Letters from Capitol Hill that Members of Congress have written and signed on to lately.
At the 11th hour before threatened economic action from the Trump Administration was due to take effect, Mexico and Canada agreed to come together on terms for a performance improvement plan to pause the dreaded tariffs for now.
Trump says he likes Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum very much, and what's not to like about a woman running the country whose economy is inextricably linked to drugs and their international flow - whose government leaders are so intertwined with cartels via shell company ownerships that there very well could be more to gain by accepting this reality and capitalizing on opportunity to cooperate and generate what little benefit there may be to gain from drug addiction than insist on a total overhaul.
Canada's cartel is maple syrup, and saying much more will get us into a sticky situation.
Promising more action on immigrants at the border and flow of fentanyl, the U.S.’ immediate neighbors weren’t the only ones coming to the table.
These are their concessions (*said to the 2003 seminal Usher tune):
El Salvador is taking back its people and other unwanted migrants ejected from the U.S. for a nominal fee.
Singapore says they don't expect to find themselves in the Tariff Burn Book.
Panama promised free passage for US warships through the Panama Canal and said it will withdraw from China’s signature lending program after Secretary of State Marco Rubio roasted the government during his visit on Sunday.
Rubio, echoing President Donald Trump’s complaints about Chinese influence over the congested and drought-afflicted waterway, warned the U.S. would “take measures necessary to protect its rights” unless Panama makes immediate changes.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino played down the tensions, but reiterated his country won’t give up the canal. Put that on everything.
Trump said Monday he planned to speak with the leadership of Panama on Friday afternoon in a bid to broker an agreement:
“They’ve agreed to certain things, but I’m not happy with it,” Trump told reporters at the White House. "We either want it back, or we’re going to get something very strong, or we’re going to take it back.”
Mulino (probably) damn near cried when he got that phone call. He's so throwed - they don't know what to do, but to give us part II of their concessions:
Panama may turn out to be just another notch in China’s Belt and Road initiative, promising President Trump a withdraw from the PRC agreement when it comes due for renewal in 2026 after the White House promised to take back the canal.
A mouthpiece to major world powers, three years ago when Panama joined China’s infrastructural dominance via the BRI critical finance program, the Panamanian President, not to be confused as a yippie Pomeranian President, severed ties with Taiwan and declared there to be only one true China.
A gentle breeze may blow this guy to drink Kool-aid, but…what were we saying? Oh, yeah - so long as it’s Trump flavored, today, there’s no problem.
The PRC was tight lipped on the Panamanian announcement as the deadline of their own watered down tariff threat elapsed, just like the TikTok divestiture deadline before that.
Compared to hurried reactions from Mexico and Canada to settle markets and shot nerves fearful and leery of a trade war, China’s tamped response may simply be delayed by the Lunar New Year. Or they’re sure they’re being smoked out. One of the two.
Pausing in contemplation of the Lunar New Year, Year of the Snake, when Taylor will for sure announce Reputation TV or be threatened with tariffs from Trump, here’s the Senate Chinese Zodiac inventory.

Senators don’t typically sit at their desks unless they’ve been particularly naughty or the Floor leader is feeling a particularly intense craving to feed on the blood of the fastidious rules, but seats are assigned, and tripartite balances of some of the areas are rife with good and ominous potential.
Back to the concessions, some countries aren’t playing so nice with Trump’s declarations regarding the tariffs and beyond, like South Africa, whose Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe had this to say to the U.S. after the Trump weighed in on its recent controversial land seizure policy announcement.
“If [they] don’t give us money, let’s not give them minerals.”
India is getting ahead of its turn of being notified of tariff threats from President Trump on Truth Social, offering some $12 billion worth of import discounts - a move notable enough to secure an invitation for PM Modi to visit the White House next week.
In the meantime, Israeli leader Bibi Netanyahu is in D.C. this week, set to meet President Trump at the White House to discuss an end to the physical fight against Hamas.
Endowed by a staunchly pro-Israeli cabinet, Bibi may become Netanya-who, should the fire stay ceased.
“The moment I realize there’s no intention to resume fighting, I will not only resign, but overthrow the government,” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in an interview.
Trump isn’t shy about his preference for a fight, particularly this week on tariffs. He’s so serious about them, in fact, notice of their enactment appeared in the U.S. Federal Register.
The President is having a feast with his tariff plays, but they may cause a famine, for how a good part of U.S. agriculture and farming relies on imports of crucial minerals and materials, like potash and other nitrogen base fertilizers.
Bullish still, another thing Trump appears serious on is cutting federal spending, taking stock on open ledgers across the bloated U.S. administration.
Relying largely on constitutional authority to impound and stop unnecessary spending, demonstrated by his spree of executive actions, President Trump clearly believes in his unilateral ability to block congressionally approved funds.
