Today\u2019s notice: The Senate\u2019s top Democrat talks to NOTUS. A scoopy follow-up to one of our fundraising scoops from last year. A look at how the mass-deportation agenda has changed federal departments. A bumpy ride for Iran-focused legislation in Congress. The wealth of Utah\u2019s Hill delegation. And: Making Tax Day Great Again. <\/p>\n
THE LATEST<\/p>\n
Chuck Schumer speaks: \u201cIt does not worry me,\u201d the Senate minority leader told NOTUS\u2019 Igor Bobic yesterday<\/a> as the number of Democratic primary candidates running on opposing his leadership bid next year remains relatively high.<\/p>\n He was upbeat in the interview, telling NOTUS that his caucus has sloughed off the doldrums of 2025. \u201cI feel like we\u2019re going to take back the Senate,\u201d Schumer said. \u201cIf you had to ask me last year, I would have said no.\u201d<\/p>\n He is not the only one saying it. This week, the Cook Political Report moved several<\/a> Senate races in Schumer\u2019s direction. The chamber is, if the stars align, actually in play.<\/p>\n Last year ended with the petering out of a shutdown that led people to question whether Democrats had a clue about how to respond to Donald Trump. This year, the Department of Homeland Security shutdown has united the party in a way that plausibly allows Schumer to say something like this: \u201cWe had a strategy, and we stuck to it all along.\u201d<\/p>\n But Schumer still has to answer questions from both sides of his party. Progressives are convinced he\u2019s a problem. Some centrists are worried<\/a> he\u2019s a problem, too. But those are concerns for early 2027. Today, Schumer has a unifying theory of the case: \u201cA whole bunch of our candidates are young, some are old, some are more liberal, some are more moderate. Our North Star is winning the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n Open tabs: DOJ Seeks to Erase Proud Boys\u2019 and Oath Keepers\u2019 Seditious Conspiracy Convictions<\/a> (NOTUS); Vought to Call for \u2018Paradigm Shifting Investments\u2019 in Defense<\/a> (Bloomberg); Europe Is Accelerating a NATO Fallback Plan in Case Trump Pulls Out<\/a> (WSJ); Trump Administration Issues First \u2018Weaponization\u2019 Report, Claiming Bias Under Biden<\/a> (NYT)<\/p>\n From K Street<\/p>\n NOTUS follow-up: Still caught in Better Mousetrap Digital. The NRSC, the Mississippi Republican Party and the campaigns of Sen. Rick Scott and some GOP House members are among the groups still paying big money<\/a> to the firm run by Jack Daly, according to public disclosures.<\/p>\n NOTUS\u2019 Dave Levinthal reported last year<\/a> on Daly\u2019s 2023 guilty plea to charges of defrauding thousands of Republican donors. After his story was published, several prominent Republican clients fled the firm: \u201cCan confirm payments were stopped,\u201d an RNC spox told him. The groups still paying Better Mousetrap did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n From the agencies<\/p>\n The great diversion: The Trump administration has redirected resources from at least a half-dozen programs or accounts to pay for and staff its mass-deportation agenda, NOTUS\u2019 Anna Kramer reports<\/a>. And that\u2019s without congressional input.<\/p>\n Diverted resources include \u2026 funds from the State Department intended to counter foreign election interference; senior staff at FEMA; DHS\u2019s budget for an office focused on weapons of mass destruction; and a training program for prison guards.<\/p>\n All of this is on top of the $75 billion surge in funding that Republicans gave ICE last year.<\/p>\n \u201cAs somebody who joined DHS in 2005, shortly after it was formed, this feels like the biggest reorienting of federal resources toward a single end since 9\/11,\u201d said Theresa Brown, a former DHS official in the Obama and Bush administrations. \u201cWe\u2019re not creating a new department, but we are telling the entire federal government: This is now your No. 1 mission.\u201d<\/p>\n DHS, the DOJ and the State Department did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n From the Hill<\/p>\n Heated Rivalry: The beef between Senate and House Republicans is revving up for another round this week, as the upper chamber prepares to push its own agenda once again.