Trump's Major National Security Shake-Up

Happy Thursday and welcome to May! A Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas today ruled that the president unlawfully exceeded his authority in invoking the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed deportations of Venezuelan migrants. The ruling blocks the administration from further deportations under that law in South Texas, dealing a blow to Trump's aggressive and controversial deportation efforts, though the administration can still appeal.

Trump Replaces National Security Adviser Mike Waltz

It took just over 100 days, but President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the first major staffing shake-up of his second term, announcing that he will nominate his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, as U.N. ambassador and have Secretary of State Marco Rubio replace Waltz on an interim basis while continuing as the country's top diplomat. Waltz, a former combat veteran and member of Congress, had reportedly been on the outs since he accidentally added the editor of The Atlantic to a group chat about military operations against the Houthis in Yemen.

"His departure from the White House may also signal the Trump administration's growing wariness of Republicans that belong to the party's neoconservative wing favoring military interventionism," The Washington Post noted. "In recent weeks, Trump purged National Security Council staff aides who reported to Waltz and whom the president deemed out of step with his priorities."

The Post also noted that Waltz's tenure in the job was shorter than anyone else except for Michael Flynn, Trump's first national security adviser in 2017, who lasted less than a month.

The Senate will need to confirm Waltz to his new role.

GM Warns Trump Tariffs Could Cost It Up to $5 Billion

General Motors said Thursday that the tariffs imposed by President Trump over the last few weeks could reduce its earnings by as much as $5 billion this year.

The company cut its profit outlook, telling investors it now expects to earn between $10 billion and $12.5 billion before taxes this year. In guidance provided in January, the company said it expected to earn as much as $15.7 billion in 2025.

The company said it has an exposure to tariffs of $4 billion to $5 billion. GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said the automaker expects to offset at least 30% of its potential tariff costs through "self-help initiatives," and those savings are reflected in the updated earnings projections.

The latest projections incorporate changes made by the Trump administration this week, the company said. Earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order intended to shield domestic automakers by reimbursing some tariff costs and reducing the "stacking" of multiple tariffs on car parts and materials such as steel and aluminum.

GM CEO Mary Barra told CNBC that the company will rely on its existing factories in the U.S. to boost production of components that previously came from foreign sources, rather than building new facilities. "We're going to leverage that footprint that we have because we have the ability to add capacity to many of those plants," she said. "So we can do this efficiently, and it's going to allow us to do this more quickly than if we were going to start with a greenfield."

Poll of the Day: Majority Opposes Medicaid Cuts

As Republicans continue to wrestle with their plans for Medicaid, which could see as much as $880 billion in funding reductions as lawmakers look for ways to offset the costs of a new round of tax cuts, a new poll provides more support for those who are worried about the potential political costs of slashing the healthcare program that benefits millions of low- and middle-income households.

In its monthly tracking poll, taken April 8-15, the nonprofit healthcare foundation KFF found that 76% of respondents are opposed to making major cuts in the federal funding for Medicaid. The majority holds across all partisan groups, including 95% of Democrats and 55% of Republicans. MAGA supporters are more ambiguous, running 49% opposed to 51% supporting, but even that close divide among President Trump's most ardent supporters suggests there is no great pool of support among voters for cutting Medicaid.

ICYMI: Senate Effort to Rebuke Trump on Tariffs Fails

The Senate on Wednesday failed to approve a plan to reject the national emergency President Donald Trump is using as a basis for his tariffs. The measure went down in a 49-49 vote. Two senators who supported it, Republican Mitch McConnell and Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse, were absent. Whitehouse was on his way back from a conference in Korea.

Republican Sens. Rand Paul, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski broke ranks to back the resolution. "Americans have now been ordered to pay higher taxes in the form of tariffs, but without the consent of Congress," said Paul.

Even if it had passed, the resolution would have gone nowhere in the Republican-controlled House, which approved a rule to block a vote on it.

Number of the Day: $800,000

A tractor-trailer carrying $800,000 in dimes reportedly rolled over in an accident on Tuesday morning, spilling the coins all over U.S. 287 in Alvord, Texas, and forcing an hours-long closure of a portion of the highway while workers collected the loose change. "The tractor-trailer appears to be part of the fleet of trucks operated by Western Distributing Transportation Corporation, which has a division that moves cargo for the government in armored vehicles with armed personnel," the Associated Press said. You can see video of the clean-up efforts here. We just thought you might want to know.