Playbook PM: RFK Jr.’s nomination gets a shot in the arm

BREAKING: Doug Collins was just confirmed as VA secretary, 77-23.

ALL SYSTEMS GO: Two of President Donald Trump’s most controversial nominees got closer to the Cabinet today as wavering Republican senators fell in line, a major victory for Trump’s never-back-down ethos.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. advanced out of the Senate Finance Committee on a 14-13 party-line vote, significantly boosting his odds of confirmation as HHS secretary after Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) announced his support, per Chelsea Cirruzzo. It’s a remarkable turnaround for the lifelong Democrat, who managed to convince Republicans with partial disavowals of his decades-long anti-vaccine advocacy and support for abortion rights.

Kennedy could augur sea changes at the nation’s health department on everything from vaccines to fluoridated water to Big Agriculture and chronic diseases. And Republicans see him as a breath of fresh air for a health system desperately in need of improvements: “It is time to put someone in there who’s going to go wild,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.).

Cassidy said he’d received “serious commitments” from the administration and saw an opportunity with Kennedy to make change on issues like healthful food. A doctor, Cassidy acknowledged on the Senate floor that Kennedy had been sharply opposed by pediatricians concerned that he’ll weaken vaccination rates, leading to more outbreaks and deaths. At his confirmation hearing, Kennedy tried to distance himself from a long history of false conspiracy theories about vaccines, saying he simply wants to ensure their safety. Cassidy outlined the commitments Kennedy had given him on vaccines.

If that won over senators, though, Trump sent a different message this morning: “20 years ago, Autism in children was 1 in 10,000. NOW IT’S 1 in 34. WOW!” he wrote just before the panel vote. “Something’s really wrong. We need BOBBY!!!” In reality, scientific and public health consensus is that childhood vaccines do not cause autism.

Also looking good: Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination as director of national intelligence got a crucial boost as Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) announced he’d support her, Adam Wren scooped. The “hawkish internationalist” has some very different views than Gabbard, but he emphasized that “I have done what the Framers envisioned for senators to do” in securing specific commitments from her. Young released the list of promises Gabbard made to him in writing. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who’d been the only other publicly undecided Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, also said he’ll vote yes at 2 p.m.

Notably, both Cassidy and Young were convinced by conversations with VP JD Vance. They also both faced massive political pressure from the MAGA grassroots.

From 30,000 feet: Kennedy’s and Gabbard’s success would show just how far Hill Republicans have gone in deferring to Trump, who has managed to steamroll the equal branch of government in his first few weeks by ramming through nominees, disregarding laws and seeking to usurp the power of the purse. (He’s also inviting senators to Mar-a-Lago dinner this weekend, per Punchbowl’s Max Cohen.) The only red line thus far has been Matt Gaetz’s AG nomination. Tillis, for instance, tells NOTUS’ Haley Byrd Wilt, Shifra Dayak and Ben Mause that even though Elon Musk’s actions are technically unconstitutional, “nobody should bellyache about that.”

As Trump’s wave of retribution has encountered little or weak resistance from congressional Republicans and Democrats, federal courts will be the crucial arena to test whether his actions stand, Kyle Cheney writes. But the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority could sign off on many of them, having already co-signed the “unitary executive theory” and significantly expanded the powers of the presidency, WaPo’s Justin Jouvenal reports.

TARIFF FALLOUT: Trump’s China tariffs could be revisited in the coming months as the U.S. works to “recalibrate” and take a “measured” approach, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told Dasha Burns at a Playbook breakfast series event today. But the protectionist said Trump’s tariffs are a crucial part of a broader shift “from [an economy] over-reliant on income taxes and the Internal Revenue Service, to one which is also reliant on tariff revenue and the External Revenue Service.” Also at the event, Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) said he’s “not a huge fan of tariffs,” but is resigned to Trump’s use of them. And Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) criticized Trump’s approach as “not very well thought-out.” More from Irie Sentner

Good Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at [email protected].

HEADS UP: “Comedian Amber Ruffin to headline annual White House Correspondents’ dinner,” by Amanda Friedman: The “Late Night With Seth Meyers” writer “has the ability to walk the line between blistering commentary and humor all while provoking her audience to think about the important issues of the day,” says Playbook’s own Eugene Daniels, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association.

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1. DISMANTLING THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE: So far, roughly 20,000 federal employees have sprung for the Trump administration’s “buyout” offer to stop working and get paid through September, Axios’ Marc Caputo scooped. But NewsNation’s Kellie Meyer reports that the number is “rapidly growing,” and NOTUS’ Reese Gorman pegs the number at 24,000. There are still two more days for additional people to join in. The number to this point amounts to just 1 percent of the workforce, compared to the 5 to 10 percent Trump had hoped to cull. This is a big part of Trump and Musk’s effort to shrink the government, but the offer also faces questions about its legality.

If not enough employees resign, layoffs are “likely,” a General Services Administration official said, per WaPo’s Faiz Siddiqui and Emily Davies.

Meanwhile, many climate and infrastructure grants across EPA and other agencies remain frozen despite judges ordering the pause to be reversed, Jean Chemnick reports — leading advocates to question whether the executive branch is defying the courts.

