Good afternoon from Capitol Hill.
Washington was rocked by the news Wednesday night that an American Airlines regional jet collided midair with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter while landing at Reagan National airport. There were no survivors; the remains of 55 have been recovered from the Potomac River so far. The Washington Post published profiles of the victims. The tragedy called attention to an increase in near crashes at the airport and lack of air traffic controllers–there was only one air traffic controller at the tower at the time of the collision, a job normally done by two.
The House was out of session during Donald Trump’s second week as president. Republicans convened at Trump National Doral Miami for the annual three-day policy retreat. Members were expected to reach an agreement or at least a framework for a negotiated reconciliation deal. Speaker Mike Johnson is aiming for passage of a package in April. According to a post by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on X, no deal-making occurred in the first two days.
The reconciliation discussions are colored by a looming March 14th government funding deadline. Conservative members are searching for a viable path that funds the government, addresses the debt ceiling, and doesn’t simply extend Biden’s budget. Since the debt ceiling wasn’t raised in December despite President Trump’s wishes, Speaker Johnson will have to negotiate a combined debt ceiling increase and spending cut with his very slim majority. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has already stated that he will not support a debt ceiling increase.
As House members deal with budget woes, the Senate was in session and held nomination hearings on Wednesday for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Health and Human Services; Kelly Loeffler, Small Business Administration; Kash Patel, FBI; and Tulsi Gabbard, Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Scott Bessent was confirmed as Treasury secretary on Monday, and Sean Duffy as Transportation secretary on Tuesday. Of 22 cabinet nominees, eight have been confirmed. On Tuesday, the Finance Committee will vote on sending RFK Jr.’s nomination to the floor for a vote and the Intelligence Committee will do the same for Tulsi Gabbard.
Meanwhile, the Administration has not slackened pace since Trump’s inauguration. Tariffs on Mexico and Canada were set to go into effect at midnight Tuesday but were paused at the last minute after concessions from Canada and Mexico. Illegal immigration is being tackled from multiple angles: ICE is continuing deportation efforts of criminal illegals in major U.S. cities and the Mexican President has agreed to reinforce the border with 10,000 additional National Guardsmen. Over 60,000 criminal aliens have been arrested, and ICE has been told to aim for 1,200 to 1,500 arrests daily. Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino agreed not to renew the 2017 memorandum regarding China’s Silk Road, a part of its Belt and Road Initiative, after a visit from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In Washington, federal employees at USAID are expected to receive news of major staff reductions on Tuesday and top officials were put on leave. USAID has been sharply criticized by the Trump Administration and Elon Musk; during an hour-long discussion on X, Musk said “It became apparent that it’s not an apple with a worm in it. What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair.”
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