Good morning! RIP, sleep schedule. RIP, today’s intro. And RIP, daylight saving time? A new Gallup survey shows Americans prefer standard time by a two-to-one margin.

TRUMP

🥊 Is there trouble in Trumpland?

Trouble in paradise? The vandalism at Trump’s golf course in Scotland isn’t the only drama on the scene. Rumors are swirling now that the president’s Cabinet secretaries are tiring of Elon Musk’s influence.

Musk has led many of the administration’s downsizing efforts, which have thus far axed tens of thousands of federal employees. Though courts have rejected some of those moves, other fights are just beginning. Attorneys general for 19 states filed a lawsuit alleging federal employees were fired illegally.

The blowup: But not every department has done its part. At a Cabinet meeting last week, Musk blasted Secretary of State Marco Rubio for being “good on TV” but not firing anybody. This came shortly after Musk got into it with Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy over Duffy's defense of air traffic controllers. Even the secretary of Veterans Affairs jumped into the fray.

• Trump seemed to jump in on the side of his Cabinet secretaries, telling them to keep “all the people you want, everybody that you need” on staff.

• He later complimented both Rubio and Musk and said it was “FAKE NEWS” that the two had anything but a “GREAT RELATIONSHIP."

The president later posted on store brand Twitter Truth Social about the importance of cutting government down to where it "should be," but emphasized that keeping the "best and most productive" people is key to that goal.

• Republicans in Congress are publicly backing the cuts. But many are privately telling White House chief of staff Susie Wiles that they want the Senate-confirmed department heads in charge — not Musk.

Trump plans to host a private meeting with the Cabinet and Musk every two weeks to ensure everything runs smoothly. But it’s clear now that his Cabinet secretaries are tiring of Elon's involvement. Tesla shareholders are, too. Voters, though? A recent CBS News poll says 54% of Americans are all aboard.

Elsewhere… Employees at Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) were offered $25,000 to quit their jobs. DOGE employees are searching the child-support database for “waste, fraud, and abuse.” And spending on all federal credit cards has been frozen for all purchases over $1.

GOVERNMENT

🍎 Columbia University just took a $400 million haircut. The school has been beset by continued anti-Israel, pro-Palestine protests for nearly a year. Now the feds have responded. The Trump administration on Friday canceled the school's grants and contracts after it determined Columbia was in violation of "federal antidiscrimination laws." Education Sec. Linda McMahon said she looks forward to working with the university's president to "protect all students" and Columbia says it's "committed to combatting antisemitism and ensuring the safety" of Jewish students on campus.

⚽️ FIFA President Gianni Infantino was at the White House on Friday while President Trump signed an order creating a task force on the 2026 World Cup. Trump will chair the group while JD Vance will serve as vice chair. The task force will oversee federal preparations for the tournament, which is a security and logistical nightmare. The White House says hosting the World Cup will showcase "national pride" during America’s big 250th anniversary celebration in the summer of 2026.

🥚 Big Egg® might be screwing us. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating whether egg producers are conspiring to keep prices high amid the bird flu outbreak. Consumer groups allege companies are taking advantage of the situation by jacking prices up higher than the market demands. Whether this is a criminal or civil probe isn't yet clear. But the DOJ has asked major egg companies to preserve documents on their pricing decisions.

🪙 Crypto industry insiders are disappointed by the White House's creation of a national "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve." They were hoping bitcoin prices would skyrocket when the U.S. began mass purchases of the O.G. cryptocurrency. Instead, the White House says the stockpile will be made up of coins already owned by the government and those seized as part of criminal or civil investigations.

POLITICS

🏛️ Gavin Newsom steps up, breaks with Dems

Everyone in politics wants to be president and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is no different. He made that a little clearer last week with the launch of his get-to-know-me podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom.” He made it even clearer by using the first episode to break with his party on trans athletes in women’s sports, calling their participation "deeply unfair."

• Newsom got some flack from party activists for the move, but he should be just fine politically.

• Polls show that this move puts him in agreement with a whopping 79% of voters — including two-thirds of Democrats.

President Trump has used this as a wedge issue. His now-famous “Kamala is for they/them” ad was the 2024 campaign’s most effective. Now Senate Democrats are feeling the heat after blocking a Republican bill that would ban trans athletes from women’s sports.

Gov. Harris? Next year's race to replace Newsom is frozen in place as Democrats wait to see whether former VP Kamala Harris will run. She says she'll make up her mind by the end of this summer."

Back in Congress, the House voted to censure Rep. Al Green (D-TX) — no, not that one — after he was kicked out of the House chamber last week for interrupting Trump’s speech to Congress. The censure has no real punishment. But Green was forced to stand on the House floor as the resolution condemning him was read. His allies responded by standing there with him… and singing in protest?

• On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate is poised to confirm ex-Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer as secretary of Labor today.

• That’ll leave Trump’s pick for U.N. ambassador as the final unconfirmed member of his Cabinet.

On a more important note, the House is set to vote early this week on a Trump-backed budget bill to fund the government through the end of the 2025 fiscal year in September. It keeps most current funding in place, leaving any big changes to the 2026 budget they’re already busy writing. Democrats aren’t fans of the few cuts that it does make, however, and some Republicans don’t think it cuts enough.

TRIVIA

RIP Old Mexico. On this day in 1848, the U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to end the Mexican-American War. To the winner go the spoils…. alllll the spoils. Mexico signed over most of the Southwestern U.S. and dropped its claims to Texas, which was already a state. Including Texas, what percentage of its territory did Mexico lose in the Mexican-American War?

Hint: We’re looking for a number with two of the same digit here, like 11 or 99.

WORLD

🇨🇦 Canada gets a new prime minister

Au revoir, Mr. Good Hair. Mark Carney was announced yesterday as the new leader of Canada’s ruling Liberal Party. He won 86% of the 152,000 votes cast by party members. Owing to Canada’s parliamentary system, that means he’ll replace Justin Trudeau as prime minister as soon as today. Carney is an economist who previously led both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.

• Trudeau is stepping down after nearly 10 years in power amid a slow-motion collapse in his popularity.

Carney may not be in charge for long, however. Canadian law requires a new election by October (unrelated to Trudeau’s retirement). Canada’s Conservative Party had looked set to demolish the opposition and take power for the first time since 2015, but their numbers have tanked since the Trump-induced trade spat began last month.

The government can decide to hold that election at any point before the October deadline. Carney might just test his luck now while his opponents are on the rocks to avoid giving them time to recover.

• High risk: He’s only prime minister for one month instead of at least seven.

• High reward: A surprise victory could put him in power for years.

On the trade front, Trump again lifted most tariffs on Canada and Mexico, granting a reprieve until April 2. He credited them for "working hard" to combat fentanyl trafficking.

BRIEFS

● A South Carolina man who murdered two people with a baseball bat became the first U.S. prisoner in 15 years to be executed by firing squad on Friday. He chose the method himself, viewing it as preferable to lethal injection or the electric chair.

● Missouri won a $24 billion federal lawsuit against China’s government over its response to the pandemic. The Chinese embassy says it won't recognize the judgment, but Missouri plans to start seizing Chinese-owned assets in the state (such as farmland).

● Arab nations, led by Egypt, dropped a $53 billion plan that would see Gaza ruled by an independent committee and rebuilt without displacing its residents. European leaders are on board, but the U.S. and Israel prefer Trump's vision of a U.S. takeover.

● Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Saudi Arabia until Wednesday, meeting with Ukrainian officials for more peace talks. Meanwhile, Trump still wants a minerals deal and Russian soldiers launched a sneak attack by creeping through a gas pipeline.

● The Department of Homeland Security has identified two employees who leaked details ahead of immigration enforcement operations. Sec. Kristi Noem said the leakers will be prosecuted and blamed the leaks for lower-than-expected ICE arrest numbers.

QUOTE

ANSWER

Mexico lost control of all or parts of ten U.S. states: California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. All in all, that land made up about 55% of Mexico’s territory. The U.S. was supposed to get even more, but President Polk’s negotiator basically felt bad about the whole situation and gave ‘em back Baja California.