© Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Associated Press file

IT’S NOT ALWAYS PRETTY, but Republicans in Congress are gaining momentum as they seek to implement President Trump’s agenda.

Trump scored budget and Cabinet victories Thursday, after weeks of GOP handwringing, wavering and speculation about whether Republicans would align to give the president what he wants even if they disagreed.

• The Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, despite several GOP centrists expressing concern about his past anti-vaccine advocacy and hostility toward the medical establishment.

All Republicans voted to confirm Kennedy except for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

“I will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures,” said McConnell, who had polio as a child.

“In my lifetime, I’ve watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases across America and around the world,” he added.

McConnell was also the lone Republican to vote against Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to be Director of National Intelligence. Gabbard was confirmed on Wednesday.

• Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee to lead the FBI, advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in a party-line vote. Patel, who has vowed to overhaul the FBI, is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate next week.

• After weeks of wrangling, conservative hardliners in the House struck a deal with GOP leadership on a budget resolution just hours ahead of a crucial vote. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) predicted the resolution would pass unanimously out of committee. Johnson has been under enormous pressure to unite the disparate conservative factions around a package of tax cuts and spending cuts that can pass the House despite the GOP’s ultra-thin majority.

The Senate passed its own resolution on Wednesday. Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) cast the Senate resolution as a back-up plan if House Republicans can’t get their act together.

• A federal judge gave the green light to the Trump administration’s buyout offers to all government employees.

The White House celebrated the 75,000 who accepted the deal, even though it fell short of their projected 100,000 to 200,000.

“That’s going to save millions of dollars for the American taxpayers,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “That’s exactly what we wanted.”

It’s not all smooth sailing for Trump.

• The GOP’s budget drama is by no means over. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and other top Republican senators said they would only vote for a permanent extension of the 2017 Trump tax cuts, complicating the way forward in the House.

• A federal judge blocked parts of two executive orders issued by President Trump that collectively seek to restrict gender-affirming care.

• Republican senators are warning that two of Trump’s nominees for national security positions who have championed radical views will face intense scrutiny, according to The Hill’s Alexander Bolton.

• The State Department is placing a $400 million contract to build armored electric vehicles on hold amid questions about a conflict of interest with Tesla owner Elon Musk, who was the apparent recipient of the contract. The deal originated under the Biden administration.

• Unions are suing Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency over plans for “large-scale” government layoffs.

• A federal judge extended a temporary block on the Trump administration’s plan to place thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees on leave. Current and former employees at USAID are suing Musk, arguing that he should have been confirmed by the Senate to implement his proposed cuts.

• The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Trump administration for access to migrants detained at Guantánamo Bay.

COMING UP: Trump and India’s prime minister are holding a joint press conference at the White House at 5:10 p.m. EST. Watch it here

Perspectives:

• The Hill: Trump was supposed to fix food prices. They’re getting worse.

• The Liberal Patriot: The Democrats’ bureaucracy problem.

• The Hill: Elon Musk is not telling the truth.

• Reason: Kill the Department of Education.

• Washington Monthly: It’s a good thing Dems didn’t pack the courts.

Read more:

• Linda McMahon vows to shutter Education Department.

• Democrats push for tougher resistance to Trump as anger mounts.

• Trump’s ‘art of the deadline’ flaunts his dealmaking prowess.

• Musk rivals Trump as most controversial figure on political stage

• ‘DEI Watch list’ sparks racism charges; Advocates see that as validation.

• The number of Americans seeking jobless benefits declined as employers continue to hold on to workers.

• More Democrats say they would like the party to be more moderate, according to Gallup.

• Stars are fleeing the Kennedy Center after President Trump took over and became chairman.

• The Hill political editor Chris Stirewalt launches his Whole Hog Politics newsletter Friday. Click here to sign up and get it in your inbox.

© Geert Vanden Wijngaert, Associated Press

Key members of President Trump’s national security team are in Germany to discuss an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, a high-stakes negotiation that will be an early test for the president’s “America First” agenda.

Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are in Munich, where they’ll meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.

