| | | |  | | By Eli Okun and Irie Sentner | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Makayla Gray
|  | THE CATCH-UP | | | 
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's Democrats are holding steady on their demands for DHS reforms after fatal shootings in Minnesota. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP | MINNESOTA ICE: President Donald Trump may be easing up slightly on his intense immigration crackdown in Minnesota, but the agents’ operations will continue — and a partial government shutdown this weekend remains possible as a result. The latest from Trump: The president told ABC’s Rachel Scott that Tom Homan’s new leadership of the Minneapolis-area operation will lead to “maybe a little bit more relaxed” approach. “We’d like to finish the job and finish it well, and I think we can do it in a de-escalated form,” he added, signaling a softer tone amid heavy backlash to immigration agents’ killing of two U.S. citizens. But but but: Trump also got in a dig at Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) for their comments that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem should be out of a job. “Losers,” Trump brushed them off. “I am thrilled about that,” Tillis shot back, per CNN’s Manu Raju. “That makes me qualified to be Homeland Security secretary and senior adviser to the president.” And Trump kept up the pressure with an angry Truth Social post reacting to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s refusal to enforce federal immigration laws. Frey “is PLAYING WITH FIRE!” Trump threatened. As POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney notes, Trump may have undercut his administration’s effort to fend off a Minnesota lawsuit seeking to end the immigration surge: This is “exactly the kind of statement (‘retribution is coming’) that worked against the administration in court earlier this week.” Kyle writes. Frey and VP JD Vance then engaged in a back-and-forth over safety and law enforcement cooperation. More from Minnesota: The officials involved in Alex Pretti’s killing have now been placed on administrative leave. And the substance used in yesterday’s incident against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is suspected to be apple cider vinegar. Live updates from CNN Local and national fallout: The next “No Kings” mass protests are planned for March 28, this time with a focus on demonstrating against what organizers call Trump’s “secret police force” and with a central event in the Minneapolis area, NBC’s Natasha Korecki reports. After turning out an estimated 7 million protesters in October, they’re shooting for 9 million this time, per POLITICO’s Cheyanne Daniels. Meanwhile, Trump’s effort to tackle welfare fraud in Minnesota is running into a problem of his own making, The Minnesota Star Tribune’s Bill Lukitsch reports: Several of the top federal prosecutors in the state resigned over the handling of a probe into Renee Good’s killing. On the Hill: But nowhere is the fallout so acute and immediate as in Congress, where Democratic anger over immigration agents’ tactics — and push for reforms — could hold up not just DHS money, but an entire suite of funding bills. Senate leaders and White House officials are scrambling to strike a deal, and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), for one, sounded optimistic: “I think we should be able to land this,” he said, per Punchbowl. But the divide between Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer still looked wide as of midday, with Republicans offering executive reforms and Democrats calling for legislative ones. Getting any changes through the House would be another huge hurdle. The deadline is Friday. Senate Dems are meeting now to discuss their demands, while some Republicans sounded willing to pair a continuing resolution for DHS with other full funding bills. First in Playbook: Progress Action Fund is launching an ad across connected TV, streaming and social media platforms this afternoon urging Schumer and Senate Democrats not to support the DHS funding bill that includes money for ICE without more guardrails to rein in the agency. The group, which supports Democrats aiming to oust Republicans in swing districts, is spending six figures on the “No Money for Murders” ad, POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky writes in. The ad features videos of the shootings of both Pretti and Good. Watch it here A taste of the liberal pressure: Susan Rice — who was one of the relative hawks on immigration within the Biden White House — thinks “it would be malpractice for [Democrats] not to use the current fiscal year appropriations bill as a vehicle to try to effect those changes,” as she told The States Forum in an interview publishing later today and shared with Playbook. “The Republicans will be to blame for a wider shutdown if they don’t go along with separating out the Homeland Security appropriation.” Shutdown showdown: But if Congress does grind into a shutdown, the impacts will be significant. Notably, ICE and other immigration enforcement would likely keep going, having secured a huge funding boost from Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, WaPo’s Riley Beggin and Jacob Bogage point out. But the start of tax season could get worse, with a shutdown forcing IRS employees to be furloughed or work without pay as millions of taxpayers begin to file returns due April 15, Bloomberg’s Caitlin Reilly reports. The agency is already navigating staff cuts and a slew of changes, and another shutdown could make taxpayers face long wait times as they navigate major changes to the country’s tax code. Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop us a line at eokun@politico.com and isentner@politico.com.
