Friday, May 1, 2026

Good afternoon! Congress cleared major legislation before departing for a weeklong recess. The House adopted a budget resolution, a first step in Congressional Republicans’ plan to fund the Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs & Border Protection (CBP). The House cleared a Senate-passed bill that funds much of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Lawmakers also passed a short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) hours before expiration, and the House advanced the first Farm bill since 2018. President Trump withdrew his surgeon general nominee, continued his focus on the Iran war, announced new tariffs on EU automobiles, and signed a retirement account executive order. He and First Lady Melania Trump also hosted King Charles III and Queen Camilla.

WHITE HOUSE

• On Friday, Iran submitted a new proposal to end its conflict with the United States through Pakistani mediators. President Trump stated hours later that he was not satisfied with the terms. Iran’s previous proposal included reopening the Strait of Hormuz, ending the US blockade, and postponing nuclear negotiations, which the president rejected. The Trump administration argued Thursday that the war ended with the April 7 ceasefire, allowing the White House to bypass the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which requires congressional approval or a cessation of hostilities within 60 days of deploying US forces. The 60-day deadline is today, May 1. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week that the administration believes the ceasefire paused the 60-day clock, so Congressional authorization is unnecessary.

• President Trump announced today that tariffs on European Union automobiles and auto parts will increase from 15% to 25% because the EU has not complied with the July 2025 Turnberry Agreement. The agreement required the EU to lower tariffs on US industrial goods, purchase $750 billion in US energy, and invest $600 billion in the US in exchange for reduced US tariffs. While the European Parliament passed legislation in March to lower tariffs on US goods, the EU has not yet finalized the deal with its member states and the European Commission. Negotiations between member states are expected to conclude in June. The auto tariffs were issued under Section 232 and are not affected by the February Supreme Court ruling that limited the authority of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

• Cabinet and agency heads spent the week testifying before Congress, defending the administration’s FY27 budget request. Education Secretary Linda McMahon testified before the Senate Appropriations Labor, Health & Human Services subcommittee, and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman appeared before the Senate Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chair General Dan Caine, and Pentagon Chief Financial Officer Jules Hurst testified before the House and Senate Armed Services Committees to defend the $1.5 trillion Pentagon request, where both hearings focused mostly on the war in Iran.

• On Thursday, President Trump withdrew Casey Means’ nomination to be U.S. Surgeon General and nominated radiologist Nicole Saphier. Means, a wellness entrepreneur linked to the Make America Healthy Again movement, failed to secure enough Senate support. Saphier, an associate professor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, is expected to advance once the Senate returns from recess.

• President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday, directing the Treasury Department to create TrumpIRA.gov, a federal platform connecting American workers without employer-sponsored retirement plans to private-sector Individual Retirement Accounts. The platform, expected to launch by January 1, 2027, will allow workers to compare IRAs based on cost, quality, and investment options.

• President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump hosted King Charles III and Queen Camilla for a state visit Monday and Tuesday, marking the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence from Britain. The visit included a South Lawn arrival ceremony, an Oval Office bilateral meeting, and a state dinner in the East Room. King Charles was the first British monarch in over three decades to address a joint meeting of Congress, following his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, who last did so in 1991.

SENATE

• On Thursday, the Senate passed legislation to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for 45 days. Section 702 allows U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct surveillance of non-U.S. persons outside of the U.S., yet inevitably collects Americans’ communications. Section 702 was set to expire on April 30. This extension continues surveillance authority through June 12 to provide time for negotiations on a long-term reauthorization, which has been stalled over disagreements over warrant protections for searches of Americans’ communications.

• Kevin Warsh moved closer to becoming the next chairman of the Federal Reserve after the Senate Banking Committee advanced his nomination to the floor on a party-line vote on Wednesday. President Trump nominated Warsh earlier this year to succeed Jerome Powell when Powell’s term as chair ends on May 15. The committee approved Warsh for a 14-year term on the Fed board and a four-year term as chair. Warsh’s nomination will go before the full Senate the week of May 4.

• The Senate narrowly defeated, for the sixth time, a Democratic effort to bring forward a measure to curtail the war in Iran on Thursday. The motion would have discharged from the Foreign Relations Committee a resolution directing the president to remove US armed forces from hostilities against Iran unless authorized by Congress. The vote occurred on the eve of the 60th day since President Trump notified Congress of the hostilities.

HOUSE

• On Thursday, the House passed the Senate bill that provides a 45-day extension of FISA Section 702, which the Senate had passed earlier that day.

• The House approved a Senate-passed bill funding much of the Department of Homeland Security, ending an 11-week partial shutdown, on Thursday. The bill, signed by the president, funds agencies including the Secret Service, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but excludes ICE and CBP.

• Congressional Republicans plan to use the budget reconciliation process to fund ICE and CBP for three and a half years. The first step in the process requires both chambers to pass a budget resolution. On Wednesday, the House passed its resolution. The Senate passed its on April 23.

• The House passed its version of a Farm bill, which had passed out of the Agriculture Committee in early March. The legislation represents the furthest a Farm bill has advanced in Congress since the 2018 reauthorization.