Challenged once in an 1838 case that reached the Supreme Court, as well as again in 1974, when Congress passed a law effectively prohibiting impoundment, Trump asserting challenges of his own against the status quo and, seemingly at times, the laws of physics - at least of politics - is quickly becoming a defining trait of his second go in Washington.
This trait largely voids Congress’ necessity, the Republicans in which don’t see themselves as irrelevant, more conduits of the conservative leader, terrified of missteps real or perceived in the eyes of the publicly mandated President Trump, kneeling to his every whim.
More favorable still, a majority of Justices sitting on the Court, where Trump’s attempts to expand the executive authority might be duly challenged, were appointed in his 45th term or under a Republican administration.
And these Justices aren’t the libertarian, easy going, cool guy kind of Republican - they’re more the political and religious evangelical, will die on a hill of an idea, cannot be swayed Republican.
That said, SCOTUS appointments are meant to be apolitical, despite coming direct from the President, and the Court knows if emphasis on the rule of law and usual order is minimized and deemed not to matter, their appointments and judgments matter less.
Taking effect more quickly than the federal courts could ever address challenges to Trump’s executive, unilateral actions, Texas Governor Greg Abbot is taking a page from President Trump's playbook of making moves now and dealing with effects later, authorizing the National Guard to make arrests of those in the U.S. illegally.
Homeland Security Director Noem is also doing her part of pushing Trump's plan to stem people and drugs from pouring into the U.S., this week revoking Temporary Protected Status designations for migrants in the states fleeing violence from Venezuela.
Noem says she can turn the lights back on when Caracas is ready to have a conversation on how to proceed calmly and with common sense to address the migrant crisis.
Altruism for immigration is apparently dead. Dead as a doornail, but, perhaps it never really existed in the first place – nor is it findable in U.S. intentions in helping in Ukraine. Not that any Americans wished Ukrainians harm, but a good lot of them couldn’t find the Black Sea on a map before they understood the region to be home to critical minerals the U.S. could source as an alternative to China.
It's never been about Ukraine, but the Stockholm syndrome stepchild of a Soviet era mentality that leaves most of Eastern Europe waiting to be told what to do and how to think before helping themselves beckons - practically commands - an American hero.
It is unclear whether the U.S. will continue supporting Ukraine, but Trump is getting his way handedly in his repeat run at President. Decrying threats of tariffs is causing countries to come running with candy to soothe the screaming President, but the effects of the leveraged demands are far from childish, so, it is likely that what he says will go.
An extension of the President's vision, newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has his first major deadline hurdle on the horizon, as terms for operating under the current approved debt ceiling are set to expire mid-March.
Trump pushed for Congress to permanently suspend this pesky Paul problem, or at least extend the sovereign repayment authority it provides to cover U.S. debts through his second term, but it was a no-go for the then-divided Republicans closing out the end of Biden’s Lame Duck.
A little more aligned with the Big Man back in the Oval - at least in public - Republicans now have to address the hardline budget hawks who have never voted to expand the nation’s already bloated budget by raising the debt ceiling or passing a bill that raises spending without a plan to pay for its expense. They call them budget hawks, and there’s about 30 of these birds in the House who may fly away with Trump's first substantive loss.
A simpler approach may be to deliver a tangible point for these Members to center their political platform around – the notion of balancing a budget or at least getting the country back in the black, is more farfetched than Christmas in July.
Spending more money we may not have in real form, with the stroke of a Sharpie, the U.S. went from refusing to own assets to creating a wealth fund to do so, with President Trump announcing intention of organizing a tool already used by numerous nations worldwide, including Norway, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, and China, to name a few.
Trump said tariffs could fund the new USSR - the U.S. Sovereign Resource, if you will - and a number of other states are already exercising a budget surplus fund that could provide an outline for activation.
Sitting on the sidelines as competitors scooped up significant and outright ownership stakes of critical global assets with the U.S. maintaining it does not pick companies to champion as a matter of fairness, all while creating losers by choosing to do nothing, has significantly limited American influence and the ability to drive change behind a democratized existence the USG claims it wants for the world.
A sovereign wealth fund may do more to provide confidence for American investors, petrified to gamble with their family wealth and hard earned cash because of the complicated and overwhelming nature of foreign affairs. And, if the USG is purchasing $2 billion of anything from a U.S. company, are they not already owners of the operation?
Sovereign slosh fund, president’s personal investment bank - whatever you want to call it, the world may agree anything may be better than DFC, mention of which in international meetings as a suggestion of a source of U.S. funds is bound to get you laughed out of the room.
Bogged down by bureaucracy and general lack of direction, not to mention nebulous authority for investment decisions of real consequence, DFC may be short for defective, and a shakeup of USAID may be a shock the world over the same, but cataclysmic shifts in governance, agencies, and the status quo is once again not an unprecedented move on today’s date in history.
