WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch

Speaker Mike Johnson pulls together House Republicans to pass a bill funding the government through Sept. 30, putting pressure on Senate Democrats to agree before a deadline of midnight Friday. Plus, the GOP shields itself from a tough vote on Donald Trump's trade wars, as the president threatens to respond to Europe's tariff retaliation with a 200% levy on imported wine.

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Mahmoud Khalil, a "lead negotiator" for the anti-Israel protesters at Columbia University last year, is detained by federal agents who want to revoke his green card, and President Trump says more such cases are coming. Can speech, such as support for Hamas, be a legal grounds for deportation? What about the First Amendment? And could this case go to the Supreme Court?

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Amid a measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico that has put 29 in the hospital and killed a school-age child, health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. calls MMR vaccines an option, while also touting steroids and cod-liver oil as a miracle treatment. Plus, an appeals court upholds a New York law ending school vaccine exemptions for religious beliefs, which could go to the Supreme Court.

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How is Donald Trump's much-discussed Department of Government Efficiency working in practice? In this episode of All Things, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin explains his agency's partnership with DOGE and the process by which they are identifying waste and fraud to make the federal government more accountable. What grants or programs are being cut, and why? What's happening to the EPA workforce? How much internal "resistance" is there to these goals? And how does EPA balance its mission of "clean air, land and water for every American" with the goal of a smaller government?  

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Despite warnings in financial markets, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says there will be no economic downturn. Donald Trump is more equivocal as he says the economy is in transition to better days as his tariffs are implemented. 

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The number of migrants encountered at the southwest border has dropped significantly since Donald Trump's re-election in November, as he turns the U.S. toward a message of deterrence. Meantime, mayors from major “sanctuary cities," including New York and Chicago, are called to Capitol Hill for tough questions about their efforts to shield illegal immigrants from federal law.

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The President's 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada are on again, then off, then on again, and then partially off--at least for a month. What's Donald Trump up to with his trade policy, and is the resulting uncertainty starting to hurt a U.S. economy that is already weakening?

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A defiant Donald Trump delivers the longest presidential speech to Congress in modern history, interrupted by jeers from Democrats, including Rep. Al Green, who is escorted out. But on the substance, has the President proposed enough clear direction for the GOP, given his many ambitious promises, from a balanced budget and tax-free tips to the Panama Canal and Greenland?

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The explosive meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump continues to radiate fallout, as the president announced a pause in aid to Ukraine, and Europe rallied around Ukraine with promises of troops. Can the U.S.-Ukraine rare minerals deal still be salvaged? And what's the next stage in the now three-year conflict that Russian president Vladimir Putin started with his invasion of his neighbor?   

On this episode of All Things, New York Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) explains why Vladimir Putin was the only winner after the Trump/Zelensky meeting and what he thinks comes next--as well as his sense of Trump's broader vision of foreign policy. He also provides the latest state of play on a bill to avoid a shutdown, and the broader negotiations on a reconciliation bill to enact Trump's border, energy and tax policies this year.  

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The President follows through on his threat to impose 25% tariffs, as Canada and Mexico plan to retaliate with reciprocal taxes on U.S. goods, such as orange juice and bourbon. Given that voters are still upset about inflation under Joe Biden, is Trump taking a political risk, if his trade war means that U.S. consumers will see higher prices on produce, SUVs, and other items?

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