<\/p>\n Senate Republicans are confident, NOTUS\u2019 Al Weaver and Reese Gorman report<\/a>, that their limited reconciliation bill, which only contains funds for ICE and Customs and Border Protection for three years, will remain \u201cskinny\u201d despite calls from their House colleagues to beef it up with more of the president\u2019s priorities. If the Senate ignores the lower chamber again, some members said they may resort to blocking other legislation.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can\u2019t jam us, because we\u2019re about to blow up their shit,\u201d is how Rep. Anna Paulina Luna put it.<\/p>\n Democrats also plan to force war powers votes, and Republicans don\u2019t know if they have enough votes to block them, NOTUS\u2019 Joe Gould and Kadia Goba report<\/a>.<\/p>\n Votes on supplemental funding for the war are also unclear. A growing number of Republicans have demanded more information from the White House before opening the purse strings, and Joe and Kadia report that it\u2019s unclear how many votes the Trump administration can count on at this point.<\/p>\n THE BIG ONE<\/p>\n The politics of April 15: Republicans are leaning hard into Tax Day this year, hoping to showcase their signature legislation, the so-called \u201cone big, beautiful bill,\u201d and its changes to the federal tax code.<\/p>\n On paper, there is a lot to celebrate \u2014 the average refund is higher<\/a> so far this year, and no taxes on tips or overtime are wins that even some Republicans thought could be dangerously populist<\/a>.<\/p>\n So why are Democrats excited? \u201cI kinda want to text them this,\u201d one national Democratic strategist said facetiously, before dropping the Admiral Ackbar \u201cit\u2019s a trap!<\/a>\u201d GIF into the chat.<\/p>\n The OBBB has never really been popular, and it remains unpopular now. A new poll from the Democratic messaging group Navigator Research found that independents have recoiled \u2014 a net -18 point view of the OBBB among the group in February has ballooned to -42<\/a>. A Fox News poll<\/a> found that more Americans think they are paying too much in taxes after the law passed than before it did.<\/p>\n There\u2019s another message out there this Tax Day. Emily attended the Patriotic Millionaires\u2019 symposium yesterday, a panel featuring tax-code reformers like Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen. \u201cThere are some members of our caucus who don\u2019t want to increase taxes on millionaires,\u201d he told the crowd. \u201cYou know, I think that they\u2019re wrong, obviously, and misguided, and that this would be, obviously, something that should bring us all together.\u201d<\/p>\n The group plans a big rally at the Capitol tomorrow with progressive groups and the AFL-CIO.<\/p>\n But nobody\u2019s got anything on this Tax Day pitch: \u201cHow can Americans really organize a national tax revolt? Won\u2019t we all end up in prison?\u201d former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene posted yesterday<\/a>, a follow-up to her recent discovery of a sovereign-citizen-esque legal theory that \u201c99% of Americans are not legally required to file and pay income taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n NEW ON NOTUS<\/p>\n Utah\u2019s congressional delegation is split down the middle when it comes to members\u2019 personal wealth: Three of Utah\u2019s six federal lawmakers have a negative median net worth, while the other three have a median net worth of at least $1 million, according to an analysis of the lawmakers\u2019 most recent personal finance disclosures.<\/p>\n NOTUS\u2019 Manuela Silva and Helen Huiskes break down the lawmakers\u2019 finances<\/a> in the latest installment of Capitol Gains<\/a>, our look at wealth in Congress.<\/p>\n More: House Scandals Show How Hard It Is to Get Accountability on Capitol Hill<\/a>, by Daniella Diaz<\/p>\n Maine Lawmakers Pass the First Statewide Ban on Large Data Centers<\/a>, by Torrie Herrington<\/p>\n NOT US<\/p>\n Thank you for reading! If you liked this edition of the NOTUS newsletter, please forward it to a friend. If this newsletter was shared with you, please subscribe<\/a> \u2014 it\u2019s free! Have a tip? Email us at tips@notus.com<\/a>. And as always, we\u2019d love to hear your thoughts at newsletters@notus.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s notice: The Senate\u2019s top Democrat talks to NOTUS. 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