Scoop: Senior aides across Trump admin holding high-level meetings over China curbs on rare earths critical to huge range of U.S. economic activity

Deep concern about impact; no easy answers

Companies relying on reserves that wont last forever

May help explain Trump blink “Beijing does not feel like it is going to back down and that the U.S. is in no position to dictate terms. A big, big part of that is rare earths, where they feel they have the capacity to do significant harm to American manufacturers.”

washingtonpost.com/business/2025/…

NEW: Officials across the US government are privately warning that Musk's DOGE blitz appears to be violating numerous federal laws

Legal objections voiced at Treasury, Education, USAID, GSA, OPM, EEOC, OMB & elsewhere

Messages, audio, interviews all reveal internal concerns

Laws on budget, privacy, security, classification & more said by U.S. officials to be strained if not broken Among those

- Musk has repeatedly called for stopping Treasury payments, which officials internally have warned would violate Impoundment Control Act. Also could violate due process protections;

- DOGE's promise to pay federal workers taking the resignation agreement through September has met resistance internally as violating the Antideficiency Act. Unclear if provisions in offer are legally enforceable;

- DOGE's access to government databases has triggered concerns among U.S. officials about violations of 1974 Privacy Act, which sets up strict standards for sharing individuals' private information. These concerns have been raised at multiple agencies;

- The executive does not have the ability to unilaterally abolish U.S. agencies, as Musk is demanding of USAID;

washingtonpost.com/business/2025/…

Roughly *67%* of voters rated the economy as "not so good/poor," per Washington Post exit polls

A shockingly poor number amid a hot labor market, booming stocks, much lower inflation, growing GDP

But widespread voter dissatisfaction w/ the economy been clear for years Results are preliminary

PART V: U.S. SANCTIONS HAVE SURGED. WASHINGTON INSIDERS ARE MAKING MILLIONS OFF THEIR RISE.

You may have heard of "the military industrial complex."

Meet the booming "sanctions industrial complex"

A dive into how an avalanche of corporate & foreign cash has penetrated US sanctions

Our findings from a +6 month investigation:

- 1 firm founded by ex-Treasury officials has made *$75 million* from the UAE
- The former FBI director has raised eyebrows at Treasury for sanctions work on behalf of numerous foreign entities
- Powerful ex-House & Senate lawmakers are taking multi-million-dollar foreign paydays on sanctions
- Azerbaijan paid 1 lobbyist ~$2 million to ward off sanctions after Nagorno-Karabakh attack
- Deepening perception among allies that sanctions policy can be shaped by highest bidder
- WH officials have considered new guardrails on sanctions lobbying, but haven't advanced
- Foreign sanctions spending up more than 5X. US firms spending ~*$1B* on lobbying related to China & sanctions

The latest in our series, THE MONEY WAR:

washingtonpost.com/business/inter… Louis Freeh was the FBI director and a federal judge

After leaving government, he has worked for numerous foreign entities, including sanctioned Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler & banker Leonardo González Dellán, who was accused w/ others of stealing from Venezuelans

NEW: THE STAGGERING RISE OF AMERICA'S GLOBAL ECONOMIC WARFARE

1st in a series

@federicacocco & I found:

1. ~1/3 of all nations on Earth now face some form of US sanctions. Huge increase from when mostly applied to Cuba & a handful of regimes

2. +*60%* of *all poor countries* are under US sanctions of some kind. Has become almost a reflex of US foreign policy

3. Sanctions have spawned multi-billion-dollar lobbying & influence industry, enriching former US officials who are hired by foreign countries & oligarchs

4. Sanctions have had devastating effects on innocent civilians. In Cuba, they've made critical medical supplies impossible to import. In Venezuela, they contributed to a financial collapse 3X greater than the US Great Depression. Syria faces its greatest humanitarian crisis this year after a decade civil war & sanctions.

5. Treasury staffers drafted a ~40 page plan aimed at reforming the sanctions process that was dramatically whittled down amid disagreements w/ State

6. OFAC is widely described as overwhelmed by tens of thousands of requests. WH officials have brainstormed sanctions scenarios w/ outside nonprofits

7. Biden has unleashed unprecedented volley of +6K sanctions in 2 years. Higher than even previously unprecedented rate of Trump.

“We don’t think about the collateral damage of sanctions the same way we think about the collateral damage of war ... But we should.”

More to come.

Read our first story here:

washingtonpost.com/business/inter… @federicacocco Here's a partial list of all countries under some form of US sanctions, with an (somewhat admittedly/inherently subjective) attempt to categorize by severity:

Hearing A LOT of alarm today among GOP donors & Reaganite conservative types about JD Vance

On trade, taxes, unions, antitrust — he’s signaled sharp departure from traditional conservatism, despite venture capitalist roots

Now he’s heir apparent for the party, & Reaganites fear being shut out Vance had troubled them by:

— Praising Biden FTC pick Lina Khan
— Suggesting openness to higher corporate taxes
— Backing Trump’s major tariffs & trade barriers
— Being tied to Oren Cass’s pro industrial & family policy group
— Visiting UAW picket line

Had the pleasure ysd to meet Father Gary Wegner, who runs a Detroit soup kitchen

Wegner says demand is up ~80% over last yr w/ hunger rising nationally

“Jesus said blessed are the poor,” Wegner said. “Only in America do we put the modifier, ‘Blessed are the *deserving* poor’” Johneka Austin, 42, a banquet server with 5 sons, saw her food stamps cut from $843 to $400-$500 as covid aid expiration hit ~1M Michiganders

She’s torn bw buying good groceries & Internet for her sons

Austin laughed when I asked whether the economy is good. “Nobody says that!”

Due largely to an unexpected surge in immigration, the U.S. economy will be about $7 trillion larger - & federal revenues about $1T bigger - the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday That impact is over 10 years, to be clear. It does not take into account any legislation that Congress may or may not approve

New: Trump advisers looking at push to lower corporate tax rate to *15%,* per multiple sources

Strong interest in further lowering corporate rate

GOP's 2017 tax law lowered it from 35% to 21%

Ds see corporate tax cuts as Trump political kryptonite

washingtonpost.com/business/2023/… Fueling the discussion here is Trump has proposed massively raising tariffs, w/ 10% duty on all imports

Debate they're having: Then what to do with potentially trillions in new revenue?

Discussions center on tax cuts, potentially corporate + individual

washingtonpost.com/business/2023/…

Summary of deal as I understand it:
— Debt ceiling raised 2 years
— Domestic programs frozen next year, up 1% ‘25. Inflation-adjusted cut
— Boosts defense, VA $
— Some tightening of work requirements on TANF, SNAP
— Energy permitting (details tbd)
— Claw back some new IRS $ Work requirement for food stamps moves from 50 to 54

Trying to get more clarity on tanf sorry I’m not sure will update when I learn more details

SCOOP: Treasury asks US agencies if payments can made at a later date as deadline nears

Internal memo obtained by WaPo shows Treasury putting agencies on alert

Biden aides search for new ways to prolong X Date beyond existing measures, sources say

washingtonpost.com/business/2023/… If Biden aides can find just a few days’ worth of extra cash, it is possible they can make it to June 15

Critical here: If they make it to June 15, a whole bunch of new tax revenue comes in — & they may be able to punt the deadline to July

Obviously not the preferred outcome

UPDATE: Negotiators have failed to make progress on debt ceiling talks despite looming June 3 wedding for reporter Jeff Stein’s wedding, per sources. (The impasse also threatens the stability of the global economy) @POTUS @SecYellen @SpeakerMcCarthy @LeaderMcConnell @SenSchumer @RepJeffries ^^ you guys seeing this?

Pretty remarkable that America temporarily constructed a safety net during Covid — including major health care coverage, food benefits, anti poverty funding for families & kids, etc — and then just systematically and slowly demolished it The latest via @goldsteinamy: 15 million poor Americans set to be tossed off of Medicaid washingtonpost.com/health/2023/03…

Breaking - Treasury announces •ALL* depositors protected by FDIC. Says no costs will be borne by taxpayers

https://twitter.com/jstein_wapo/status/1634985507427057665

Treasury official says Biden was consulted before the action was taken. Follows recommendation from FDIC

One question financial experts are asking right now: If you’re the CFO of a mid-sized company with your money socked away at a regional bank, isn’t the first thing you do Monday morning is pull your money out and put it in a top Wall Street firm instead? And how small does the SVB clients’ haircut have to be to prevent that kind of reaction?

🚨🚨Results from biggest study on 4 day workweek:

— 73% of workers report being happier w/ their lives
— 40% reported fewer sleep problems
— 64% drop in quitting, 71%
drop in reported burnout
— 92% of firms say they’ll continue 4 day week after trial
— No drop in wages in trial Nearly 3,000 employees took part in the pilot, which was organized by the advocacy group, 4 Day Week Global, in collaboration with the research group, Autonomy, and researchers at Boston College and the University of Cambridge

@BelleTimsit reports:

washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/…

New: Trump’s OMB director, proving influential in GOP debt talks, wants to avoid Medicare/SS but is pushing to pulverize programs for the poor

His budget calls for:
- $2T cuts to Medicaid
- $600B cuts to ACA
- $400B food stamps cut
- Halve head start

washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2023… If you want to balance the budget, rule out tax hikes, mostly keep the defense budget, and avoid Medicare/SS, your only option is to eviscerate the relatively small portion of the budget devoted to anti-poverty

Vought calls this ending “woke and weaponized” government

New: Biden aides see huge downsides to 1) negotiating policy w/ GOP over debt limit; & 2) all unilateral options

For now, they’re focused on pressing the GOP to releasing a plan - which they’re optimistic will prove so divisive their brinkmanship softens

washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2023… Thinking behind 1 is obvious:
— Can’t reward GOP for taking US economy hostage. Bad precedent
— Ds actually did well in midterms (Senate gains, eg)
— Substantive opposition to spending cuts
— Belief in political upside for hammering GOP for wanting Social Security/Medicare cuts

I asked @rohangrey & @NathanTankus — 2 of the leading theorists behind the “Mint the $1 Trillion Coin” idea — about some of the concerns I’d been hearing from those close to the White House about their plan Their responses, shared w/ permission, are worth reading .@NathanTankus adds:

Scoop: House GOP preparing emergency plan telling Treasury how to spend $ if borrowing limit breached

Likely to call on preserving: Interest payments, DOD, Medicare, Social Security, VA benefits. (This leaves out ... many things)

Part of deal b/w McCarthy & conservatives Idea is for Rs to say Treasury can make interest payments even w/o borrowing

Senior D: “Any plan to pay bondholders but not fund school lunches or the FAA or food safety or XYZ is just target practice for us"

Chip Roy says McCarthy agreed to do by Q1

washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2023…

Here's the one-page document striking down Biden's student debt relief program, reported earlier by @mstratford Yes, a Trump appointee