Washington, DC

1. Tim Scott bucks up GOP
2. NIH order rethink
3. Stopping ‘superintelligence’
4. A diesel export ban?
5. Poll: Americans warm to China
6. Melania’s moment

Five-year Treasury yields crossed 5% for the first time since 2007 as rising fuel prices drive inflation fears.

Scott invokes 2022 in rallying Senate Republicans

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., gathered Republican senators for a pep talk today before they scatter across the country to fight for their political lives, Semafor’s Burgess Everett scoops. The National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman likened their potential fortunes to those of Democrats in 2022, when then-President Joe Biden was deeply unpopular but Democrats ended up gaining a Senate seat even as they lost the House, according to a person in the room. “We’re in the fight for our lives with a record number of toss-up races,” Scott told his colleagues. Scott also argued that Republicans’ position on the general ballot is improving and that GOP voter enthusiasm for the election has increased 20% in the past two months, citing new polling from Peak Insights.

White House backs off NIH executive order

The Trump administration is backing off its initial plan for an executive order that would give the president greater influence over decision-making on National Institutes of Health grants, Semafor’s David Lim, Burgess Everett, and Shelby Talcott scoop. The move comes after Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, pressured the Office of Management and Budget to abandon the effort outright. Collins said today if the order is issued she will “continue my efforts in the Appropriations Committee to block its implementation.” The White House and NIH declined to comment. The proposed order caused a furor after a Friday meeting where NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and several administration officials, including OMB director Russell Vought, held a lengthy discussion about empowering the White House to involve itself in NIH grants in an effort to curtail diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

Progressive Dems push superintelligence ban

Hill progressives are rolling out new legislation to ban “AI superintelligence,” or AI that exceeds human capabilities. They see it as a top priority for Congress and for potential Democratic presidential candidates. “There’s a sense of urgency. Candidates have got to start talking about it now. They’ve got to talk about it in ’28, and we have to act immediately when Congress returns,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., told reporters today. Both he and lead House sponsor Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, are pushing for immediate action on the legislation, which in addition to banning superintelligence would ban “recursive self-improvement” and stand up a new Cabinet-level agency to oversee AI. Casar said Congress needs to aim bigger with this than with previous proposals in a post-Hugging Face incident environment: “We need to throw out these proposals that would not actually address the scale of the problems.”

— Nicholas Wu

Will Trump ban diesel exports?

Energy Secretary Chris Wright warned this morning that banning diesel exports could backfire, and he told The Wall Street Journal the administration would only consider restrictions. A few hours later, Politico reported that the White House is “preparing a plan to ban exports of diesel for 90 days.” The split-screen reflects the dire political situation for Republicans: Diesel prices have climbed to new record highs day-over-day in the last week, hitting $6.53 today, $2.78 higher than a year ago. Half a dozen Republicans in tight races, including some in farm states, have called for an export ban. But analysts warn that the policy will lead to pileups at refineries and will ultimately raise prices on refined energy products in a matter of weeks — likely right before Election Day.

Americans’ views of China warm ahead of Xi’s visit

A new poll from Pew Research Center shows that Americans’ views of China have warmed in recent years, a welcome sign for Trump as he plans an elaborate welcome for Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Washington today. Xi’s three-day trip will be his first visit to DC in over a decade, and he will be greeted by Trump on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. Behind the pomp are thorny questions about the future of AI, tariffs, and Taiwan. And while more Americans view China warmly, a majority still feel cold towards it. In Washington, not everyone is celebrating Trump’s lavish welcome: Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., criticized the president for inviting Xi, given the “troubling issues” between the US and China.

— Lauren Morganbesser

Melania Trump says president is doing ‘his best’

Melania Trump’s having a moment. This morning, the first lady made a rare appearance on TV, joining Fox & Friends for an interview. “I think he’s doing the best that he can,” Melania Trump said of her husband’s second-term performance, adding that he works “nonstop.” The first lady was asked about several of her initiatives, including connecting with Russia’s Vladimir Putin to help Ukrainian children taken from their families return home. “We have a direct channel with Russia and with Ukraine,” she said, noting that representatives from the East Wing are negotiating the reunifications, which are “ongoing.” Her husband acknowledged her work on the issue during his speech at the United Nations yesterday. Melania Trump also promoted her new summit for female executives, called Imperia, a summit she hopes will become a “Davos for women.”

White House

• White House aides are exploring attaching the president’s name to Ford’s Theater, the playhouse where former President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. — MSNOW

Media

• Paramount is considering asking Elon Musk for an investment, Semafor’s Rohan Goswami scoops.
• MAGA podcasters are talking about Trump a lot less. — WSJ

Campaigns and Elections

• The Cook Political Report said the battle for the Senate is now a true toss-up, shifting three key Senate races in Georgia, Kansas, and South Carolina towards Democrats.
• US states may have added more than 30,000 self-declared non-citizens to voter rolls since 2000 because of software glitches and clerical errors. — Reuters
• Paul LePage, the former Republican governor of Maine running for the state’s open house seat, said ICE is deporting his son’s father-in-law despite having a work permit because “certain people in Washington” don’t like the man’s home country.

Foreign Policy

• The Trump administration invited Russian leader Vladimir Putin to attend the G20 summit in Florida this December.

Congress

• Interim Sen. Alan Armstrong, R-Okla., and Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., who’s running for his seat, are in a tussle about when Hern should be sworn in to replace Armstrong after the election, should Hern win.

Health

• Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accepted $4 million in book advances and more than $270,000 in gifts from supporters of the MAHA movement, according to his financial disclosure forms.
• The Centers for Disease Control confirmed the first measles-related death since Pennsylvania reported deaths to the agency a month ago.

— President Trump to White House ballroom architects, according to The Washington Post.

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:

Burgess Everett, Ashley Gold, Eleanor Mueller, Shelby Talcott, Nicholas Wu, David Weigel, David Lim