Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
Happy Friday! A government shutdown will be avoided, but the Democratic infighting has only just begun. Kristen Welker examines how tensions boiled over this week within the party. Plus, Ken Dilanian explores how President Donald Trump has put his stamp on the Justice Department. And Henry J. Gomez asks Vice President JD Vance about the future of TikTok in the U.S.
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— Adam Wollner
Shutdown showdown underscores deep divide in Democratic Party
By Kristen Welker
With just hours to spare before a midnight deadline, the Senate passed a Republican stopgap funding bill to keep the government open after days of indications from Democrats that a shutdown may be looming.
The vote was 54-46, with two members of the Democratic caucus joining all but one Republican in support, sending the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature. But prior to final passage, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and nine other Democrats helped the measure clear a 60-vote procedural hurdle in the GOP-controlled chamber.
It was that decision that has stoked deep divisions with the Democratic Party, which is facing a reckoning over how to respond to Trump.
Tensions boiled over after Schumer first announced on Thursday he would vote in favor of advancing the GOP spending bill, despite Democratic fears that the measure passed by the House would enable Trump and Elon Musk to further lay off government workers and seek to eliminate programs without congressional input.
But Schumer took to the Senate floor again this morning and argued that shutting down the government would only embolden Trump and Musk.
“Musk has told everybody he wants a shutdown because he knows it will help him achieve his horrible goal of just decimating the federal government from one end to the other,” Schumer said. “In other words, if government were to shut down, DOGE has a plan in place to exploit the crisis for maximum destruction.”
Trump praised Schumer on Truth Social, calling his announcement a “really good and smart move” that took “guts and courage.” House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California responded to the president’s post: “When Donald Trump wakes up in the morning and says, ‘You’re doing the right things Senate Democrats,’ we don’t feel that is the right place to be.”
The reaction from Democrats has been furious. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a leading progressive opposed to the bill, called Schumer’s move “devastating” and a “slap in the face.”
In a stunning move, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement calling on Democratic senators to reject the bill, defying Schumer. And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., declined in a press conference to answer whether it’s time for new leadership in the Senate.
I’ve been speaking to a number of Democratic sources, and while some were relieved by Schumer’s move, one congressional aide told me to expect “severe” blowback from the base. The aide also noted the divide seems to be falling largely along generational lines, with some of the newest voices in the Senate being some of the staunchest opponents to Schumer’s strategy.
Why the backlash? Well, one, a number of vulnerable House Democrats in Trump districts opposed the bill earlier this week, and now feel like they took a tough vote for no reason. Second, some Democrats feel as though keeping the government open is basically giving Trump and Musk a green light to move forward with their deep cuts. And third, perhaps most importantly, many in the party saw this fight as the best opportunity to register their opposition to Trump. The question is: If not now, when?
The episode has been a real test of Schumer’s leadership at a critical moment when Democrats are still trying to find their footing. And it all underscores that there is a deep divide in the party about the best way to take on Trump in the opening months of his second administration.
We’ll get our first real sense of how voters are reacting to all of the moves out of Washington in our new NBC News poll, which Steve Kornacki will debut on “Meet the Press” this Sunday. Plus, I’ll talk to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.
What to know from the Trump presidency today
- Exclusive interview: Vice President JD Vance told NBC News’ Henry J. Gomez that “there will almost certainly be a high-level agreement” to sell TikTok and keep the social media app running in the U.S. by the April 5 deadline.
- Vance was booed upon arriving at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Thursday night.
- A federal judge ordered that thousands of federal workers fired by the Trump administration be temporarily reinstated.
- Department of Homeland Security agents executed search warrants on two Columbia University residences days after graduate student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by immigration authorities.
- Trump touted his “great relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as he once again called the U.N.-sanctioned state a “nuclear power.”
Pam Bondi reshapes the DOJ around Trump’s priorities
By Ken Dilanian
President Donald Trump’s choice of Pam Bondi to be attorney general initially prompted sighs of relief in some Democratic and legal circles.
Trump’s first pick, then-Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who had been investigated by the Justice Department in connection with allegations of sex trafficking — he denied the allegations and the DOJ decided not to bring charges — was seen as someone chosen because he would do whatever Trump asked, regardless of the ethics or law.
Bondi was seen as a professional with deep legal experience: She had served as Florida’s attorney general for 10 years. It was true that she had served as one of Trump’s lawyers during his first impeachment trial and supported his conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Still, Democrats and Republicans who knew her believed she was someone who’d stand up to Trump in a way Gaetz wouldn’t and refuse if the president asked her to do anything illegal or improper.
But since Bondi took the reins, the Justice Department has been operating in a manner dramatically at odds with how it has been run in the 50 years since Attorney General John Mitchell was sent to prison for his role in the Watergate scandal.
Vowing to end the politicization she says occurred during the Biden administration, Bondi has implemented her own regime of politicization, critics say. The Trump administration, with Bondi’s help, appears to be seeking to transform the Justice Department into a political instrument of the president — something that no Republican or Democratic administration has done since Richard Nixon.
Related: Trump calls for jailing his perceived opponents in Justice Department speech, by Nnamdi Egwuonwu and Ryan J. Reilly
🗞️ Today’s other top stories
- 🇨🇦 Oh, Canada: Canadians and Republicans alike are confounded as Trump increasingly links a trade war to his push to annex America’s northern neighbor. The U.S.-Canada clash over tariffs also overshadowed a meeting of G7 diplomants. Read more →
- 🧑🌾 Tough position: From funding cuts to tariffs, farmers have found themselves struggling to find markets for their products and facing the risk of steep losses for the year ahead. Read more →
- 🎤 Hot seat: Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina was the latest Republican lawmaker to face backlash over Trump’s mass layoffs of federal workers and budget cuts at a town hall. Meanwhile, Democrats are planning to hold a series of town halls in GOP-held districts. Read more →
- ⚖️ In the courts: Dareh Gregorian, Gary Grumbach and Lawrence Hurley have a recap of Trump’s week in the courts, where he saw his legal battles expand. Read more →
That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.
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