Vulnerable House Republicans are on defense amid the fallout from President Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, which have stoked uncertainty about the economy.
Markets took a nosedive Thursday following Trump’s announcement of a general 10 percent tariff on goods imported to the U.S., along with other targeted tariffs on various U.S. trading partners. The financial environment was not much better Friday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2,200 points and the S&P 500 lost 10 percent over the course of two days.
On Sunday, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett defended Trump’s sweeping global tariffs that have stoked concerns about the United States economy.
During a Sunday interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Hassett said he doesn’t believe there will be a “big effect on the consumer in the U.S.,” noting that more than 50 countries are also “coming to the table” to negotiate.
A part of his expansive package of new tariffs, Trump levied taxes on a number of uninhabited or sparsely populated islands that have little-to-no exports.
Among those affected are the Heard Island and McDonald Islands, situated in the southern Indian Ocean southwest of Australia. The volcanically active subantarctic islands were slapped with a 10 percent tariff.
The Hill’s Headlines – April 6, 2025
On Sunday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said those are intended to guard against loopholes.
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“Look, the idea is that there are no countries left off,” he said.
“What happens is, if you leave anything off the list, the countries that try to basically arbitrage America go through those countries to us,” he continued.
He pointed to China’s response to Trump’s tariffs in 2018 as an example, saying, “They just built through other countries, through America.”
Republican Senators made strides towards advancing a budget reconciliation package this week that would include expanding the leader’s 2017 tax cuts and, bolstering border security and increased defense spending.
Democrats presented several objections through amendments, which were all struck down, leaving concerns about potential cuts to social services amid the financial reordering. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) will likely share the party’s perspective on the events that played out on the floor during the wee hours of Saturday morning during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) and Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) are set to appear on NewsNation “The Hill Sunday,” where they will likely talk about these topics and more.
Read the full Sunday shows lineup here and follow along below for the latest updates.
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AN HOUR AGO
Trump says he hopes Sununu runs for Senate in New Hampshire
BRETT SAMUELS
President Trump said Sunday that he met with former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) about a potential Senate bid and that he hopes Sununu launches a campaign.
“He came to my office, came to the Oval Office, and met with Chris Sununu, and I support him fully. I hope he runs,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “He’s been very nice to me over the last year or so, but no, I hope he runs. I think he’ll win that seat.”
Read the whole story here.
AN HOUR AGO
Trump defends tariffs as markets plunge: ‘I don’t want anything to go down’
TARA SUTER
President Trump on Sunday defended his sweeping tariffs amid plunging markets, saying he did not “want anything to go down.”
“When you look at the trade deficit we have with certain countries, with China it’s a trillion dollars,” Trump told reporters traveling with him on Air Force One as he returned from Florida to Washington, D.C. on Sunday evening.
Read the whole story here.
3 HOURS AGO
Bill Ackman warns Trump to call a time-out on trade war: ‘This is not what we voted for’
ISWANSON
Billionaire hedge fund investor Bill Ackman, who endorsed President Trump last year, is offering a stark warning about the risks of the White House’s tariff plans, arguing it could cause the economy to collapse while hurting Trump supporters the most.
“Business is a confidence game. The president is losing the confidence of business leaders around the globe. The consequences for our country and the millions of our citizens who have supported the president — in particular low-income consumers who are already under a huge amount of economic stress — are going to be severely negative,” he wrote.
Read the whole story here.
3 HOURS AGO
Netanyahu arrives in Washington area
ISWANSON
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived at Andrews Air Force Base. The photo above is courtesy of the Israeli Prime Minister’s office.
3 HOURS AGO
Stock futures drop sharply; Jim Cramer warns of new ‘Black Monday’
IAN SWANSON
U.S. stock futures dropped sharply on Sunday evening as markets continued to signal a sell-off in the wake of President Trump’s massive reciprocal tariffs on trading partners.