Trump spoke with both Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, sending a message that he believes no one else should die in the nearly three-year long war.

Trump spoke glowingly of Putin, saying he believes they can work together on many different issues. Trump is expected to meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia soon.

The Trump administration has taken a hard line with Ukraine, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth telling global leaders in Brussels there is no path for a peace deal that will restore Ukraine’s 2014 borders or give the country entrance into NATO.

“I think realism is an important part of the conversation,” he said.

Trump on Wednesday would not say whether he considers Ukraine to be an “equal member” of efforts to end the war between Moscow and Kyiv.

“It’s an interesting question,” Trump said.

Zelensky said he and Trump had a “good and detailed discussion” and that the president communicated to him that “America’s strength is enough to pressure Russia and Putin into peace.”

“No one wants peace more than Ukraine,” Zelensky posted on social media. “Together with the U.S., we are charting our next steps to stop Russian aggression and ensure a lasting, reliable peace. As President Trump said, let’s get it done.”

Still, Zelensky said the fact Trump spoke to Putin first was “not pleasant.”

Zelensky has said he’s open to making a deal with Trump that would give the U.S. billions of dollars worth of Ukrainian minerals in exchange for aid and protection. He met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Kyiv about that potential deal Wednesday.

“We will do everything so that our teams can quickly agree and sign this document,” he told reporters.

Zelensky has said he’ll only sign a peace deal that includes guarantees of protection from the U.S., saying it’s not enough to have only European buy-in.

“Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees,” he told The Guardian.

Democrats and Trump’s critics are warning they think the president is preparing to sell-out Ukraine to Putin.

John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, posted on X:

“By making these and other concessions before negotiations even started, Trump has effectively surrendered to Putin on Ukraine,” he said.

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) said Trump and Hegseth “literally appear to be negotiating on behalf of Putin.”

Centrist Republican Rep. Don Bacon (Neb.) cautioned against “rewarding the invader.”

Hegseth kicked back at those allegations.

“There is no betrayal there,” he said. “There is a recognition that the whole world and the United States is invested and interested in peace, a negotiated peace, as President Trump has said, stopping the killing, and so that will require both sides recognizing things they don’t want to.”

Perspectives:

• The Hill: An American sovereign wealth fund is risky, but not crazy.

• Racket: How USAID is a threat to speech.

• The Hill: Will Trump use the ‘fog of war’ for cover, or will he get lost in it?

• The Hill: Trump’s Gaza proposal is reckless. Here is a feasible plan.

• The Hill: Congress must push back against Trump’s unilateral moves.

Read more:

• NATO in disarray after the US announces security priorities lie elsewhere.

• Hamas says it will release hostages as planned.

• Canada’s new fentanyl czar vows a crackdown on illegal drugs.

© Ben Curtis, Associated Press

President Trump signed a presidential memorandum proposing reciprocal tariffs that he says will crack down on unfair and discriminatory tariffs from adversaries and allies.

The Hill’s Alex Gangitano writes:

“The reciprocal tariffs will be customized for each foreign trading partner, based on five different areas: tariffs the nation imposes on U.S. products, unfair taxes imposed, cost to U.S. businesses and consumers from another country’s policies, exchange rates, and any other practices the trade representative’s office determines is unfair.”

• In one of her first major moves, Attorney General Pam Bondi is suing the state of New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and state Attorney General Letitia James (D), accusing them of refusing to enforce immigration laws.

Separately, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) clawed back $80 million it gave to New York City to house migrants. City officials are threatening legal action in response.

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin is trying to recoup billions of dollars the Biden administration issued under its “green bank” program.

Perspectives:

• The American Prospect: Vought finds CFPB can be useful.

• MSNBC: Eric Adams owes Trump now.

• The Washington Examiner: The Biden economic hangover.

• City Journal: Why immigration cost Dems the election.

Read more:

• Trump’s move to slash research funding shakes medical community.

• CFPB terminates dozens of employees.

• House GOP approves bill to undo Biden-era rules.

• Sanders, Hawley call for credit card interest rate cap.

• Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith won’t seek reelection in 2026.

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