Washington, DC

1. Murkowski joins Iran vote
2. Kennedy’s crypto deal
3. Beijing talks begin
4. Dems run on age
5. Warsh confirmed as PPI surges

Ford’s shares ▲ 13% after pledging to repurpose batteries originally meant for EVs into a new energy business.

Third Republican votes against war

Republican opposition to President Donald Trump’s unauthorized war in Iran is growing — slowly. Earlier today, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, for the first time joined Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., in voting to advance a Democrat-authored resolution that would end the US military campaign in Iran unless Congress votes to authorize it. Today’s vote still failed 49-50. The Trump administration insists that the war has stopped under the ceasefire, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress this week that Trump “would have all the authorities necessary” to restart the war if he chooses to. Murkowski doesn’t buy either conclusion. “I think that there is room for reasonable disagreement to that,” she told Semafor, referencing Hegseth’s comments about Trump’s authority. Murkowski said she is still working on an authorization for use of military force resolution for the war but described it as in a “holding pattern.”

— Morgan Chalfant and Burgess Everett

Kennedy deal clears path for crypto bill

A key cryptocurrency bill will soon advance to the Senate floor, now that Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., plans to vote to approve it during tomorrow’s meeting. Kennedy told Semafor’s Burgess Everett he struck a deal with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., to add his amendment on “creating fiduciary duty for people within the crypto world” and his proposal with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to boost grants for communities that build more housing. The Louisiana Republican said talks will continue on adding an ethics provision to the bill on the Senate floor, but a provision won’t be added in committee — a blow to Democrats. Trump’s recent Truth Social post urging the House to pass the Senate’s housing bill makes much more sense now: Kennedy said he met with the president on Monday and “he’s agreed to try to help” with the bill.

Trump begins first round of Beijing talks

Trump is hours away from his first talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing after pledging last night to convince China to “open up” to US firms. The pair will meet at 10 am local time — 10 pm in Washington — in the Great Hall of the People before a bilateral meeting at 10:15 am and a state banquet at 6 pm. Senators said this week they hope the president can boost Chinese purchases of “Boeing, beef and beans”; the White House isn’t ruling out Chinese investment in the US, either. China, meanwhile, is expected to request greater access to US chips in exchange. Trump “may very well offer that,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said. “I do believe that there’s an incentive that we have to maintain the rails.” Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, joined the trip at the 11th hour.

— Eleanor Mueller

Younger Democrats challenge ‘gerontocracy’

Rep. Seth Moulton, 47, finds plenty of ways to say it: Sen. Ed Markey, his Democratic primary opponent, is old. As Semafor’s David Weigel reports after spending time with the Massachusetts Democrat on the campaign trail, Moulton has a respectful version: “There just comes a time to pass the torch.” And a direct version: “I just don’t believe Sen. Markey should be running for another six-year term at 80 years old.” From campaign stops in community town halls to backyard fundraiser barbecues, Moulton is dragging the Democratic Party’s quiet family conversation about age into the light of day, arguing to voters that the stakes of the race are bigger than ideology and speak to the future of the party itself.

Warsh confirmed as wholesale inflation surges

The Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh today as chair of the Federal Reserve, just a few hours after the Labor Department released new data that’ll make it harder for him to deliver on Trump’s demand for interest rate cuts. Prices that businesses pay for goods jumped 1.4% in April, according to the new government data, well past the 0.5% economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had predicted. Overall, the producer price index reached 6%, above the 4.8% Bloomberg had estimated. Key categories in the index are used to calculate the Fed’s preferred inflation metric, which hit 3.5% in March — well above the central bank’s goal of 2%. Boston Federal Reserve Chair Susan Collins even raised the specter of a rate hike if inflation doesn’t fall.

On Wednesday, May 20, Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., will join Semafor for the Banking on the Future Forum.

The global financial landscape is evolving at a pace unseen in previous years, propelled by the adoption of new technologies and rapid innovation. As Washington’s regulatory approach evolves, new opportunities are emerging, but questions remain around how these policy shifts will impact the industry and how consumers access services.

Semafor editors will host on-the-record conversations with Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee; Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., House Majority Whip and Vice Chairman, House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence; Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wisc., Chairman, House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Artificial Intelligence; and other industry leaders on how policy and technology are shaping the future of finance.

Join us as we examine how evolving regulations are shaping innovation and what they signal for the future of financial technology.

May 20 | Washington, DC | Request Invitation

White House

• President Trump is considering pardoning 250 people to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s founding. — WSJ
• Eric Trump has joined his father on the state trip to China as the Trump family explores a deal to build data centers in the US with a Chinese chip maker that members of Congress warn has ties to the Chinese Communist Party. — FT
• The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general launched a probe into former Secretary Kristi Noem’s $38 billion warehouse-to-detention-center conversion program. — WSJ
• Vice President JD Vance is planning to give an ultimatum to states — confront fraud, or risk losing federal Medicaid funding. — WSJ

Congress

• The House must consider a Ukraine aid bill now that a discharge petition led by Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., acquired 218 signatures.
• William Paul, son of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., lobbed antisemitic insults at Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., last night at a Capitol Hill bar in front of a reporter. — NOTUS
• Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., Mike Turner, R-Ohio, Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., are introducing a bill, shared first with Semafor, that would direct the federal government to collect its first data on the so-called sandwich generation, or Americans who care for parents and children, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller reports.

Campaigns

• Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is the biggest donor in the midterm elections, with more than $115 million in disclosed federal contributions so far. — NYT
• Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is convening a special session of the state legislature in June to redraw state electoral maps ahead of 2028.

Courts

• Federal judges have ruled against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in nearly 10,000 detention cases since last July, a losing rate of about 90%. — Politico
• The FBI has assembled a team, internally called the “payback squad,” made of agents willing to pursue political targets of President Trump. — NOTUS

Health

• US drug overdoses declined in 2025 for a third consecutive year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

World

• Gunshots were fired in the Senate of the Philippines today after a top ally of the country’s former leader said police were coming to arrest him.
• Saudi fighter jets bombed targets linked to Iranian-backed militias in Iraq during the Iran war. — Reuters

Correction

A previous edition of this newsletter misstated that Frank Garcia had been confirmed as assistant secretary of state for African affairs. His nomination cleared a procedural hurdle in the Senate on Monday.

— Vice President JD Vance on staying home while President Donald Trump and most of his inner circle travel to China.

Laura McGann, editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor, and Morgan Chalfant, Washington briefing editor

Graph Massara and Lauren Morganbesser, copy editors

Contact our reporters: