Vivek Ramaswamy’s allies tout Trump endorsement in $3 million Ohio ad blitz
A super PAC backing Vivek Ramaswamy for governor of Ohio is launching a $3 million ad campaign that highlights his endorsement from Trump — an early push to cement the biotech entrepreneur as the undisputed Republican front-runner more than a year before GOP voters select their nominee.
“He has a big, beautiful, bright future ahead,” Trump is seen and heard saying about Ramaswamy in one of the spots set to debut tomorrow. The 15-second ad, which was shared first with NBC News, also shows video of Trump and Ramaswamy embracing at an event last year.
A companion 30-second spot features a clip of Ramaswamy praising Trump and a narrator informing viewers of Trump’s support: “Endorsed by Trump, Vivek will make Ohio a state of excellence, the leading state to grow a business, get an education, raise a family.”
Education Department tells 60 universities they are under investigation for 'antisemitic discrimination and harassment'
The Education Department sent a letter today to 60 universities it says are under investigation for “antisemitic discrimination and harassment,” warning of potential consequences if they do not “fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus.”
The list includes Columbia University, which recently had $400 million in government grants canceled by the Trump administration. Other schools include Harvard University, the University of California Berkeley and Yale University — some of the more than 40 campuses where pro-Palestinian protests took place last spring.
Federal immigration agents Saturday arrested Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil, a U.S. permanent legal resident who helped organize protests last year. A judge today blocked his removal from the country.
Trump and budget director Russell Vought call undecided Republicans to support GOP spending bill
Trump and his top aides are placing calls urging undecided Republican lawmakers to support a spending bill that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced Saturday, three sources with knowledge of the calls told NBC News.
Vice President JD Vance will visit with House Republicans tomorrow during their weekly conference meeting, an additional source said.
To make holdouts feel more comfortable backing the bill, Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought have made assurances that they will use impoundment and rescissions in the future to claw back spending and have said they have begun working on a plan to do so.
The two legislative tools are rarely used because Congress, which controls the purse strings of the federal government, doesn’t like it when the executive branch doesn’t spend money it has appropriated.
Impoundment would allow Trump to delay or permanently cancel federal funding after it has been passed by Congress. Republicans brought up the idea of a rescissions package, which wasn’t successful in Trump’s first term, during lunch with Elon Musk last week. It’s also why most Democrats aren’t willing to provide votes for the GOP’s interim government funding bill.
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said he had conversations with Trump’s team over the weekend, specifically Vought. Burlison said he was concerned about potential action from the courts.
Because the Supreme Court essentially upheld a lower court decision that forced the Trump administration to unlock $2 billion in frozen funds for the U.S. Agency for International Development and because the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 exists, Burlison suggested the courts could block the administration’s efforts to impound funds Congress already appropriated.
“What was concerning to me was some of these lawsuits and the recent court decision [on USAID], and so I needed to have that conversation, and I feel like they addressed those concerns with me,” Burlison said. “And so to me that was concerning because [of] this discussion of impoundment and whether or not that’s constitutional. So I’m looking for indications from the Supreme Court — that was not a good one.”
Dow falls nearly 900 points and Nasdaq dives 4% as stock sell-off gathers steam
Major stock indexes tanked today, continuing a sell-off that gathered steam last week as rattled investors began zeroing in on the prospect of a significant falloff in U.S. growth amid persistent inflation and a wobbling job market.
The broad S&P 500 index closed down 2.7%. Not only has it now given up all of Trump’s post-election gains, but it also fell to its lowest level since September and is essentially unchanged over the past seven months. It was the biggest one-day drop since December.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 4% as it plunged deeper into “correction” territory, meaning it is off more than 10% from recent highs. It was its worst day since 2022.
Senate confirms Lori Chavez-DeRemer for labor secretary
The Senate confirmed former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer as labor secretary this evening.
Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., who had endorsements from several labor unions, got bipartisan support in tonight's 67-32 vote. Seventeen Democrats voted to confirm her, and three Republicans voted against.
The Republican "no" votes came from Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, of Kentucky, and Ted Budd, of North Carolina.
She is the last of Trump’s Cabinet secretaries to be confirmed, though Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is still awaiting a confirmation vote for her nomination to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a Cabinet-level post.
Musk says DOGE is in almost every federal agency and plans to double staff
Trump adviser and tech billionaire Elon Musk said today that he plans to double the size of his staff in the Department of Government Efficiency, which he noted is already working inside nearly every federal agency.
Musk’s comments about DOGE came in an interview on Fox Business as his budget-cutting team has faced growing pushback not only from the courts and congressional Democrats but also from members of Trump’s Cabinet.
Musk said that DOGE has about 100 staff members and that he planned to increase it to about 200.
“We’re trying to act broadly across all departments, so it’s not just one department at a time,” he told Larry Kudlow, a Fox Business host who worked in the first Trump administration.
Trump to sign executive order empowering states on disaster relief
Trump plans to sign an executive order today that is aimed at empowering state and local governments to handle disaster preparedness, according to a senior White House official.
Trump has repeatedly railed against the Federal Emergency Management Agency, saying in January: “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away and we pay a percentage to the states.”
Critics have argued that states don’t have the resources to effectively handle major disaster relief. A Government Accountability Office report in 2022 found FEMA was 35% understaffed.
Musk points to programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as 'the big ones' to eliminate
Elon Musk referred to federal spending on programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as the areas that need to be eliminated.
"Most of the federal spending is entitlements," Musk said in a Fox Business interview with host Larry Kudlow, adding they're "the big ones to eliminate."
He then claimed that Democrats use the programs to "attract and retain illegal immigrants by essentially paying them to come here and then turning them into voters."
"So this is why the Democrats are so upset about the situation, because they're losing. You know, if we turn off this gigantic money magnet for illegal immigrants then they will leave, and they will lose voters," Musk said.
Trump said in an interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press" in December that "we’re not touching" Social Security, aside from making it “more efficient, but the people are going to get what they're getting."
Mike Johnson's chief of staff slurred speech and had trouble standing during DUI arrest, police say
Hayden Haynes, chief of staff to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., slurred his speech and was "staggering" shortly before U.S. Capitol Police arrested him after Trump's speech at the Capitol last week, according to a newly released affidavit.
Haynes was charged today with driving under the influence of alcohol and operating a vehicle while impaired. He's due in Superior Court in Washington to be arraigned April 3. The D.C. attorney general's office will prosecute his case.
Haynes crashed his white Tesla sedan into a parked black Chevy Suburban, and an officer stopped him from leaving and told him to park his vehicle, according to an affidavit filed in court today. The reporting officer said that the Tesla's rear right bumper and rear right quarter panel were scratched and that the rear right taillight was cracked. The Black Chevy suburban had damage to the rear left panel, the officer said.
The reporting officer also said Haynes had an “unsteady walk," fell into the passenger seat and had trouble trying to get his registration. Haynes was “slurring his words when voice activating his vehicle to open the glove compartment,” the report said. Haynes was “staggering” and had “a strong odor consistent of alcohol emanating from his breath," and he is alleged to have told the officer that he had four drinks in a four-hour period.
Haynes had trouble placing his glasses in his pocket before he took a field sobriety test, and an officer had to assist him to keep him from falling to the side, the affidavit said. The test was concluded for safety reasons, and then Haynes was placed under arrest, it said.
Johnson spokesman Taylor Haulsee referred NBC News today to a statement last week that said Johnson was standing by Haynes.
“The Speaker has known and worked closely with Hayden for nearly a decade and trusted him to serve as his Chief of Staff for his entire tenure in Congress,” Haulsee said last week. “Because of this and Hayden’s esteemed reputation among Members and staff alike, the Speaker has full faith and confidence in Hayden’s ability to lead the Speaker’s office.”
Before heading to the polls in a general election, Greenlanders discuss Trump’s interest in the territory, plus independence from Denmark.