Senate GOP leaders have teed up action on five more nominations, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of health and human services, and Brooke Rollins to be secretary of agriculture.
Rollins’ nomination isn’t controversial. As for Kennedy, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., has become an outspoken supporter of him despite his continued criticism of conventional agriculture. And Marshall is expressing confidence that Kennedy will be confirmed as well.
Johnson: Timing for budget resolution may slip again
House Republicans continue struggling to agree on a blueprint for spending and tax cuts. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox News on Sunday that a budget resolution may not be ready for committee action this week. But he insisted that the GOP was “very, very close” to a deal.
“We were going to do a Budget Committee markup this week. We might push it a little bit further, because the details really matter.”
Johnson also defended the House GOP’s one-bill approach to enacting President Trump’s policy priorities.
Keep in mind: Senate Republicans are sticking to a two-step approach. The Senate Budget Committee has scheduled two days of meetings this week to consider its FY25 budget resolution, which will be focused on increasing spending for border security and the military. Tax cuts will be left for later.
For more on this week’s agenda, read our Washington Week Ahead.
Japan’s PM tells Trump he wants more U.S. ethanol
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told Trump on Friday that the country is planning to increase its imports of U.S. ethanol. “We are interested in importing not just [liquefied natural gas], but also bioethanol, ammonia and other resources,” Ishiba said during a joint press conference.
Ishiba added that scaling up ethanol purchases could help reduce the U.S. trade deficit with Japan –one of Trump’s bugbears.
Why it matters: Japan announced new blending targets last year of 10% by 2030 and 20% by 2040. USDA estimates that the current blend rate stands at just 1.8%.
“We'll be able to provide it,” Trump told Ishiba. “Iowa is going to be very happy. Nebraska, all of our farm states are going to be very happy.”
Dismantling of USAID halted temporarily, but catches innovation labs
A federal judge is slowing down the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols sided with federal unions on Friday, stopping the administration’s attempt to put 2,500 workers on administrative leave. In all, the plans are to slash USAID from 14,000 workers to fewer than 300. The judge said the workers would suffer “irreparable harm.”
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Innovation labs are a victim: However, the Trump administration’s efforts to essentially eliminate USAID and halt foreign aid have ensnared Feed the Future Innovation Labs at U.S. land-grant universities.
The Soybean Innovation Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will close April 15, because of a cessation of USAID funding, lab director Peter Goldsmith said on LinkedIn.
“Today I had to let go of a staff of 30,” Goldsmith said Feb. 8. “These individuals are not only unique experts in the field of tropical soybean, but also close colleagues and friends who are now unexpectedly out of work. The land-grant system now loses 19 crown jewel innovation labs, across 17 states, that delivered high and measurable impact on very little investment.”
In addition, said Goldsmith, “U.S. soybean farmers lose one of their best tools to expand their markets and U.S. standards globally.”
By the way: “The economic benefit of the innovation lab investments over the past 40 years are at least $8.4 billion, eight times total program costs,” the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities said in a fact sheet. “A partial analysis of the return on investment of the ILs indicates that 80% of the benefits go to individuals with incomes under $5.50/day.”
Former Intelligence chair defends Musk on USAID
Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told ABC News on Sunday that USAID is undergoing both a fiscal and a policy review, and that it’s important for the entire government to speak with “one voice” on foreign policy.
Having Elon Musk look into the federal government’s spending presents an “incredibly important and unbelievable opportunity for our government and for President Trump to do what the American public elected him to,” Turner said. But he disagreed with Musk’s characterization of USAID as a “criminal enterprise.”
Information about Feed the Future may be difficult to find. Its website no longer exists.
Lawmakers push EPA to move on biofuel policies
A bipartisan group of House members is pushing EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to accelerate the release of the next biofuel usage mandates.
In a letter, the nearly 30 lawmakers urged Zeldin to set conventional biofuel renewable volume obligations (RVOs) of at least 15 billion gallons. Additionally, the lawmakers want EPA to set advanced RVOs at volumes that account for growth in renewable diesel and include forward looking volume obligations for cellulosic biofuels.
Under the Biden administration, EPA announced it would set RVOs for 2026-2028 in December this year. Lawmakers point out this is far past the statutory deadline. They argue this delay, coupled with inadequate RVOs set in 2023, has slowed investment. This has a negative impact on gas prices, rural economies and commodity prices, lawmakers wrote.
Meanwhile: The U.S. Supreme Court denied the Trump administration’s request to delay a case on small refinery exemptions. The case involves the agency’s denial of 105 exemption applications and if the D.C. Circuit should be the only venue for judicial review.
The administration said the court should pause the lawsuit so it can reassess the “soundness” of the underlying denial actions, and that this review could “obviate” the need for SCOTUS to determine the correct venue.
Final word
“People who work for the government have an important job to do, and they need to be honored.” – Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio.
Rebekah Alvey, Philip Brasher and Oliver Ward contributed to today’s Daybreak.
