Senate Funds Most of DHS, Including Pay for TSA

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The Senate funds most of DHS, putting an end inside to the chaos at airports,

plus the Pentagon, ways sending 10,000 ground troops to the Middle East,

and struggling spirits makers gamble they could be stronger together.

This industry's under siege, and they have to find ways to write the ship.

One way of doing that is to merge in hopes of generating a lot of cost savings,

because right now demand is falling for all sorts of reasons.

It's Friday, March 27. I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal,

and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving our world

today. Senate Republicans and Democrats have agreed to fund most of the Department of Homeland

Security. A staff that could quickly tee up an end to the crisis at airports on the very day

that airport security workers had been sent to miss another paycheck. Congressional reporter

Shavan Hughes is working the late shift on Capitol Hill. Shavan sounds like we've got a deal here

coming in just after 2 a.m. We have a deal, and in fact, the Senate has just passed legislation

to fund the Department of Homeland Security, or at least most of it, which is, on course,

to end this standoff. The expectation is the House picks this up in the next few hours before

President Trump signs the measure into law. Shavan, I knew Democrats had wanted to use this

funding hold up to secure reforms to immigration operations, making sure that officers

wore body cameras, as well as identification that they took off their masks. They also wanted

agents to need judicial warrants before entering homes. Did they get any of that?

And I know you said there that elements of DHS aren't being funded here, which ones?

So what is left out is funding for ICE immigration and customs enforcement, and then border patrol,

a separate function also within the Department of Homeland Security. The Republicans said they are

going to try to fund those two units separately through a special procedural tactic called budget

reconciliation, where they only need a simple majority of the Senate to clear that. And as for

reforms, Democrats did not win any changes to the ways the Trump administration practices,

immigration enforcement, and a Senate majority leader, John Thune, told us that ship has sailed,

and according to him, Democrats can kiss that opportunity. Goodbye.

How is that going over with Democratic leaders and the rank and file?

Democrats, particularly the progressive wing, I think, would see this as a win,

because Democrats are in the minority in Congress. They have no power to do anything,

and basically what they have succeeded in doing is taking a chunk out of the immigration

enforcement budget. And for a party that has really been on its back here, this counts as an

accomplishment of sorts. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader in the meantime, said that he

was proud that his caucus had stuck together and resisted funding for immigration agencies

without significant reforms. And for his part, he said that Democrats would have some opportunities

for such victories ahead. Like what, Shavan, is that likely?

For now, that truly appears to be dead in the water. It does not appear that Democrats have any

avenues to win reforms and to really put a pin in that. Congress is about to go on recess for two

weeks. Shavan, thanks so much for the update. Get some rest. Thank you.

The Pentagon is considering sending up to 10,000 more ground troops to the Middle East

as President Trump weighs his next steps in the Iran War. We report that it's unclear exactly

where the troops would go, but that they'd likely be within striking distance of Iran and

carg island its crucial oil export hub. Iran's UN ambassador in Geneva, Ali Bahraini,

said his country was prepared for any next moves from the U.S.

We are ready for any scenario, including any kind of ground operation. I think that is a place

that we will be able to defeat them. And I think that would be one of the big mistakes

if they take that decision. A spokesman for U.S. Central Command declined to comment,

while a White House press secretary said that troop deployment announcements would come from

the Pentagon and that President Trump always had all military options at his disposal.

Meanwhile, journal politics reporter Sabrina Rodriguez says some misgivings about the war

in Iran were on display yesterday as the conservative political action conference or CPAC

kicked off its annual gathering in Texas. Overwhelmingly in the speeches, there's a focus on

really hyping up the administration. We got to make Iran free again and we're going to make

sure that America stands strong by their side. But in conversations with attendees, especially

younger attendees, something that I've consistently heard is frustrations and anxiety over the state

of the economy, the fact that the administration is focusing so much on foreign affairs particularly

when it comes to the war in Iran. Some are supportive of the President's initial actions,

but even those are worried about this dragging on and really want to see this resolved quickly.

When I heard they were going into that area, I thought it might be a long drawn out thing.

I'm really hoping that it cleans up fast. Now, you know, granted Venezuela, that was a

clean operation in and out, no casualties. But, you know, I know those like rumors or whatnot

that we could be sending suits over to Iran and out to me would not be full of trial.

