The Constitutional Fight at the Central of Trump’s Financing Freezing: From the Policy Table

On By Littum

Welcome to the online version of From the policy tableAn evening newsletter that brings you NBC News Politics Team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign track.

It was another wild day in Washington after President Donald Trump’s unexpected overnight stay to pause federal aid expenses. As Lawrence Hurley writes, it has given rise to a constitutional battle that could end in the Supreme Court. In immigration, Steve Kornacki digs into the voting numbers to show how Americans have changed the question since Trump’s first period. And the Bridget Bowman breaks down a key early development in the 2026 Senate Battle.

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– Adam Wollner

Breaking News: The Trump administration is set to offer all 2 million federal workers the chance to take “deferred resignation” with severance packages of about eight months’ wages and benefits. Read more →

Trump’s efforts to withhold federal funding triggers constitutional showdown

By Lawrence Hurley

The Trump Administration’s attempt to withhold federal funding is burning a long-term legal battle for the central constitutional principle that Congress will decide how to spend taxpayers’ money.

And as with President Donald Trump’s early executive order of Birthright citizenship, the fight leads to immediate trial that could quickly end up with the Supreme Court.

A trial filed by nonprofit groups has already led to a federal judge putting Trump’s plan on wait.

Trump’s Office of Management and Budget triggered showdown with a memo Monday night ordering an immediate block on expenses related to federal assistance and programs.

The administration said the goal is to evaluate the programs to make sure they are in line with Trump’s agenda, although such financing was approved by Congress and signed in the law. In a new memo OMB, which was issued on Tuesday, the administration said the order did not constitute a financing freezing and is not subject to the law of degradation control.

The Constitution specifically says that Congress has the job of introducing taxes and spending money, which gives it what is generally known as “the power of the purse.” It is the most important Authority Congress in ShowDowns over the separation of power with the president.

“It seems to be clear to me that the Trump administration is evil to get this question to the Supreme Court,” said Sam Bagenstos, OMB General Attorney in Biden -Administration. “Trump administration clearly thinks they have a favorable court.”

Read more from Lawrence →

Chaos and confusion: The Trump Administration’s steps to suddenly stop federal grants and loans created widespread confusion across government, congress, state programs and nonprofit organizations that depend on the funding, Shannon Pettypiece, Julie Tsirkin, Garrett Hake and Berkeley Lovelace Jr. -The report.

  • What would be affected? It is not clear exactly which programs would be stopped if the freezer came into force. But OMB sent a document that asked agencies about details of more than 2,600 programs, including school meals for low -income students, US Agency for International Development Foreign Aid, Mine Inspections, WIC Nutrition Program for Pregnant Women and Infants and a Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.
  • The White House is trying to clarify: Financing for programs that provide direct assistance to people would be excluded from the break and exempt from the review process, a senior official said. They include Medicaid, Food Stamps, Assistance with Small Businesses, Prosecutions, Rental Aid and Federal Pell Grants to University Students, according to a Memo OMB sent Tuesday afternoon.
  • Medicaid problems: State Agencies reported questions that gained access to federal financing sites and payout systems, including Medicaid systems used to manage and distribute previously authorized federal funds. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the White House was aware of the Medicaid’s Power Across and looking to solve it. (Read more about Leavitt’s first briefing in the White House here.)

How Americans’ view of immigration has been changed since Trump’s first period

By Steve Kornacki

Just as he did eight years ago, Donald Trump has come to the presidency with promises to take a hard line on immigration issues. But this time he does it in a political atmosphere that is far more conducive to his attitude.

Americans are Now likely To quote immigration as a top question facing the country and supports deep efforts to deport immigrants who have committed crimes. While these attitudes come with some nuance (resistance to policies that will, for example, separate families remain strong), the overall change is unmistakable.

For decades, the Gallup voting has monitored Public mood about immigration. Its latest study, taken last summer during the campaign, found that the proportion of Americans who want to limit immigration has almost doubled since Trump’s first period.

The 55% of Americans who said immigration levels should be reduced is the highest number measured in any Gallup vote of 24 years since the immediate wake of the attack on September 11 in 2001.

And while a solid majority of Americans continue to believe that immigration is a net positive, this view has also weakened in recent years.

Furthermore, the country is now almost perfectly distributed on whether they were illegally here, whether or not they have committed crimes should be subject to deportation.

It is a 20-point net change from 2019, when the first Trump administration’s detention policies were the source of national controversy. The trend also extends to other questions. The public still largely supports a path to citizenship for them here illegally, but the opposition has doubled since Trump first took office, from 15% to 30%. And support for a markedly expanded border wall has reached majority status, a leap of 12 percentage points since Trump’s first period.

One Ipsos/Reuters voting Published when Trump took office last week, found that a plurality of Americans, 47%, now approves his approach to immigration. It is not exactly an overwhelming endorsement, but it is better than he tended to cope in his first round. And given the right course of public opinion on the subject, it can represent more of a floor than a ceiling.

Deportation Rolling: Federal enforcement agencies are targeted at three cities a week for major immigration arrangements, with Aurora, Colorado, coming next. Read more →

Gary Peters’ exit shakes the fight for the Senate

By Bridget Bowman

Democratic Senator Gary Peters’ decision not to drive to re-election in Michigan means that a decisive battlefield state will now host an open race key for Senate’s control.

Here are three ways Peters’ retirement could shake the fight for the Senate, where Republicans have a 53-47 edge:

  • Michigan was already a top GOP goal, as one of two states (along with Georgia) that the Senates Democrats are defending that Trump won last year. It could move all the way to the top of the target list now that it is an open seat, as the democratic candidate does not have the benefits that come with the incumbens.
  • Peters’ exit puts even more pressure on the Democrats to hold on to Michigan, which they need to win to get some shot turning the Senate. Democrats need a net win of four seats to turn the chamber, and only one GOP senator (Maine’s Susan Collins) is up to re-election in a state of Kamala Harris won last year.
  • Both parties could end up with crowded prizes (and this race could test how much party leaders will try to gather around a candidate to avoid division). Former Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg is among the potential candidates.

Today’s top stories

  • Confirmation matches: Several Senate Republicans have problems with Trump’s nominees for Secretary of Secretary, former Rep. Lori Chavez derers, citing pro-professional attitudes, she has taken that clash with business. Read more →
  • Confirmation matches, continued: The Senate voted 77-22 to confirm Sean Duffy as Transport Secretary after it performed his nomination 97-0 on Monday. Some Democrats said they voted against him to protest the Trump administration’s financing freezing. Read more →
  • Resistance 2.0: As Trump floods the zone in his first week on office, Democrats leave from their “resistance” strategy in his first period and try to focus on pocketbook problems. Read more →
  • With notice: Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa and Dick Durbin, D-Aill. – The President and Ranking Member of the Legal Committee – sent a joint letter asking Trump to explain his recent firing of 18 inspectors in general “immediately.” Read more →
  • If it’s Tuesday: The power of Trump’s endorsement faces the first testing of his second period in a few special primary choices in Florida tonight. Read more →
  • It’s a bird it’s a plane it’s a … :: The mysterious drones flying over New Jersey, which caused alarms among residents last year, were widely approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, the White House said. Read more →
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It’s all from the politics desktop for now. Today’s newsletter was prepared by Adam Wollner and Fiath Wardwell.

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