| | | | A message from AHIP: 35 Million Seniors Could See Reduced Benefits and Higher Costs. Health plans welcome reforms to strengthen Medicare Advantage. However, a proposal for flat program funding at a time of sharply rising medical costs and high utilization of care will directly impact seniors' coverage. If finalized, this proposal could result in benefit reductions and higher costs for 35 million seniors and people with disabilities when they renew their Medicare Advantage coverage in October 2026. Learn more. | | | | | | 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW | | 1. WAR AND PEACE: Trump this morning announced on Truth Social that a “massive Armada is heading to Iran,” as anti-regime protests in the country — which have faced a brutal crackdown — reached the one-month mark. “Time is running out, it is truly of the essence! As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL!” the president wrote. He threatened that if the U.S. attacks the country again, it would be “far worse” than the operation he authorized last year that hobbled Iran’s nuclear facilities. Meanwhile, on the Hill: Secretary of State Marco Rubio faced intense scrutiny from senators from both parties on the Foreign Relations Committee as he defended the administration’s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. He emphasized that the U.S. would not spend its tax dollars propping up Venezuela or subsidizing oil companies’ investments there and insisted the massive military operation did not “come anywhere close” to an act of war — a power the Constitution bestows only to Congress. In one particularly heated exchange, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) asked Rubio if, since he claimed the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela, he would advise Trump to rescind his invocation of the wartime Alien Enemies Act, which the president invoked last year as part of his mass deportation campaign against alleged members of a Venezuelan gang. “No, of course not,” Rubio said after an extended back and forth. Rubio also underscored the administration’s stated goal of restoring democracy through free and fair elections, though he offered no specific timeline, emphasizing that Venezuela needs to stabilize first. “We’re not going to get there in three weeks. It’s going to take some time,” Rubio said. More from POLITICO’s Eric Bazail-Eimil 2. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Endorsement watch: Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) is backing Mayra Macías’ independent congressional bid in Illinois’ 4th District, per POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky. Coming on the heels of Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez’s (D-N.M.) endorsement of Macías on Monday, it’s a remarkable early marker of establishment support for Macías’ insurgent effort to take on Democrat Patty Garcia, whom Rep. Chuy García (D-Ill.) maneuvered to install as his replacement in a gambit formally rebuked by the House. 3. THE AFFORDABILITY AGENDA: Trump today touted his “Trump Accounts” — the proposal to establish seed funds for American children at birth — as the White House pushes to further reemphasize how it’s tackling persistent cost-of-living concerns. The event, held at the glitzy Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, featured the MAGA-fied rapper Nicki Minaj and “Shark Tank” personality Kevin O’Leary, both of whom emphasized their support for the policy. Minaj added that she is “the president’s No. 1 fan.” JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America announced that they’ll match contributions to the accounts for employees. Bill of health: A month after Trump said he’d push health insurance companies to lower costs, insurers are breathing easier for now, POLITICO’s Cheyenne Haslett and Kelly Hooper report. There’s been no meeting, no further pressure and no direct crackdown in the health legislation framework Trump gave Congress, which focuses more on other parts of the health care system and has slim odds of passage anyway. On the other hand: Medicare Advantage is sweating after the administration said this week it’ll bolster the private Medicare plans by less than 1 percent, Kelly writes. The insurers’ stocks tumbled on the news, as advocates for the Medicare alternative warn that seniors could exit amid rising costs. The Trump administration is now signaling that it intends to get tougher about the practice of insurers inflating diagnoses to get federal overpayments, as officials look to root out wasteful spending. But the news “came as a near-unanimous surprise on Wall Street,” WSJ’s David Wainer reports, given CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz’s past advocacy for Medicare Advantage. The industry is hoping to effect changes before rates are set this spring.