2. COMING TODAY: With Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in town, Trump today will sign an order reviving his policy of “maximum economic pressure” on Iran, Reuters’ Steve Holland reports. That’ll include sanctions and an effort to demolish Iranian oil exporting. Trump also plans to sign an executive order related to sanctions on the International Criminal Court, NewsNation’s Kellie Meyer scooped. Republicans have targeted the court in retaliation for its issuance of war-crimes arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.

3. TWO NOTABLE NEW BILLS: There’s bipartisan backing for a couple of interesting new pieces of legislation being introduced today whose fates could say a lot about economic policy under Trump. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) have a bill to limit interest rates on credit cards, NYT’s Rob Copeland reports. Trump backed this exact idea during the campaign, but the banking industry will lobby hard against it; the White House hasn’t staked out a position yet.

And Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) is steering stablecoin legislation that would set out a regulatory framework the cryptocurrency industry likes, Bloomberg’s Stephanie Lai reports. Trump has already signed an executive order calling for the promotion of stablecoins, in contrast to Joe Biden’s more crypto-skeptical approach.

4. IMMIGRATION FILES: The U.S. is sending a military flight of immigrants to Guantánamo Bay today, despite the administration still trying to figure out the legality of doing so, CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez, Natasha Bertrand and Haley Britzky report. Tents to house migrants there are already going up. One source “said questions like how long the migrants can legally be held there, and what their rights would be while detained, are still unanswered. It is also unclear whether the migrants will have any access to legal or social services.”

Related read: “Red states, following Trump’s lead, pursue sweeping immigration measures,” by WaPo’s Molly Hennessy-Fiske: “This wave of proposed laws and policies — the biggest in a decade, say legal experts — challenges long-established legal precedents ensuring undocumented immigrants have access to state legal, medical and education services.”

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5. THE VIEW FROM KYIV: “Ukraine welcomes Trump offer to trade its minerals for military support,” by WaPo’s Isabelle Khurshudyan and Ellen Francis: “As Ukrainian officials considered how to sway a skeptical President Donald Trump to continue supporting their country, one strategy was to appeal to Trump’s businesslike approach and offer him a deal — say, rare earth minerals — to get something in return. Now Trump says he’s interested. … [O]fficials in Kyiv regarded Trump’s interest in Ukraine’s rare earth commodities as a positive development that could get him invested in the country’s future.”

6. HOSTILE TAKEOVER: USAID’s headquarters remained closed today as the agency’s future teetered in doubt, per Fox News’ Jen Griffin. Republicans have trumpeted the cuts already imposed on USAID as an important money-saving measure — and out of ideological opposition to the agency — though they account for a tiny fraction of federal spending.

Meanwhile, the effects are resonating around the world: Hundreds of contractors across the global aid and development sector are facing financial chaos and laying off people, Reuters’ Daphne Psaledakis and Humeyra Pamuk report. And it’s not just the thousands of vulnerable people worldwide whose lives may be imperiled immediately by aid cuts. In the U.S., thousands of American jobs are at risk, CNN’s Sean Lyngaas, Jennifer Hansler and Lauren Kent report. “Beyond the chaos unfolding in Washington, USAID employees in the US and overseas said the funding freeze will have lasting consequences for US national security.”

7. SO MUCH FOR READ-ONLY: “A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System,” by Wired’s Vittoria Elliott, Dhruv Mehrotra, Leah Feiger and Tim Marchman: “[Marko] Elez’s privileges include the ability not just to read but to write code on two of the most sensitive systems in the US government: the Payment Automation Manager and Secure Payment System at the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS). Housed on a top-secret mainframe, these systems control, on a granular level, government payments that in their totality amount to more than a fifth of the US economy. … [He’s] a 25-year-old who graduated Rutgers University in 2021 and subsequently worked at SpaceX [and X].”

Elez didn’t respond for comment to Wired. Talking Points Memo additionally reports that Elez “not only has full access to these systems, he has already made extensive changes to the code base for these critical payment system.”

8. TURMOIL AT THE EEOC: After Trump fired the leaders of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, prompting an outcry that his actions were illegal, the new acting chair is clashing with staff over early anti-transgender moves, WSJ’s Lauren Weber reports. In line with Trump, Andrea Lucas has ordered the elimination of materials that allow people to identify as transgender or non-binary. But multiple staffers have said that to do so would break the law, and “[s]ome agency employees are openly revolting,” telling Lucas her actions are unconstitutional. The agency maintains that “all charges of discrimination are accepted by the EEOC” and Lucas is complying with all orders.

9. THE PURGE: “FBI’s top agent in Miami forced out by Trump’s Justice Department in escalating purge,” by the Miami Herald’s Jay Weaver: “[Jeffrey] Veltri, like about a dozen high-ranking FBI officials in Washington, D.C., and in field offices around the country, was given an ultimatum: retire, resign or be fired by Monday. Veltri, 50, chose to resign on Friday … Veltri was immediately replaced in the Miami field office by an acting special agent in charge: Justin Fleck. He’s an 18-year FBI veteran who previously worked as a deputy in the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.”

And the pushback: “FBI agents sue to block DOJ from compiling list of officials who worked on Jan. 6 or Trump cases,” by Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein