Republican Rep. Don Bacon plans to introduce bill to rein in Trump's tariff powers
Rep. Don Bacon, a moderate Republican from Nebraska, said today that he plans to introduce a companion bill to a bipartisan Senate measure designed to rein in Trump’s power and reassert Congress’ authority over tariffs.
Bacon said his bill would be identical to one introduced this week by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., that would require congressional approval for tariffs to extend beyond 60 days after their implementation. It would also require the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of announcing them.
“I want to submit Senator Grassley’s bill in the House. I think it is the right answer,” Bacon told NBC News today in a text message.
Politico reported on Bacon’s plans earlier in the day.
Bacon is one of the most vulnerable House Republicans, with the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rating his 2026 race as a “toss up.” The Nebraska lawmaker has been pushing back more vocally against Trump in recent weeks on tariffs and national security matters.
In addition to the Senate bill, Bacon also is supportive of a bipartisan push to revoke Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports. Given House GOP leaders’ opposition to that measure, House Democrats are looking to bypass the majority party by using a procedural tool known as a discharge petition, which requires 218 lawmaker signatures to force a floor vote.
Bacon is open to the idea of a discharge petition on the Canadian tariffs issues, but said for now he isn't planning to file one for the Grassley/Cantwell bill. That could always change, he said.
“If we keep seeing a downturn in the stock market and with other economic indicators, we can recalibrate,” Bacon said.
Obama says he is ‘deeply concerned’ with the Trump administration’s targeting of students, journalists and law firms
Former President Barack Obama said he is “deeply concerned” with some of the actions that Trump and his administration have taken and seemed to call out the Republican Party for not pushing back on them.
Obama rebuked Trump without explicitly naming him over the federal government’s threats against universities and students who exercise free speech, its targeting of law firms, and the new tariffs imposed on foreign countries.
“I don’t think what we just witnessed in terms of economic policy and tariffs is going to be good for America, but that’s a specific policy,” Obama said yesterday in his remarks at Hamilton College in New York. “I’m more deeply concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don’t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech,” he said.
Obama said he’s more troubled by a White House that takes aim at law firms that represent ideas or parties that its occupants disagree with, and that the administration has punished media outlets. Trump has signed executive orders penalizing major law firms and lawyers, prompting outrage within the legal community. The White House has also barred The Associated Press from coverage over its refusal to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
Supreme Court allows Trump to terminate teacher training grants as part of anti-DEI policy
The Supreme Court today allowed the Trump administration to terminate Education Department grants for teacher training that officials deemed to violate their new policy opposing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
The 5-4 decision blocks a Massachusetts-based judge’s ruling that said the administration had failed to follow the correct legal process in terminating the grants. About $65 million in grant payments are outstanding.
The decision is the first win for Trump at the Supreme Court in his second term.
Trump says his goal for sweeping reciprocal tariffs is to realign the economy by bringing jobs back to the United States. To do that, he’s making products made overseas more expensive. But how much will it cost consumers and how long will it take? NBC News’ Tom Costello reports for "TODAY."
White House calls lid after Trump spends the day golfing amid stock market plunge
Trump spent roughly six hours at his Florida golf club today as the tariffs he implemented worldwide continued to rattle stock markets and spark economic uncertainty.
The White House called a lid at 3:42 p.m. ET, meaning Trump did not speak to reporters at all today.
Markets have continued to tumble in reaction to Trump's tariff announcement, with the Dow and S&P 500 dropping 6% and 5.5%, respectively.
On Thursday, the S&P had its worst day since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Democratic lawmakers blasted Trump for spending his day attending the Saudi-backed LIV golf tournament at his Doral, Florida, club amid plunging stock markets following the president’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements.
“Recession fears are rising. The stock market is tanking. But don’t worry, Donald Trump is golfing,” Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., wrote on X.
“He’s had a long, hard week of crashing the stock market and making virtually everything more expensive for middle-class Americans. But at least he’s getting some time to unwind????” Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., wrote in a post on X.
Trump also missed the dignified transfer of four soldiers who died in Lithuania to attend the dinner reception of the golf tournament.
Johnson says Trump supports him in ongoing proxy voting fight
The standoff over proxy voting continues between Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla.
Johnson signaled in a post on X this morning that Trump backs him in the ongoing fight in the House over proxy voting for new parents, which the speaker believes is unconstitutional.
"Thank you, @realDonaldTrump for your leadership: “Mike, you have my proxy on proxy voting.” America is grateful to have a President who appreciates and understands the complexity of legislative branch issues and governing with a razor-thin House majority," Johnson wrote on X.
Luna has been spearheading an effort to pass a bill that would provide new parents up to 12 weeks of remote voting following the birth of a child.
Trump yesterday publicly backed the initiative, telling reporters aboard Air Force One “If you’re having a baby, I think you should be able to call in and vote."
Trump, however, said he would defer to Johnson on the matter and the Louisiana Republican this week said he plans to find alternate methods to block the proxy voting push from moving forward.
While Luna said last night that Johnson called her to propose a compromise, the speaker in his post this morning continued to emphasize his opposition to remote voting.
"Democrats tried proxy voting before and it was terribly abused. We cannot open that Pandora’s box again," Johnson wrote.
Federal labor unions sue Trump administration over end to collective bargaining
A coalition of labor unions representing federal employees has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that Trump’s executive order directing broad swaths of government agencies to end collective bargaining with federal unions is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit, filed late last night in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges Trump signed the order in retaliation against the labor unions that have become a major legal obstacle in his efforts to slash the size of the federal government and move its core functions under executive control.
It also claims the order, which invoked a rare national security exemption to instruct 18 federal agencies to end collective bargaining with the unions representing their employees, was illegal because the primary functions of many of the named agencies are not related to national security.
The American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal workers union and the lead plaintiff in the case, promised legal action after Trump signed the order late last month.
“AFGE is not going to be intimidated by a bully who is throwing a temper tantrum because our union is beating them in the court of law and in the court of public opinion,” said Everett Kelley, the national president of AFGE. “Trump’s newest order to revoke union rights is a clear case of retaliation. But I’ve got news for him: we are not going anywhere.”
New court decision in a disputed North Carolina race means 65,000 votes are a step closer to being thrown out
A three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled Friday that more than 65,000 votes cast in the contested race for the state Supreme Court in 2024 must be recounted and verified — a win for the Republican candidate in the razor-thin, disputed contest and a decision that could potentially tip the election results in his favor.
In the ruling, the Republican majority involved in the decision ordered that a group of more than 65,000 voters, whose eligibility was challenged by Republican Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin and his lawyers, now have 15 business days to provide state elections officials with the necessary proof of identity that would verify their votes. The court ruled that any voters who don’t respond will not have their votes counted in the race between Griffin and Democrat Allison Riggs, which is still caught in legal battling five months after Election Day.
The arduous task of verifying those voter identities will fall on the North Carolina State Board of Elections. And the decision sets up an appeal to North Carolina’s highest court, the state Supreme Court — the body that the winner of this election will join.
‘Decapitated’: More top vaccine regulators out at FDA, threatening new approvals
More top vaccine regulators at the Food and Drug Administration have either left or been forced out following the resignation last week of Dr. Peter Marks, the agency’s top vaccine official, according to four former and current government officials familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
Experts say the exodus of top talent at the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research could hobble the agency’s ability to approve new vaccines and a wide range of other drugs — especially in the wake of the mass layoffs by the Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday.
Trump extends TikTok deal deadline by 75 days, touts ‘tremendous progress’
President Donald Trump on Friday said he will extend the deadline for TikTok to find a U.S. buyer or face a ban, giving the China-based owner ByteDance an additional 75 days to reach a deal.
“My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,” he wrote in a Truth Social post. “The Deal requires more work to ensure all necessary approvals are signed, which is why I am signing an Executive Order to keep TikTok up and running for an additional 75 days.”
Trump previously delayed the app’s ban via executive order on his first day in office, effectively giving ByteDance until April 5 — Saturday — to comply with the law.