Week of March 30, 2026 Recap and April 6, Look Ahead
Please read our week recap and the look ahead to next week below.
Weekly Recap:
Congress:
- Reconciliation Update: The Presidential Budget Request proposed a $1.5 trillion defense budget, including $350 billion in mandatory spending that Congress would need to enact through reconciliation. The funding would support advanced munitions, hypersonic weapons, and the Golden Dome missile defense system. This defense funding request adds a separate reconciliation push alongside President Trump’s June 1 reconciliation deadline for a border funding.
Trump Administration:
- OMB Releases Presidential Budget Request: On Friday, April 4, the Trump administration released its FY 2027 Presidential Budget Request, which calls for the elimination of several programs just as he did last year, that were ultimately not fulfilled by Congress. The proposed eliminated programs include, Community Develop Block Grants (CDBG), the HOME Investment Program, Continuum of Care, PRO Housing Grants, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), Native American Programs and Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant, Housing Counseling Assistance, Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and Community Services Block Grant. The request also cuts $4 billion in unobligated Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) funds and $145 million in RAISE funding. It allocates $3 billion for the DOJ to fight violent crime, while eliminating 30 DOJ programs deemed duplicative.
o FY27 Presidential Budget Request
- Bondi Removed as Attorney General: President Trump announced the removal of Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday, April 2, naming Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as Acting Attorney General. Bondi’s removal following mounting criticism over her handling of the exodus of veteran prosecutors, the administration’s deportation campaign, and the Epstein files. Bondi is expected to enter the private sector and not remain in the Trump administration.
- Vote by Mail Executive Order: President Trump signed an executive order (EO) directing the Homeland Security Department and the Social Security Administration to create an approved list of absentee voters. The order restricts the U.S. Postal Service to distributing mail-in ballots only to voters on the list, directs the Attorney General to investigate the improper distribution of mail-in ballots, and threatens to withhold federal funds to states that do not comply.
- Trump Address Nation on Iran War: On Wednesday, April 1, President Trump addressed the nation to justify the war with Iran, stating that the operation was “nearing completion” and predicted another two or three weeks of involvement.
The Past Week’s News:
- Senate Majority Leader discusses shutdown and Iran war (NOTUS)
- Judge blocks WH ballroom renovation without congressional approval (POLITICO)
- EPA designates microplastics and pharmaceuticals as leading contaminants in drinking water (NYT)
The Week Ahead:
The Week Ahead 4.6 – 4.10
- The House and Senate are out of session. The Senate returns April 13, and the House returns April 14.
- DHS Funding: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) remains without funding this week as House and Senate Republicans plan a way forward to potentially fund DHS through the regular appropriations process without ICE or CBP funding attached. President Trump signed a memo on Friday ordering DHS employees to be paid, directing the DHS Secretary and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director to “to use funds that have a reasonable and logical nexus to the functions of DHS to provide each and every employee of DHS with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them if not for the Democrat-led DHS shutdown, consistent with applicable law.”
- Reconciliation 2.0: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) are working on a budget reconciliation package to fund ICE and CBP outside of the regular appropriations process. A proposed timeline plans for the Senate to provide a blueprint for a reconciliation package by the end of April, with a bill reaching President Trump’s desk by early June. This was the procedural maneuver by which H.R. 1; the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed in 2025. However, razor-thin margins in the House could complicate passage and any timeline set by Congressional Republicans. Additionally, more conservative members could demand that additional items be included in a second reconciliation package, such as funding for the Iran war, changes to election administration, tax and health provisions, rather than waiting for a third reconciliation package currently under consideration.
- President’s Budget: President Trump’s FY27 budget request received bipartisan pushback after its release last week. Proposed cuts to domestic programs addressing transportation infrastructure, education, housing, and health, along with a historic increase to defense spending, were met with skepticism on Capitol Hill.
- Iran: President Trump will address the nation at 1PM ET today to discuss the war in Iran after threatening the regime again over the weekend.
- OpenAI Industrial Blueprint: OpenAI released a detailed blueprint for how government should tax, regulate, and redistribute the wealth generated from AI. Read it here.
- “Cities Need to Compete”: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called on cities to address business exodus by adjusting local tax and regulatory frameworks in his annual letter to shareholders.
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