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Trump's signature issue is at the center of the fight over his agenda in Congress: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, our Capitol Hill team breaks down the latest on where the battle over Donald Trump’s legislative agenda stands among Republicans in Congress. Plus, while New York City Mayor Eric Adams scored a big legal victory, Steve Kornacki notes that his political standing is still on shaky ground as he seeks another term.

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— Adam Wollner

Trump's signature issue is at the center of the fight over his agenda in Congress

House and Senate Republicans remain on a collision course over Donald Trump’s agenda. And the president’s signature issue is at the center of it.

Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan and budget director Russ Vought trekked to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to meet with Senate Republicans, Sahil Kapur, Melanie Zanona, Kate Santaliz and Frank Thorp V report. The message? “More money, more success,” Homan said afterward.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, said the administration is asking for an additional $175 billion to fund its immigration crackdown and mass deportation plans.

“Tom Homan said, ‘I am begging you for money,’” Graham told reporters. “Russ Vought said that, ‘We’re running out of money for [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. We can’t rob other accounts any longer.’”

Graham has used this to support his two-bill strategy for Trump’s agenda: Work on one bill now dealing with the border, defense and energy, and then turn to another dealing with extending Trump’s 2017 tax cut law. He plans to mark up and vote on a budget resolution for the first set of issues Wednesday and Thursday.

But House Republicans are forging ahead with their own markup Thursday on a budget resolution that includes the tax overhaul in addition to the border and other policy areas. House GOP leaders want to move forward with one bill, fearing that the parts that are left out in the first package will fail to get enough support later in the year, given their tiny majority.

“To my friends in the House: We’re moving because we have to. I wish you the best. I want ‘one big, beautiful bill’ — but I cannot, and I will not go back to South Carolina and justify not supporting the president’s immigration plan,” Graham said. “We’re not building a wall, folks. We’re hitting a wall. They need the money, and they need it now.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson and his allies hadn’t released the text of the budget resolution as of late Tuesday afternoon as Johnson struggles to unify his fractious conference around a massive package. The far-right House Freedom Caucus is skeptical of Johnson’s one-bill strategy, instead proposing its own two-track process that tackles immigration money first.

Even once they settle the one bill vs. two bills debate, Republicans still have a long road ahead: Congress cannot officially begin work on a reconciliation package until both the House and Senate pass identical budget resolutions.

Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to “coordinate and consult” with DOGE to cut jobs and limit hiring, giving Elon Musk more power over the federal workforce.
Marc Fogel, a 63-year-old American teacher who was held by Russia for three and a half years, has been released and is on his way back to the U.S., the White House said.
A senior official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency instructed subordinates to freeze funding for a wide array of grant programs Monday, just hours after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration — for the second time — to stop such pauses.
Trump warned “all hell is going to break out” if Hamas does not release “all” the remaining hostages this week, putting the ceasefire in Gaza at risk.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II said he would take in 2,000 Palestinian children from Gaza who are very sick in response to Trump’s plan to resettle the residents of the war-torn strip.
The Trump administration has asked the FBI for a list of probationary employees and individual justifications for keeping anyone who has been at the bureau for less than two years.
Trump announced he is sending Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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Eric Adams’ legal problems are on pause. His political problems aren’t.

By Steve Kornacki

He’s no longer facing federal corruption charges, but Mayor Eric Adams’ political standing in New York City remains dire as he pursues a re-election bid this year.

A PIX11/Emerson College poll taken just last week didn’t just test the city’s mayoral race; it tested two distinct scenarios for the June Democratic primary. In the first, Adams registered just 16% support against a field of lesser-known Democratic rivals, with the majority of voters casting about for another option.

The second polling scenario added former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been teasing a potential mayoral bid, into the mix.

With his broad name recognition and favorable ratings among Democratic primary voters, Cuomo gobbles up 33% support, with Adams a distant second at 10% and the others all in single digits. Strikingly, Adams, whose deep support among Black voters propelled him to victory in the 2021 Democratic primary, doesn’t fare significantly better with Black voters than with any other group — a finding consistent with other New York polling.

And there are potential barriers for Adams as he tries to build new support. Only 29% of Democratic primary voters say they have a favorable view of him and only about one-quarter want the federal charges against him dropped.

While the poll is certainly encouraging for Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021, he will face renewed scrutiny and criticism from the press and his opponents over the scandals that forced him from office if he enters this race. And as the other, non-Adams candidates hit the airwaves, Cuomo’s name recognition advantage will diminish. Plus, this will be the second mayoral race run under New York City’s ranked choice system, which can hinder a particularly polarizing candidate.

Outside of New York City’s Democratic primary universe, there is equally little enthusiasm for Adams. Adams isn’t just significantly less popular than Cuomo — several recent polls have shown President Donald Trump getting equal or better numbers than Adams in New York City.

Part of that is due to improved standing for Trump compared to past years. With dramatic growth in support from nonwhite voters — in particular Hispanic and Asian American voters — Trump only lost New York City by 38 points to Kamala Harris in November, down from a 53-point drubbing against Joe Biden in 2020.

🗞️ Today’s other top stories

⚖️ In the courts: Steve Bannon pleaded guilty on a fraud charge in a case alleging he helped defraud donors who were giving money to build a wall at the southern U.S. border. Read more →
📝 The purge: Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the Justice Department's inspector general accusing FBI director nominee Kash Patel of secretly orchestrating the firings of officials at the agency, even though he testified to the panel that he was not aware of any such plan. Read more →
🥶 Frosty reception: Military families protesting the Pentagon’s anti-DEI push heckled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on his arrival at United States European Command headquarters in Germany. Read more →
🤝 We have a deal: After weeks of war between the Florida governor and leaders in his own party, state Republicans have reached a deal on new legislation to help implement Trump's immigration agenda. Read more →
👀 2026 watch: Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland launched her campaign for governor of New Mexico. She would be the first Native American woman to be elected governor of a state if she wins. Read more →