What’s Next After Trump’s First 100 Days: BGOV Starting Line

100 Days Down. Now What?

Based on the first 100 days of the new administration, we can look forward to a next chapter that will show Congress still stuck on the sidelines, acting more like President Donald Trump’s support staff than an equal branch of government.

Democrats aren’t numerous enough to negotiate changes to legislation and Republicans are invested in executing Trump’s vision.

“House Republicans, we have our leader, and that leader is our president, Donald Trump,” said Conference Chair Lisa McClain, (R-Mich.). Jonathan Tamari takes a deeper dive and we have more team coverage:

• Lawyers choose their clients. Federal prosecutors need independence. And judges expect their orders to be followed. Trump is testing those foundations of the American legal system with moves exposing weaknesses that can be exploited by a powerful executive. He’s also reshaping the Justice Department in the image of his own personal legal team and seeking to discredit—or even ignore—judges who rule against him. Read More from Roy Strom, Suzanne Monyak, and Justin Wise.
• The funding freezes, federal workforce reductions, and policy shifts have business leaders delaying investments and preparing for less oversight from regulators. Read More from Courtney Rozen, Skye Witley, and Nyah Phengsitthy.
• “Everybody was expecting an uptick, a wave of activity, and even then I don’t think anybody expected this tsunami,” said Karishma Shah Page, a partner at K&L Gates. Kate Ackley reports on how the lobbying scene has adapted to this year’s Washington reality.
• As busy as the last hundred days have been, only five bills have been signed into law thus far. Legislative analysts Olivia Gyapong, Dan Lee, Greg Tourial, Karl Evers-Hillstrom, and Brandon Lee take a broad look at executive orders and other administration action in a BGOV OnPoint.
• Greg Giroux explains campaign realities as Republicans try to enact changes that voters will respond positively to in 2026. Read More
• And a quick catchup on the president’s 100-day victory rally last night: the news to know is Trump is back to using Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as a punching bag. “You’re not supposed to criticize the Fed,” Trump said. “You’re supposed to let him do his own thing — but I know much more than he does about interest rates.” Read More

Jeffries Takes the Mic

As Democrats root around for an anti-Trump message that satisfies their angsty base, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) will try to show that the Washington wing of the party gets it. He’ll deliver a speech today that he described as an outline of “a blueprint for a better America.”

“News of our demise was greatly exaggerated,” he told reporters earlier this week.

Jeffries has been increasingly vocal in the wake of Democrats’ electoral flop last November, appearing on podcasts, holding more press conferences, and staging a sit-in on the Capitol steps with Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

His messaging is focused on federal support to rural hospitals, nursing homes, and the poor through Medicaid — an issue that Jeffries says gets through to independent voters. Democrats see big Medicaid spending cuts coming though that isn’t yet a fact. Watch the budget reconciliation process to see when or whether that line is crossed. — Maeve Sheehey

Eye on the Economy: Tariff Vote

Republicans in the US Senate will choose between explaining to Trump why they voted to block his tariffs or explaining to constituents worried about inflation and 401(k) losses why they voted to sustain those tariffs. And remember, none of them are on the ballot until next year.

“It’s an opportunity for Democrats to put something on the floor that they think puts Republicans in an uncomfortable position but I don’t think most Republicans at this point see it that way,” Majority Leader Jon Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters.

The legislation (S. J. Res. 49) would terminate the emergency Trump declared as the basis for imposing the levies that have so unsettled stock markets. — Lillianna Byington

Not Too Early to Write to Santa

Children’s playthings are among the product lines upended by Trump’s trade war. The Toy Association surveyed around 400 small and medium-sized US toy companies and the results were grim: nearly half of the survey respondents expect to go out of business within months.

Toymakers rely heavily on Chinese manufacturing, and they have to figure out whether customers are likely to keep their wallets closed if prices rise to account for Trump’s 145% tariff on goods coming from China.

As for the big players, Mattel and Hasbro were already trying to diversify their supply chains before the new tariffs, but are still heavily reliant on China. Countries where they shifted production — including Vietnam, Malaysia and Mexico — also face levies. Most Lego bricks are made in Mexico; the factory it’s planning to open in Virginia won’t come until 2027. Read More

Reading the Room

Former President Joe Biden made creating a domestic battery supply chain a top priority, using tax credits to spur plant construction. Now the American Clean Power Association’s using Trump-friendly language to talk about domestic battery-making plans. The trade group said energy storage companies will spend $100 billion over the next decade to expand the US manufacturing footprint as part of “Unleashing American Energy Dominance.”

In the meantime, most grid-scale storage batteries come from China, and those face a 155.9% tariff. Read More

More tariff fallout:

• Amazon Denies Tariff Label Plans After White House Criticism
• US Consumer Confidence Slumps to an Almost Five-Year Low
• Big Price Hikes Undermine Trump’s Bet China Will Absorb Tariffs

And company impact:

• Volkswagen Earnings Plunge 40% as US Tariffs Cloud Outlook
• Oreo Maker Says Wary US Shoppers Are Cutting Back on Snacks
• Brazilian Steelmaker Drops Plan to Build Mill in Mexico
• Mercedes, Stellantis Scrap Guidance as Tariff Chaos Spreads

Questions for Border Chief Choice

Trump’s pick to lead Customs and Border Protection — a former Border Patrol chief with decades of experience — faces questions today from the Senate Finance Committee, where ranking Democrat Ron Wyden (Ore.) wants to pursue allegations that nominee Rodney Scott once pursued an internal cover-up in the case of a migrant father who died in CBP custody.

If confirmed, Scott would be instrumental in implementing Trump’s immigration crackdown.

“The vast security apparatus for which CBP is responsible could be wielded for harm,” Wyden wrote in a letter outlining the documentation he wants to see about the 2010 case, in which, according to court documents, agents tased the man in custody, stripped him of his pants and kneeled into his neck and back while he was handcuffed. — Ellen M. Gilmer

Other Nomination Action

Senate Commerce plans to vote today on Jared Isaacman to head NASA and Olivia Trusty — formerly the committee’s policy director — to join the Federal Communications Commission. Today’s committee agenda also includes a bill (S.29) to make daylight saving time permanent.

Off the Floor

Republicans who want to change the $10,000 state and local tax deduction cap imposed in Trump’s first term are to meet this afternoon with House Speaker Mike Johnson to talk about specifics. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) is one of the few members who has named a number, calling a cap between $30,000-$40,000 the “sweet spot.” Read More

Subscribers, get the full rundown of the day on Capitol Hill, including the next batch of reconciliation markups, in this morning’s BGOV Congress Tracker.

Before You Go: Damage Control

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may not have known that his new boss signed the Women, Peace, and Security Act into law before he blasted it as “yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops.”

Of course the news coverage pointed out that the Pentagon chief’s bombast was directed at something that was cosponsored by fellow Cabinet members Marco Rubio and Kristi Noem, unanimously passed by a Republican-controlled Senate, endorsed by Trump’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and started under Trump.

Hegseth followed up with a second social media post saying the Biden administration “distorted & weaponized the straight-forward & security-focused WPS initiative.” Read More

And a little more to know as the Washington workday begins:

• Trump’s Dismissal of Key US Climate Report Panel Triggers Alarms
• USPS Law Enforcement Assists Trump ‘Mass Deportation’ Effort— Washington Post
• Judge Orders Disbursal of $12 Million to Radio Free Europe
• Trump Says DOGE Has Prompted Justice Department Referrals
• Trump Jr.’s East Europe Trip Mixes Money and Right-Wing Politics

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