Washington, DC

1. DHS shutdown to continue
2. Dems want Cherfilus-McCormick gone
3. Vought’s CFPB huddle
4. Rubio updates G-7
5. ‘No Kings’ goes anti-war
6. Trump to speak to Saudis

Brent crude ▲ 55.6% since the start of the Iran war.

Shutdown set to drag on after House GOP rejects Senate deal

The shutdown snarling airport security lines is likely to drag on, now that House Republicans plan to vote for their own funding bill, rather than a deal passed by the Senate early this morning. The Senate bill would fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, except for ICE and parts of Border Patrol, for the rest of the fiscal year. The House GOP bill would fund all of DHS, but for only eight weeks. Even if a vote comes quickly, the bill is a nonstarter with Senate Democrats, and senators have left town for a two-week Easter recess, anyway. President Trump had said he would sign the Senate’s bill, according to people familiar with the matter. But Speaker Mike Johnson said later in the day Trump also understands what the House is trying to do. President Donald Trump’s announcement that he’d pay TSA workers using last year’s megabill could blunt some of the shutdown pain.

— Nicholas Wu and Burgess Everett

Dems want Cherfilus-McCormick gone

Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., is losing support from her own party after a House panel found her guilty of 25 ethics violations today. “You can’t crime your way into legitimate power,” Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., wrote on social media. Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted last year on charges that she stole millions of dollars in disaster relief funds. The ethics process wraps in April, and House Republicans are likely to move then to expel her. “We’ve got to have some clarity here on if she’s either going to step down or if there’s going to be some sort of vote,” said Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich. Beyond the public calls, many in the caucus privately say it’s time for her to go, making a vote likely to succeed. Cherfilus-McCormick said in a statement she wasn’t resigning and that she would “look forward to proving my innocence.”

— Nicholas Wu

Vought huddles on CFPB’s ‘path forward’

Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russ Vought huddled with House Financial Services Committee Republicans Friday morning, four lawmakers told Semafor. The lawmakers said they discussed opportunities to rein in that agency without shuttering it, including establishing greater congressional oversight. A federal judge recently ruled the CFPB must continue to request its funding from the Federal Reserve. “Everyone’s sober about what the path forward is for now,” Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., said. “Obviously, there’s a role the CFPB plays, so if they were to go away — which is not likely to happen in the current environment — there would still be a regulatory obligation there.” Members specifically pressed Vought on completing rulemakings on data collection, open banking, small-dollar lending and disparate-impact claims across the finish line, another lawmaker said. A spokesperson for Vought, who also helms the Office of Management and Budget, did not comment.

— Eleanor Mueller

Rubio predicts war will end in ‘weeks not months’

At a G-7 meeting in France, Secretary of State Marco Rubio hit on the key tension between the White House’s interest in a swift end to the war in Iran and the risks that would pose to trade in the region. Rubio predicted the conflict will end in “weeks not months” and said that the US “can achieve all our objectives without ground troops.” But he also warned that Iran could attempt to impose a toll system in the Strait of Hormuz after the conflict, a scenario which would require international participation to prevent. “The United States is prepared to be a part of that plan,” Rubio said. “We don’t have to lead that plan.” Earlier in the day, Iran blocked two Chinese ships from entering the strait, a surprise decision.

First ‘No Kings’ protests since Iran war planned for Saturday

No Kings protest organizers are planning to once again hold the largest single-day protests in American history — the first since the killings of ICE protesters in Minneapolis, and the war in Iran. “That’s bringing in a whole new set of people who are not necessarily politically active on most of our issues,” said Ezra Levin, the co-founder of Indivisible, a progressive group. “They are shocked at what this guy is doing in order to distract from his own corruption and unpopularity.” Anti-Iran war protests have been sparse, and often organized by far-left groups that Democrats don’t want to associate with. One goal of Saturday’s protests, said Levin, was building “unified opposition to war funding” among Democrats.

— David Weigel

Trump to address Saudis in Miami

Saudi officials and top US leaders in finance, tech, and business are in Miami, where Trump will shortly close a three-day forum with remarks that will be closely watched for signals about the war with Iran. Riyadh delivered a familiar message that affirms its role in energy and financial markets, and its close security ties with the US. Yasir Al Rumayyan, governor of the $1 trillion Public Investment Fund said: “We measure returns not in quarters but in decades, and PIF remains committed to investors around the world.” Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan pointed to the kingdom’s investments in pipelines as a measure that helps it fulfill its role as the world’s central bank for oil. US investors and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin argued that the Gulf’s long-term prospects would improve if Iran is weakened or changes enough to no longer threaten its neighbors after this war.

— Matthew Martin

This April, global CEOs, officials, and industry leaders will join Semafor World Economy — the largest gathering of government and executives in the US — to sit down with Semafor editors for conversations on the forces shaping global markets, emerging technologies, and geopolitics. See the full lineup of speakers, including Global Advisory Board members, Fortune 500 CEOs, and elected officials from the US and across the G20.

Economy

• US consumer sentiment slid in March and fears of inflation jumped, according to a report from University of Michigan released today.
• Oil prices rose this week after President Trump extended a pause on targeting power plants in Iran, suggesting markets are becoming less sensitive to the “Truth Social Effect.” — WSJ
• The conflict has caused a helium shortage, putting pressure on chip manufacturers that could drive up prices on consumer electronics. — NYT

White House

• President Trump tends to make his boldest moves when US markets are closed. — Bloomberg

Iran

• Iranian-linked hackers claimed responsibility for the breach of FBI Direct Kash Patel’s personal email account.
• Images appear to show that US forces have scattered land mines, a weapon the US has rarely used since the Gulf War in 1991.
• The US military has fired 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles in four weeks, a rate that is alarming some Pentagon officials. —WaPo

Pentagon

• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blocked two women and two Black Army officers from promotion to general, drawing scrutiny from some senior military officials. — NYT

Congress

• Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., joins the wave of retirements from Congress after serving in office for 26 years.
• The Senate Armed Services Committee is planning its first public hearing on the war in Iran. — WSJ
• AT&T will notify senators if their phone records are subpoenaed, Burgess Everett reports.

Tech

• Meta’s big losses in court this week reignited debate around social media safety bills in Congress. — Axios

— Jared Kushner, the president’s son in law and a key White House negotiator on the Iran war, according to NBC.