Sabrina says that President Trump's decision not to attend CPAC for the first time in a decade

has lowered the excitement level at the gathering, but that among Republicans vying for higher office

in November's midterms, his presence was still felt. Beyond CPAC being one of the most prominent

gatherings for a conservative activist, it's an opportunity for Republican elected officials,

Republican candidates to get to test out material, get to, you know, hone in on what are some

of the themes that we're going to be seeing in the upcoming elections. And even with Trump not

being present, so much of the message coming from speakers is really praise on Trump, focus on

Trump alignment with Trump. One speaker, for example, was Michael Wattley, who's the Republican

candidate running for the competitive US Senate seat in North Carolina. And he said he's going to

be aligning himself with President Trump and that that's hugely important to him in his candidacy.

You know, and when you look at elections, good policy is good politics, right? And President Trump's

agenda is really true, the agenda that's driving us right now. CPAC runs through Saturday.

Coming up, Anthropic wins in injunction in its court battle with the Trump administration,

and we'll explore the potential drinks industry tie up between the makers of absolute and jack Daniels.

After the break.

This is not a recommendation or offer to buy sell or retain any specific investment or service.

Anthropic has scored an early victory in its legal fight with the Pentagon after a federal judge

issued an injunction against the Trump administration's designation of the AI company as a

supply chain risk and its ban on government use of its AI models. Judge Rita Lynn of the Northern

District of California said the measures appeared designed to punish Anthropic in its standoff

over military use of AI, describing them as, quote, classic illegal First Amendment retaliation.

The government has indicated it would appeal in injunction. Meanwhile, the Trump administration

is planning to require higher wages for foreign workers coming to the US on skilled worker visas

that are popular with big tech companies under a proposal from the Labor Department

pay floors for foreign workers in the H1B program would rise between 21 and 33% depending on their

experience. Critics have argued that employers have abused the program and other visa categories

by hiring foreign workers that they can pay less than US employees.

In a first for a sitting president, the Treasury Department says that President Trump's

signature will appear on new US paper currency, honoring the country's 250th anniversary later this

year, with its sitting beside the signature of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Typically,

it's the Treasurer's signature that appears on bills alongside the Treasury Secretary.

Elon Musk's SpaceX is expected to file paperwork with regulators for its highly

anticipated IPO in the coming days, targeting a mid-June market debut. We were

warned that the rocket and satellite company is expected to raise between $40 and $80 billion

and that Musk aims to deliver a third or more of shares sold in the offering to individual

investors well above the typical 10%. SpaceX is also planning to give preferential

treatment to investors in Musk's other companies, including Tesla, and to invite would-be investors

to visit manufacturing facilities and possibly witness rocket launches.

As the drinks industry grapples with slowing sales, Paris-based drinks giant Perno Ricard,

and Louisville-based Jack Danielsmaker Brown Foreman aren't talks to merge.

The journal's Ben Dominguez says that the families behind the two companies would likely each

retain significant stakes in any deal, which could be just weeks away. Together, the combined end

he could be worth upwards of $30 billion. That ultimately depends on how the market reacts

to the news that they aren't talks. Last night we saw Perno's stock fall in the US,

whereas we saw Brown Foreman's stock rise, but it just underscores that this industry's

under siege, and they have to find ways to write the ship. One way of doing that is to merge

in hopes of generating a lot of cost savings, because right now demand is falling for all sorts

of reasons. People are tightening their purse strings. They don't want to spend as much money on

premium brands. The tariffs have played a big role. Canada, for example, essentially took all of

US liquor off its shelves because of the Trump tariffs, so it's a tough time for the industry.

And finally, it's about to cost you a little bit more to Netflix and chill.

Man, that joke is old. Netflix is raising prices across all three of its tears, with standard plans

increasing by a dollar, and the monthly cost of its premium package jumping by two. Netflix in

January said it surpassed 325 million paid members and attributed strong Q4 results,

among other things, to increases in prices. And that's it for what's news for this Friday morning.

Additional sound in this episode was from Reuters. Today's show was produced by Hattie Moir.

Our supervising producer was Daniel Bach, and I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal.

We will be back tonight with a new show, otherwise have a great weekend, and thanks for listening.

My mission is to provide marketing insights to our clients that help turn uncertainty into

opportunity. Janice Henderson, investing their brighter future together.