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➡️ Sign up for POLITICO Forecast. | | | | | 4. THE NUCLEAR OPTIONS: “The Trump administration has secretly rewritten nuclear safety rules,” by NPR’s Geoff Brumfiel: “The orders slash hundreds of pages of requirements for security at the reactors. They also loosen protections for groundwater and the environment and eliminate at least one key safety role. The new orders cut back on requirements for keeping records, and they raise the amount of radiation a worker can be exposed to before an official accident investigation is triggered.” 5. COME TO YOUR CENSUS: The Census Bureau’s new population snapshot for 2025 could spell danger for Democrats, POLITICO’s Andrew Howard reports. Experts have already begun using those population estimates to project the number of House seats — and Electoral College votes — states will gain or lose after the 2030 Census, and a trend is emerging: GOP-leaning states will gain electoral power and Democratic-leaning states will lose it if the current trajectory continues. 6. DEMOCRACY WATCH: “Secret US cyber operations shielded 2024 election from foreign trolls, but now the Trump admin has gutted protections,” by CNN’s Sean Lyngaas: “The administration has shut down foreign-influence-focused centers at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and the State Department that helped warn the public that China, Russia and Iran’s spy services were targeting Americans with election-related disinformation. The Department of Homeland Security has also slashed its election security teams.” 7. FUNDING BOTTLENECK: Noem is under an intense spotlight right now — and as the administration’s ICE operation faces increased scrutiny, crucial approvals for another agency Noem oversees have fallen by the wayside, NOTUS’ Anna Kramer and Torrence Banks report. Noem is holding up more than $1 billion in FEMA hazard mitigation grants that have already been approved at the regional level, according to documents obtained by NOTUS. Only Georgia, North Carolina and Oklahoma have made it through Noem’s logjam, with hundreds of projects across nearly all 50 states, four territories and two tribal nations still stuck in limbo.
| | | | A message from AHIP:  
| | | | | | TALK OF THE TOWN | | IN MEMORIAM — More than 250 guests attended Kevin McDonald’s memorial last night in the Senate’s Kennedy Caucus Room. McDonald ran former Sen. Patrick Leahy’s (D-Vt.) office for over 30 years, and died unexpectedly in September. Leahy, Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), Irish Ambassador Geraldine Nason, Senate Chaplain Barry Black and Anthea Hartig paid tribute to McDonald, while Joe Crowley and Cabelle St. John sang his favorite songs. SPOTTED: Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), Marcelle Leahy, Alicia Leahy, Mark Lippert, Sheila Dwyer, JP Dowd, Ed Pagano, Luke Albee, Tim Rieser, John Podesta, Ali Golden, Caitlyn Stephenson, Kristen Gentile, Jon Cardinal, John McCarthy, Toni-Marie Higgins, Joe Hack, Jessica Berry, Tricia Engle, Pat Sarcone, Laurie McKay, Tonya Sharpe, Jessica Moore, Diane Blagman, Tina Stoll and Jon Haber. MONEY HUNT — Rep. Wesley Hunt’s (R-Texas) Senate campaign manager James Kyrkanides charged taxpayers more than $44,000 in hotel expenses over three years as Hunt’s congressional chief of staff, POLITICO’s Daniel Lippman reports. The charges averaged $457 per night, four times the standard rate set by the General Services Administration. Kyrkanides said less than half of the money reimbursed went to him personally, and the remainder covered travel expenses for other Hunt staffers. He did not provide receipts to verify that claim. He said all expenses were approved by the House finance office. Though House members have broad discretion over their office budgets, some do abide by GSA hotel rates. JUST ONE TINY PROBLEM — “A Viral Band Needs One More Fan: the U.S. Government,” by WSJ’s Michelle Hackman: “Evan Papier, Anthony Key, Zachary Sobania and Darshan Magdum debuted Boy Throb on TikTok in November. Their profile was unassuming but their promises were lofty. ‘We’re the world’s next biggest boy band,’ they proclaimed in their introductory video. … One big obstacle stood in their way: Darshan lives in India. For the band to be complete, he needs a visa.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Caleb Conaway is the Georgia GOP’s new executive director. He previously worked for the Chamber of Commerce and is a Derrick Van Orden alum. TRANSITIONS — Former Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has joined Johns Hopkins University as a distinguished senior fellow with a joint appointment at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. … Woody Hales is now director of executive administration at ViaPath Technologies. He previously worked at Gingrich 360. … Madison Hardimon is now chief of staff for Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas). He previously worked at the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security. 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 deputy editor Garrett Ross. Correction: Yesterday’s Playbook PM misstated the committee that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) chairs. It is the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
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