Morgan Chalfant

@semafor Washington briefing editor. Previously @thehill. Retweets are not endorsements. Reach me at [email protected] or DM for Signal

[Eleanor Mueller @Eleanor_Mueller]

News: Trump could sign an executive order on housing affordability as soon as 3 PM today, I'm told.

ICYMI, we scooped this AM that officials were at odds over how to proceed: https://t.co/9AFTLDffcG

A draft seen by Semafor would make it easier for some homeowners to cancel their mortgage insurance; create an interagency task force on manufactured housing; allow more homeowners to refinance without title insurance; and direct the Agriculture and VA departments to lower interest rates for single-family home loans.

@ScotsmanGuide first reported the talks.

[Ben Smith @semaforben]

Everybody loves state capitalism, @Eleanor_Mueller reports https://t.co/pdXz9yUv6E

[Eleanor Mueller @Eleanor_Mueller]

NEW: It'd be legally and politically difficult to wind down the Trump administration's equity stakes — but don't expect Democrats to try.

Former administration officials floated using them to rein in AI; shrink defense spending; box out China; and more.

"We're through the looking glass," one told me. https://t.co/4hVezJ6JOv

[Ashley Gold @ashleyrgold]

Read @Eleanor_Mueller always

[Elana Schor @eschor]

If you’re wondering how Mississippi entered the Senate map discussion, you’ve simply gotta read @burgessev, who was onto this race in MARCH.

https://t.co/kCw0YuFxSG

[Ashley Gold @ashleyrgold]

NEW from me:

Meta tops Big Tech lobbying as AI labs talk antitrust --Both OpenAI and Anthropic list antitrust and information-sharing among labs as topics discussed w/ lawmakers in Q3 2026

Anthropic specifically lobbied on the Banks/Schiff AI security information-sharing bill, OpenAI's form mentions antitrust protections but isn't specific

Remember Amodei pushed for antitrust protections on pacing while Chris Lehane later said that would not be necessary

https://t.co/JAevw1XWvc

[Semafor @semafor]

“It is my belief that we need to use economic firepower to help drive [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to the table,” Sen. Katie Britt told Semafor in Des Moines today. “I believe that Russia is at the darkest point that they’ve been at in this entire war, and now is the time for us to turn up the pressure.”

Read more from @burgessev and @mchalfant16: https://t.co/bxZgZqPYEK

[Burgess Everett @burgessev]

Republicans really don’t like the Russia sanction waivers

Sen. Britt told me after this Hinson event that

“It is my belief that we need to use economic firepower to help drive [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to the table … I believe that Russia is at the darkest point that they’ve been at in this entire war, and now is the time for us to turn up the pressure.”

https://t.co/GsEV5QGYbv

@mchalfant16

[Eleanor Mueller @Eleanor_Mueller]

You read it first in @Semafor: https://t.co/2AQcIabWtE

[Burgess Everett @burgessev]

News: Former Sen. Joe Manchin will campaign with GOP Sen. Susan Collins this week in Maine

Manchin said his visit is motivated by the attacks on Collins for voting too often in support of President Donald Trump: He said his trip is dedicated to “debunking” the idea that she’s been an enabler for Trump:“She is not a Trump senator"

Expect a lot of talk about their bipartisan work together on covid $, infrastructure and Electoral Count Act

Collins: "We need more people in the Senate, not fewer, who are willing to put partisanship aside, listen to one another, and deliver results"

https://t.co/pfFQ9RCmxI

[Ashley Gold @ashleyrgold]

Scoop: What the Super Intelligence task force did at its first meeting

What's new:

-It will commission a report from PCAST to evaluate AI risk for cyber and critical infrastructure protection, biosecurity and model control
-It will make a working group to implement the accord the AI CEOs signed
-Emil Michael to lead effort developing protocol for labs to tell the gov't about breaches
-New law enforcement and consumer protection coordination committee w/ DOJ and FTC
-Scott Kupor to work on critical infra protection & assessing AI impact on jobs/economy

https://t.co/g9S3lCVDxo

[Burgess Everett @burgessev]

Meanwhile, GOP Sens. Cramer and Wicker just met with Zelenskyy in Ukraine

Cramer: “Meeting with President Zelenskyy and hearing from young Ukrainians who escaped Russian-occupied territories was a powerful reminder of what is at stake. We must stand with Ukraine”

[Nicholas Wu @nicholaswu12]

In the inbox: Ocasio-Cortez to Travel to Ohio

Campaign says she’s going to support Rep. Emilia Sykes

[Nicholas Wu @nicholaswu12]

New - House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries + Dem leadership are taking a hands-off approach as Dems mount challenges to committee leaders, multiple ppl tell me & @Eleanor_Mueller

Instead, they're focused on the midterms:
https://t.co/HCTHo04FWH

[Ben Smith @semaforben]

Great snapshot from @ShelbyTalcott of White House deliberations and divisions on sharing intelligence with Ukraine https://t.co/82F1qlkKKe

[Burgess Everett @burgessev]

Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., told @StevenTDennis at the Capitol just now that Trump has "got energy security and economic security front of mind right now. He's focused on Americans first”

Asked if it's a wise policy given Russia's attacks on Ukraine, Hagerty said “we've got a number of sanctions in place and a number of efforts to bring Putin into alignment”

[Burgess Everett @burgessev]

Sen. Shaheen leads statement on Trump’s Russia oil sales deal with GOP Sens. Collins, Murkowski, Curtis and Tillis and Dem Sens. Blumenthal and Wyden

“The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians. The Administration must immediately reverse course.”

[Shelby Talcott @ShelbyTalcott]

New: Trump no longer attending the Alabama - Georgia football game on Saturday, a WH official tells me.

(No reason given, though Alabama is expected to be hit by the incoming hurricane)

[Burgess Everett @burgessev]

Big story from Nick. House Dems making Hegseth their primary impeachment target if they win the majority

[Elana Schor @eschor]

Could the FTC, whose chair is on Trump's AI task force — and has also taken big tech companies to court — be *seriously* pursuing its probe of frontier labs?

@ashleyrgold has some answers and a look at the challenges ahead.

https://t.co/uM5Yit643r