In case you missed it, USAID staffers were told not to report to the Washington office this week, with Musk “shutting” the agency on reported orders from Trump.
DOGE pre-war, on this day in 1936, FDR formally authorized the Governor Board for the Federal Reserve to enhance its ability to shape and revise monetary policy for a country frozen by the Great Depression.
A pickup of an idea from the slain President McKinley, FDR did use typical channels of congressional approval to achieve his objective, but, working with a supermajority himself, history doesn’t say whether the Congress would have blinked an eye.
After all, they did nearly throw the playbook out the window and permit the man to sit a third term.
Democrats are borrowing some ideas from history of their own. Waiting may seem a weak choice to some, but, if you’ll recall, containment was the advice of one George Kennan, Mr. X, if you’re nasty, to defeat the Soviets, advising that an inward collapse would be inevitable and better than escalating conflict to violence.
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said it’s only a matter of time before Trump implodes himself, and the threat of tariff backfire is a through line in history hundreds of times over.
Dems also came close to committing some political malpractice to start the week, saying they will block federal funding if the Republicans do not stop blocking federal funds.
Dems did do something on Monday, however, if bellowing out front of a blocked USAID building in downtown D.C. counts.
Attempting to resonate with audiences about the dangers of a pause and audit of the USAID systems, Members of Congress said backing out of our obligations under the foreign influence/investment program would create a vacuum to suck China and Russia in place of the U.S.
But what these Members fail to realize, or are refusing to face for the real wrath it would take to acknowledge, is that China and Russia are there. Tenfold. And they’ve been there with real dollars for real investment in programs that truly drive an economy, like infrastructure and critical mineral exchanges, for some time.
This is the case despite repeated urgency for action to get America into the game in a new way that is not Afghanistan or Iraq or any of the other places where the U.S. has come in guns blazing with no plan other than the first part of kicking down the door.
Now, terms of Russian and Chinese investment may be less than favorable, but this relative point is laughable to suggest there is a better American alternative, as the U.S. offers some of the strictest terms and conditions on even the most moralistic of its appropriations and authorizations.
Resistance to Trump’s major renovations in Washington may prove to be nothing more than a bit of growing pain, but time will tell, and scenes of a Democrat delegation denied entry to a shuttered USAID building today don’t bode well for the Minority's short term with increasingly shorter time to change things for the midterms.
Making up for lost time between his 45th and 47th Presidency, Trump is working to create a new identity for America post haste, which wouldn’t pack the same punch if it were without criticism.
Determined to carve out his own path as Trump may be, there exist still similarities of the time between McKinley and Trump: for one, in 1896ish, women in some western states were with the rights to vote for the first time, posing a crisis of identity to many men across the country.
Attempting to maintain the manly protectionist image of America's military, mighty and inflatable, and definitely not afflicted at all by PTSD or heavy emotional issues, Trump has enacted executive orders to end diversity equity inclusion initiatives, including in the Military, where transgender volunteers are no longer welcome to service.
Some say Trump is only promoting the good and not highlighting his shortcomings, calling the move closer to propaganda than progress to achieve a new day in the USA.
Of course, what President wants to call out how they told the press not to run stories about their family lest they lose access to the front row of the afternoon briefing, or admit they repeatedly lied to the media about scandals with their sons on benders with cocaine and concubines, only to cancel those who even dare mention the matter.
Propaganda or not, another conundrum exists for putting America First again, as the U.S. is a nation founded by immigrants only to be making a massive push to remove those coming to the country to take part in the dream
From Cupboard to Cabinet
Trump’s Agriculture Secretary pick Brooke Rollins is rolling towards confirmation, as Senate Agriculture Committee lawmakers voted to advance her nomination Monday evening.
Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard is set for a vote Tuesday in the Senate Intelligence Committee. Several GOP Senators, including Sen. Todd Young (R-IN), say they are still undecided on Gabbard.
The Senate confirmed Chris Wright to lead the Energy Department on Monday 59-38, putting the oil executive in a critical position as President Trump looks to overhaul American energy policy, including expanding the power grid, building power plants, and bringing more nuclear power online.
Wright said he also supports the President’s desire to unleash exports of liquefied natural gas, despite pushback from OPEC and drillers in the U.S. who say production may be more of a challenging thought exercise than reality.
Chamber Calendars
The Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee will mark up former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s nomination to lead the Small Business Administration at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
On Thursday, the Senate Finance will hold a hearing on the nomination of Jamieson Greer to be U.S. Trade Representative at 10 a.m. The House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Biden administration’s crypto policies at 2 p.m.
In the House
Reportedly, the plan is still to move one, big beautiful reconciliation bill through Congress to extend expiring tax cuts and realign spending with current policy, all without negotiating with the Democrats. But a growing national debt is threatening concerted action, even among the conservative party.
