Trump is scheduled to host NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House.
President Donald Trump is scheduled on Thursday to meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, hours after the president’s envoy arrived in Moscow to discuss a possible Russia-Ukraine ceasefire.
Fallout continues from Trump’s tariff policy, with new levies slapped on steel and aluminum imports, as well as his administration’s reshaping of the federal government as layoffs begin at the Department of Education.
Meanwhile, shutdown focus moves to the Senate after the House passed a stopgap measure to keep the government funded after Friday’s deadeline.
House GOP passes stopgap funding bill
House Republicans passed a bill to fund the government until the end of September with a 217-213 vote.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted no despite pressure from the president in the form of a primary threat.
Rep. Jared Golden of Maine was the only Democrat who voted with Republicans.
The bill will move to the Senate, where it will require significant bipartisan support to pass before the March 14 shutdown deadline.
Trump touts tariffs’ ‘tremendously positive impact’ at Business Roundtable
President Donald Trump spoke with major business leaders Tuesday evening, touting Elon Musk’s work at the Department of Government Efficiency and the “tremendously positive impact” of his tariffs, claiming more jobs would be created in the United States.
“The tariffs are going to be throwing off a lot of money to this country. And we’ve been ripped off for years by other countries many, many decades,” he said.
Judge greenlights canceling refugee resettlement contracts
The Trump administration can cancel millions of dollars in contracts for refugee resettlement, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday afternoon.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump nominee, denied a request to block the administration from canceling $65 million in contracts between the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the State Department’s U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, determining the court lacked jurisdiction to intervene.
“The Conference’s motion is, at its core, seeking a purely contractual remedy,” McFadden wrote, adding the issue should be resolved in the Court of Federal Claims.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is one of 10 organizations that participates in the public-private partnership administered by the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program to help settle refugees once they enter the country. They received two contracts valued at $65 million this year, which the Trump administration canceled last month.
In denying the motion, McFadden acknowledged the “emotions” associated with the program but insisted the court cannot intervene.
“This Court is but a creature of the trifurcated structure of its Constitution,” he wrote.
-ABC News’ Peter Charalambous
Layoffs at Education Department starting Tuesday night, nearly half expected to be eliminated: Sources
ABC News has learned mass layoffs are expected to start Tuesday night at the Department of Education.
“Reduction in force” notices for the Education Department are expected to go out at 6 p.m. ET, according to two sources.
Nearly half of the department is expected to be eliminated, according to those sources.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott and Arthur Jones II
Trump on whether there will be a recession: ‘I don’t see it at all’
ABC News White House correspondent Karen Travers asked President Donald Trump further about his comments over the weekend about not ruling out a recession and how that played into market volatility these past few days.
“Do you think there will be a recession?” she asked him directly.
“I don’t see it at all. I think this country is going to boom,” Trump said. “But as I said, I can do it the easy way or the hard way. The hard way to do it is exactly what I’m doing. But the results are going to be 20 times greater.”
“Remember: Trump is always right,” he added.
White House says 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum will still go into effect
Even though Ontario backed off on its tariffs on electricity exports, the Trump administration said it is still going forward with its 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum at midnight.
“President Trump has once again used the leverage of the American economy, which is the best and biggest in the world, to deliver a win for the American people. Pursuant to his previous executive orders, a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum with no exceptions or exemptions will go into effect for Canada and all of our other trading partners at midnight, March 12th,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
‘Our country had to do this’: Trump said of tariffs
During his photo op, President Donald Trump was asked about the images of him with expensive Teslas as the stock market continues to see rapid declines.
Trump claimed that other countries needed to pay, which is why the tariffs are necessary.
“I think our country had to do this. We had to go and do this,” he said, adding that he wants to get more jobs back in the country.
Dept. of Education buildings to be closed for ‘security reasons’
U.S. Department of Education employees have been notified their offices in the National Capital Region and regional buildings will be closed for “security reasons” beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, a source with knowldge of the letter told ABC News.
“You must vacate the building by that time,” a department email to employees reads in part, adding, “All ED offices in the NCR and the regions will be closed to employees and contractor employees on Wednesday, March 12th.”
The email also said employees with approved telework agreements may work from home as the department will reopen on Thursday. But some Education Department employees tell ABC News such telework agreements are largely no longer in place. The department’s total workforce returned to its offices in D.C. and regional stations late last month.
“Please take your laptop with you when you depart on Tuesday. Employees will not be permitted in any ED facility on Wednesday March 12th for any reason. All offices will reopen on Thursday, March 13th, at which time in-person presence will resume,” the email said.
The notice comes as President Donald Trump weighs an executive order to shutter the agency. Last week, ABC News reported the executive order signing was pulled due to concerns over questions the administration might get about vital programs that could potentially be gutted by such an order.
-ABC News’ Arthur Jones II
