Washington, DC

1. Mideast troop buildup
2. DHS shutdown continues
3. Treasury’s short game
4. LNG hub in Alaska eyed
5. Senators in Taiwan
6. Deposit insurance push
7. CBS’ investigative moves

PDB: New ad boosts Collins in Maine

Senate on recess … NYT: US allows Russian oil tanker to pass Cuba blockade … Brent crude hits $116 a barrel

Trump prepares for ground troops in Iran

The US is ramping up preparations for potential ground troops in Iran as President Donald Trump weighs his next steps. More than 50,000 US troops are in the region — around 10,000 more than normal, according to The New York Times. One Pentagon plan would involve “weeks” of ground operations, The Washington Post reported; another would involve US forces extracting Iran’s uranium, as Semafor reported this month. Trump hasn’t made a final decision, but many close to him see the troop buildup as a sign he is leaning toward authorizing ground forces; Iran’s parliamentary speaker accused Trump of “secretly planning a ground invasion.” The president told reporters late Sunday he was “pretty sure” a deal with Tehran was close and that Iran had allowed 20 more oil ships through the Strait of Hormuz; he also told the FT the US could “take the oil” and seize Iran’s export hub.

— Shelby Talcott

DHS to remain shuttered for weeks

The Department of Homeland Security shutdown will continue for at least two more weeks after lawmakers left town without a deal in sight. After rejecting a Senate-passed bill to fund most of DHS, the House passed its own bill late Friday night to keep the whole department running for just eight weeks. But that bill is dead on arrival in the Senate, where Democrats already vowed to oppose it. Border czar Tom Homan said Sunday on CBS that the administration would continue to deploy ICE agents to airports to assist short-staffed TSA checkpoints “as long as they need us.” Meanwhile, the bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus is working on their own proposal in an effort to break the logjam. Those lawmakers haven’t ruled out using a discharge petition to force their solution to the House floor.

— Nicholas Wu

Can the Treasury still play the short game?

Last October, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ignored complaints from Congress and economists to rush through a $20 billion currency swap with the Central Bank of Argentina, aimed at propping up both the peso and Javier Milei’s wobbling presidency. It was accompanied by none of the deliberation, public discussion of conditions, or political theater. And Bessent’s bet paid off: The pro-US (and pro-Trump) Milei cruised through the election, the peso stabilized, and the US taxpayer turned a tidy profit. It’s a glimpse into Bessent’s Treasury, which has acted swiftly on short-term White House policy goals from Trump Accounts to oil sanctions and more. Bessent’s Treasury is always asking a financial version of Madeleine Albright’s old question about the US military: “What’s the point of having this superb Treasury you’re always talking about, if we can’t use it?”

Trump-linked investor eyes LNG hub

An oil and gas executive with links to the Trump family plans to use equipment from a sanctioned Russian gas project to open a major new export terminal in Alaska, he told Semafor. The massive project, dubbed Polar LNG, will eventually require $8-9 billion in investment, CEO Joel Riddle said. He added that the spike in natural gas prices caused by the Iran war is generating “hurricane-force winds behind us to accelerate this project,” which would facilitate the sale of US gas to Asian markets. Polar LNG is seeking permission from the Treasury Department to buy hardware originally destined for Russia’s Arctic 2 LNG terminal, which was sanctioned by the Biden administration; a Treasury spokesperson declined to comment. One investor, Riddle said, is Gentry Beach, a college friend of Trump’s son Donald Jr., who has been pursuing global energy deals through his firm America First Global.

— Tim McDonnell

Senators visit Taiwan as defense in focus

As Trump focuses on his war plans in the Middle East, a bipartisan group of senators is in Taiwan today to emphasize the importance of the US alliance with the self-governing island. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who is leading the trip, told the Financial Times the lawmakers would encourage Taipei’s leaders to pass a stalled defense spending bill needed to pay for US weapons. Approving the $40 billion defense budget could help Taipei make its case to the Trump administration for security help, as it faces rising threats from China. The senators will also visit Japan and South Korea, as the Iran war strains US alliances in Asia and around the world. And they’ll also stop at US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii for discussions with military leaders about the impact of the Iran war on US forces in the region, per the FT.

Midsize banks’ deposit insurance push

After senators backed off an ambitious expansion of deposit insurance amid pushback from big banks, smaller financial institutions that supported the policy are still urging lawmakers to advance the pared-back version. “I really think that we have something that’s very workable and can ultimately stand up to a lot of the scrutiny that’s already been given,” Jim Ryan, who chairs the Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America, told Semafor. “You’ll continue to see a considerable amount of consolidation in our industry” without it, he argued. “Doing nothing is not really a strategy, right?” Treasury Department officials have signaled they’re on board, people familiar with the talks said — but the House still isn’t sold. House Financial Services Committee Republicans rolled out an array of proposals last week, including one that would direct regulators to simply conduct an analysis.

— Eleanor Mueller

CBS News expands investigative team

CBS News is beefing up its investigative unit in an attempt to build up the network’s original reporting under new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, Semafor’s Max Tani scoops. The investigative unit will look into areas like health, politics, sports, and waste and fraud in government; the network is bringing on a recently laid-off Washington Post staffer, among other names. “We are going to be putting a huge emphasis on scoops,” Weiss said during a CBS News town hall earlier this year. Weiss’ first six months on the job have been marred by ratings struggles and allegations of partisan meddling, particularly after she temporarily held a 60 Minutes story on a notorious Salvadoran prison. The network’s leaders hope new investigative deep-dives will entice online viewers, but they might also be a way to earn journalistic plaudits and sway Weiss-skeptical audiences.

Blindspot: Arrest and protest

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: A former Biden security staffer was arrested in a fatal shooting in San Francisco.

What the Right isn’t reading: Celebrities attended a protest of President Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center late last week. 

International Intrigue gives you the inside word, no security clearance required. Written by former diplomats, it delivers crisp, unbiased analysis of the world’s biggest geopolitical stories as they break. Delivered daily and free in your inbox.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: The Senate Banking Committee is planning to hold the nomination hearing for President Trump’s Federal Reserve chair pick Kevin Warsh as early as the week of April 13, according to two sources familiar.

Playbook: A majority of Americans say the Trump administration has not done enough to “Make America Healthy Again,” according to The POLITICO Poll, including 41% of Trump’s 2024 voters.

WaPo: “The blame game — which, politically, is often how shutdowns are decided — is in full swing.”

Axios: Republicans are considering making cuts to federal health spending to help pay for a $200 billion budget bill to fund the Iran war and immigration enforcement.

White House

• President Trump showed reporters new renders of the White House ballroom, which will have a “military compound” underneath it.
• Vice President Vance told podcaster Benny Johnson he’ll “get to the bottom” of the government’s UFO files, adding that he’s “obsessed.”