), who was wearing his Bucky Badger socks, introduced Duffey. SPOTTED: Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Lt. Gen. Joe Hartman, Grace White, Tyler Houlton, John Keast, Josh Shapiro, Craig Thompson, Dave Schroeder, Sarah Schutt, Mike Fahey, Syd Terry, Bob Wood, Steve Pfrang, Scott Owczarek, Fran Vavrus, Steve Nordlund and Angela Ambrose. 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. | | | | Follow us on X | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Canada Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | |
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