Dow Jones futures were down more than 1,700 points on Sunday evening at 6 p.m., pointing to what could be a disastrous day on Wall Street when markets open Monday morning at 9:30 a.m.
4 HOURS AGO
Bessent: ‘More than 50 countries’ approached administration to lower tariffs’
TARA SUTER
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed Sunday that “more than 50 countries” have approached the Trump administration to bring down “non-tariff trade barriers,” reduce tariffs, and halt “currency manipulation” on their side.
“More than 50 countries have approached … the administration about lowering their non-tariff trade barriers, lowering their tariffs, stopping currency manipulation,” Bessent said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to moderator Kristen Welker.
Read the whole story here.
5 HOURS AGO
RFK Jr. consoles Texas family: MMR vaccine ‘most effective’ way to stop measles spread
SARAH FORTINSKY
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine as the “most effective” way to prevent the spread of measles during a visit to Texas with the family of an 8-year-old girl who died from the disease.
“I came to Gaines County, Texas, today to comfort the Hildebrand family after the loss of their 8-year-old daughter Daisy,” Kennedy said in a post on the social platform X. “My intention was to come down here quietly to console the families and to be with the community in their moment of grief.”
Read the whole story here.
5 HOURS AGO
Trump officials defend tariffs amid market, conservative unrest
ISWANSON
Trump administration officials fanned out across the media talk shows on Sunday to defend tariffs imposed by the president on just about every country on Earth.
The reciprocal tariffs were long promised by President Trump, who feels the U.S. has been ripped off by trading practices of friends and foes that have run trade deficits with the United States.
Read the full story here.
6 HOURS AGO
Federal judge in scathing decision calls Trump deportation of El Salvador man ‘wholly lawless’
ISWANSON
A federal judge in a scathing decision on Sunday said the Trump administration had no legal grounds to arrest, detain and deport an El Salvador national from the United States to a prison in his home country, saying the decision was “wholly lawless.”
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in a 22-page decision ordered the Department of Homeland Security and Sec. Kristi Noem to return Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to the United States.
Read the full story here.
7 HOURS AGO
Bacon: Russia and China are ‘laughing at us’ after NSA director firing
SARAH FORTINSKY
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a moderate Republican, slammed President Trump’s decision to fire the director of the National Security Agency (NSA) and his top deputy after demands from far-right influencer Laura Loomer, saying Sunday that China and Russia are “laughing at us” after that decision.
“I will tell you, this puts us back. It hurts us,” Bacon said in an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.”
Read the full story here.
7 HOURS AGO
Schiff criticizes Democrats for ‘not thinking big’ or ‘acting big’
SARAH FORTINSKY
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Sunday urged Democrats to be bolder in their approach to winning over voters, saying in an interview that his party has been guilty of not “thinking big” or “acting big.”
In an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” moderator Kristen Welker asked Schiff about a moment from Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-N.J.) historic marathon Senate floor speech when he said his own party “has made terrible mistakes and gave a lane to this demagogue,” referring to President Trump, adding, “I confess we all must look in the mirror and say we will do better.”
“I definitely agree with him,” Schiff told Welker. “I think we were guilty of not thinking big and not acting big.”
Schiff said, in a sense, his party could take a note out of their political opponents’ playbook.
Read the full story here.
8 HOURS AGO
Bessent calls tariffs ‘a one-time price adjustment’
SARAH FORTINSKY
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that President Trump’s tariffs are a “one-time price adjustment,” which he stressed is different from continuous price increases caused by inflation.
In an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” moderator Kristen Welker asked Bessent about remarks from last January, when Bessent wrote, “Tariffs are inflationary.”
“Have you expressed any concerns to President Trump directly that his tariff policy could be inflationary?” Welker asked.
“No, what I have said are tariffs are a one-time price adjustment,” Bessent told Welker.
Read the full story here.
8 HOURS AGO
Lutnick says Trump tariffs on uninhabited islands prevent other countries from using ‘loopholes’
SARAH FORTINSKY
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday defended President Trump’s tariffs even against uninhabited islands, saying they are intended to guard against loopholes.
In an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” moderator Margaret Brennan asked why uninhabited territories, like the Heard and McDonald Islands, were included on the list that Trump displayed in the Rose Garden, noting they “don’t export to the United States and are quite literally inhabited by penguins.”
“Why do they face a 10 percent tariff? Did you use AI to generate this?” Brennan added.
“No. No,” Lutnick said. “Look, the idea is that there are no countries left off.”
“What happens is, if you leave anything off the list, the countries that try to basically arbitrage America go through those countries to us,” he continued.
Read the full story here.
9 HOURS AGO
Schiff: ‘If we head into a recession, it will be the Trump recession’
RACHEL SCULLY
Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Trump is “wrecking the economy,” adding that if the U.S. heads into a recession, it will be known as the “Trump recession.”
During an appearance on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” Schiff was asked by host Kristen Welker about Trump’s assurance that his global tariffs will create an “economic revolution.”
“I don’t agree with any part of that,” he said of Trump’s statement. “And unfortunately, he’s wrecking our economy.”
“I hope and pray we stay out of recession,” he added. “But if we head into a recession, it will be the Trump recession.”
Schiff also said images of Trump golfing while “people have seen their retirement savings on fire” will be “the most enduring image of the Trump presidency.”
Read the full story here.
9 HOURS AGO
Liccardo says Bondi ‘undermining’ DOJ prosecutors’ aim to ‘do justice’
SARAH FORTINSKY
Rep. Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.), a former prosecutor, said Attorney Gen. Pam Bondi is “undermining” the “fundamental professional ethic” at the Justice Department that says DOJ prosecutors are meant to “do justice.”
In an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” anchor Chris Stirewalt asked the California Democrat about reports that the DOJ is “getting rid of prosecutors that don’t want to take the hard line on immigration” that is embraced by Bondi and the Trump administration.
Read the full story here.
9 HOURS AGO
GOP rep says tariff power ‘belongs in the Congress’
ELVIA LIMON
Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), who represents a swing district, said on Sunday he is inclined to support a bill to restore tariff power to Congress.
In an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” anchor Chris Stirewalt noted a fellow moderate Republican, Rep. Don Bacon (Neb.), is said to be drafting a companion bill to the Senate’s, which would give Congress more authority on tariffs.
“It probably is,” Valadao said when asked whether he could support such a bill. “I need to take a little bit better look at it.
“I’ve already heard the speaker’s… not supportive of it, obviously, but it is something that should be considered,” he continued. “I’ve always been someone who supports giving power back to the Congress, the way our founding fathers originally designed.”
“And this is one of those powers that belongs in the Congress, and we should be looking at that in, I think, a very serious manner,” he added.
Read the full story here.
10 HOURS AGO
Valadao ‘uncomfortable’ using ‘accounting gimmick’ to extend tax cuts
SARAH FORTINSKY
Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) said on Sunday he is “uncomfortable” using the “current policy” budget baseline to extend the 2017 tax cuts without accounting for it in the deficit.
In an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” anchor Chris Stirewalt asked whether Valadao is “okay” with the “idea of the accounting gimmick.”
“I’m uncomfortable with it because I think the precedent is important to keep,” the swing-district Republican said, “and it’s important for us to always acknowledge that we have to take responsibility and take accurate representation of what our numbers are.”
“And it’s a frustrating thing, but with our slim majorities, I think they’re looking for any avenue to get the tax bill across the line,” he added.
10 HOURS AGO
GOP Sen. Marshall: ‘End of the day, I do want zero tariffs’
SARAH FORTINSKY
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kans.) on Sunday touted President Trump’s tariff plan but said he ultimately would want the country to get to a place where the only tariffs are reciprocal in nature.