First votes of the week are Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on several bills under suspension of the rules. Eight measures are set for action under the procedure that requires two-thirds support.
A markup on a budget resolution that would pave the way for Republicans to extend the expiring 2017 tax law provisions has been delayed. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Members would mark up a budget resolution setting the stage for a broad reconciliation bill, which would be exempt from the threat of a Senate filibuster.
However, the House Budget Committee will no longer hold the markup this week as leaders continue to try to secure support for the framework, a congressional aide confirmed.
This further delays the first step in passing the bulk of the GOP’s legislative agenda.
From Scalise
On Tuesday, the House will meet at noon for morning hour and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. First and last votes expected: 6:30 p.m.
Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules:
H.R. 42 – Alaska Native Settlement Trust Eligibility Act (Sponsored by Rep. Begich / Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 43 – Alaska Native Village Municipal Lands Restoration Act of 2025 (Sponsored by Rep. Begich / Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 226 – Eastern Band of Cherokee Historic Lands Reacquisition Act (Sponsored by Rep. Fleischmann / Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 776 – Nutria Eradication and Control Reauthorization Act of 2025 (Sponsored by Rep. Harder / Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 835 – 9/11 Memorial and Museum Act (Sponsored by Rep. LaLota / Natural Resources Committee)
H.R. 836 – Emergency Wildfire Fighting Technology Act of 2025 (Sponsored by Rep. Valadao / Natural Resources Committee)
Over In the Senate
The Upper Chamber resumes nominations work with a vote at 5:30 p.m. to confirm Christopher Wright to be secretary of the Energy Department and procedural votes to set up action on Russell Vought’s nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget and limit debate on Pam Bondi to be attorney general.
The chamber is also set to confirm Doug Collins to lead the Veterans Affairs Department and take a procedural vote Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) teed up on HUD nominee Eric Scott Turner, but the timing hasn’t been announced.
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Feb. 03 | JBL Speaker
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries issued a key demand Monday as a March 14 government funding deadline approaches, saying President Donald Trump's recent federal spending freeze "must be choked off" as part of any bipartisan deal to keep the government open, "if not sooner."
The ultimatum, detailed in a letter to House Democrats, is a signal that Jeffries will use Democrats' leverage in the narrowly divided House to push back on the Trump administration. Historically, Republicans have found it difficult to stick together on government funding bills, with the Senate filibuster giving Democrats additional clout.
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Feb. 03 | MTG On Air
In her letter to PBS CEO Paula Kerger, Greene pointed to PBS reporting last month saying the billionaire and DOGE co-founder Musk "gave what appeared to be a fascist salute” at President Donald Trump’s inauguration celebration — a characterization that Greene alleges "was clearly false."
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Feb. 03 | Pound the Alarm
A group of Southland congressional representatives joined the call Monday for answers about what caused evacuation warnings to be mistakenly sent to thousands of residents during the height of last month's wildfires.
Led by Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, more than a dozen congressional representatives signed letters that were sent to Los Angeles County and its notification-systems software operator, Genasys Inc., along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission.
"As members of Congress representing Los Angeles County, we write regarding erroneous emergency alerts issued during the recent deadly wildfires," the letters stated. "In life-safety emergencies, appropriately timed, targeted, and clear emergency alert messages can mean the difference between life and death. However, unclear messages sent to the wrong locations, multiple times and after the emergency has passed, can lead to alerting fatigue and erosion of public trust. In this time of intense grief, loss, and dislocation, we are working to learn all of the lessons of the past weeks, and to swiftly implement reforms to ensure they never happen again."
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Feb. 02 | Hell Bessent on Musk
In a letter to the Treasury secretary, the Democratic senator warned against meddling with a system that processes trillions of dollars of transactions.
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Feb. 02 | U.S. Senators on USAID
U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Chris Coons (D-DE), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV), members of SFRC, sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding an explanation of recent developments at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), including reports that individuals who identified themselves as working for the "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) accessed USAID’s main headquarters, American citizens’ data and classified spaces.
“Congress established the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as an independent agency, separate from the Department of State, to ensure that we can deploy development expertise and U.S. foreign assistance quickly, particularly in times of crisis, to meet our national security goals,” wrote the lawmakers. “For this reason, any effort to merge or fold USAID into the Department of State should be, and by law must be, previewed, discussed, and approved by Congress.”
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Jan. 31 | Woke School
Congresswoman Harriet Hageman and the Anti-Woke Caucus sent Acting Secretary of Education Denise Carter a letter identifying wasteful and divisive federal education programs that misallocated over $1 billion toward radical ideological programs including DEI initiatives, Critical Race Theory, and other race-based education schemes. Among the most egregious examples, the Department of Education awarded millions for racially exclusive teacher recruitment programs and “equity-centered” curriculum development that prioritizes ideology over academic excellence, exclusionary professional development training, and “social-emotional” learning instead of hard skills.
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