In an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday,” Marshall was asked whether the ultimate goal would be closer to Elon Musk’s idea of absolute free trade or whether the goal would be always to keep tariffs in place to protect U.S. domestic industries.
“Well, I want my cake and eat it too, as well,” Marshall said. “So I want to bring the jobs back to America. End of the day, I do want zero tariffs.”
“So yes, short-term pain, long-term gain,” he added. “Bring the jobs back, and then get to true, free, reciprocal tariffs.”
10 HOURS AGO
Booker slams Trump tariffs
RACHEL SCULLY
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) slammed the Trump administration, saying he has never seen an administration “do something so monumentally wrong and that so staggeringly hurts American people.”
During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Booker, who last week gave a record-breaking 25-hour speech aimed at combating Trump’s moves in the White House, was asked about National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett’s defense of the president’s sweeping global tariffs.
On Sunday, Hassett said he doesn’t believe there will be a “big effect on the consumer in the U.S.,” noting that over 50 countries are also “coming to the table” to negotiate.
Booker heavily criticized the tariffs and “the chaos he has unleashed on America.”
Read the full story here.
10 HOURS AGO
Walz says Trump ‘not wrong’ that manufacturing has been ‘gutted’ but tariffs ‘not the solution’
SARAH FORTINSKY
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said on Sunday that President Trump is “not wrong” in identifying the gutting of the manufacturing industry as an issue, but said the president is wrong about tariffs as the solution.
“Here’s the thing that the Democrats have to figure out. Donald Trump’s language around this, he’s not wrong that we have had manufacturing gutted. He’s not wrong that we saw an outshoring. People of my generation were told there aren’t going to be any manufacturing jobs, so you need to go to college and rack up student loan debt,” Walz said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“The problem is, Donald Trump’s solution to this is not the solution,” Walz added.
Read the full story here.
10 HOURS AGO
Rollins rejects EU concerns over US hormones in pork: ‘Absolute bull’
SARAH FORTINSKY
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins suggested on Sunday that the European Union is using “fake science” to back up concerns over hormone use in the United States livestock to justify its restrictions on U.S. pork imports.
Rollins, in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” defended President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs announced this past week, slamming trade partners, including the EU, for imposing certain restrictions.
Read the full story here.
11 HOURS AGO
Rollins dodges questions on whether Trump tariffs are ‘here to stay’: ‘A lot to be determined’
SARAH FORTINSKY
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins repeatedly on Sunday sidestepped questions about whether President Trump’s tariffs are “here to stay,” as the president has suggested, or whether the United States is open to negotiating with other countries.
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Rollins defended Trump’s tariff strategy broadly when CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked how long she expects “this tariff chaos is going to be going on? 30 days? 60 days? 90 days?”
Rollins said Trump’s tariffs marked the beginning of a “new American order, the new American economic plan,” which has only generated two days of economic data.
“So I think we’ll see in short order a really positive outcome from this. We already have 50, five- zero, 50 countries that have come to the table over the last few days, over the last weeks, that are willing and desperate to talk to us. We are the economic engine of the world, and it’s finally time that someone, President Trump, stood up for America,” she responded.
Read the full story here.
12 HOURS AGO
Trump economic adviser defends tariffs: Not ‘big effect’ on US consumer
RACHEL SCULLY
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett defended President Trump’s sweeping global tariffs that have stoked concerns about the United States economy.
During a Sunday interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Hassett said he doesn’t believe there will be a “big effect on the consumer in the U.S.,” noting that over 50 countries are also “coming to the table” to negotiate.
“So the fact is, the countries are angry and retaliating — and, by the way, coming to the table,” he said. “I got a report from the [U.S. Trade Representative] last night that more than 50 countries have reached out to the president to begin a negotiation, but they’re doing that because they understand that they bear a lot of the tariff.”
“I don’t think that you’re going to see a big effect on the consumer in the U.S., because I do think that the reason why we have a persistent long-run trade deficit is these people have very inelastic supply,” Hassett added.
