Washington, DC

1. Green card rules change
2. Senators support Taiwan
3. Trump lays gridlock groundwork
4. Tulsi Gabbard resigns
5. Qatari team to Tehran
6. Warsh sworn in
7. Semiconductors duck tariffs

The S&P 500 closes eighth consecutive week ▲, longest streak since 2023, on hopes of a US-Iran deal.

Trump orders green card seekers to go overseas to apply

Most people seeking green cards will have to leave the country to apply for permanent residency, rather than do it from inside the US, President Donald Trump’s administration said today. The policy shift could impact millions, including high-skilled tech workers, employees on H1-B visas, and spouses of US citizens. The new policy, which sets up potentially years-long delays for applicants, will face legal challenges: “You can’t, through a stroke of a pen, overturn a statute,” attorney Todd Pomerleau told ABC News. “It’s illegal, and it’s going to get shut down in court.” The announcement ricocheted through the tech industry, with critics arguing it could disrupt scientists and AI startups. “Harmful move for tech, business, and America broadly,” LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman wrote. Officials said the “policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivizing loopholes.”

Senators affirm US-Taiwan ties amid arms sale pause

A bipartisan quartet of senators is proposing a resolution today that expresses support for defensive arms sales to Taiwan as President Trump pauses $14 billion in weapons deals with the island, Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant reports. The measure from Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Chris Coons, D-Del., reaffirms congressional support for US defense weapons sales under the Taiwan Relations Act and existing US policy, including “support for Taiwan’s self-defense and opposition to efforts to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means.” It also says that the US did not agree to “prior consultation” with China on arms sales. Trump has described the stalled weapons package, which Congress approved in January, as a “negotiating chip with China”; while the resolution does not explicitly mention Trump or the pause, its broader implications are clear.

Neither Trump nor Republican senators are backing down

Washington sees its share of ephemeral fights, but this week’s crackup between Trump and Senate Republicans doesn’t seem to be mending quickly. One big reason for that: Trump is digging in. The president posted on social media today defending the $1.8 billion fund his administration announced to compensate political allies allegedly victimized by the government and separately denounced retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., as a “QUITTER” and a “RINO.” Tillis replied with a detailed list of what he called “stupid stuff” from the administration that would hurt the GOP’s midterm chances. The growing prospect of self-made Republican gridlock is partly a result of Trump’s elbowing incumbents out of their primaries. It also promises to hurt his agenda for months to come; among the potentially divisive issues the party has to agree on before November are government spy powers and avoiding another shutdown.

— Elana Schor

Gabbard leaves Trump with another Cabinet vacancy

Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, resigned on Friday — an announcement that adds an item to the growing list for President Trump to push through Congress, Semafor’s Shelby Talcott reports. Gabbard said she was resigning because her husband has been diagnosed with an “extremely rare” form of bone cancer. Her departure, effective at the end of June, leaves Trump with three Cabinet-level vacancies to fill as he fights with Republican senators. He may have a difficult time getting a permanent replacement past the Senate. Gabbard’s deputy, Aaron Lukas, will serve as acting director. Gabbard’s time overseeing the country’s 18 spy agencies was marked by friction with Trump, sparked by her more libertarian leanings. Despite that, Trump was said to remain happy with her job performance, unlike other Cabinet officials that he pushed out earlier this year.

Qatari negotiators arrive in Tehran

Signs of diplomatic progress between the US and Iran are emerging, with the arrival of a Qatari negotiating team in Tehran to help reach a final deal to end the war. Qatar, a US ally and trusted backchannel with Tehran, has smoothed tensions in the region in the past. Pakistan, which has served as mediator during the ceasefire, dispatched its top military commander to Iran on Friday, as well. Negotiations have moved slowly since the ceasefire began, while Iran was making faster-than-expected progress on rebuilding its military capacity. Trump, facing growing resistance to the war inside his own party, is under mounting pressure to end the conflict. Supporters of the war fear he’s about to cut and run, when he should eliminate Iran’s military, they argue. “We must finish what we started,” Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said in a statement. “It is past time for action.”

Warsh sworn in as consumer confidence drops

Kevin Warsh was formally sworn in as chair of the Federal Reserve at a White House ceremony today, a few hours after new data showed US consumer confidence fell to a record low in May. That decline was driven by big drops among independents and Republicans, according to the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence index. Consumer spending has remained resilient amid rising prices, but the longer the conflict in Iran drives up energy prices, the more likely the Fed will need to act to curb inflation. At Warsh’s ceremony Trump said, “I want Kevin to be totally independent,” though the president wasn’t shy about directing his ire at the previous chair, Jerome Powell, for his cautious approach to rate cuts. Whether or not Trump wants Warsh to make cuts, some on Wall Street say a “win” for Warsh now will be avoiding a rate hike.

No ‘immediate’ tariffs on semiconductors

The US will not impose tariffs on semiconductors in the near future, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Friday. “Having tariffs on semiconductors is really important; what’s even more important, than having protection for facilities like this, is making sure we do it on the right timing and in the right amount,” Greer told reporters at an event at Micron’s Virginia facility marking the manufacturing of the US’ most advanced memory chip. “So there’s not an immediate tariff coming in place tomorrow or next week.” The Trump administration’s recent visit to China, Greer added, “doesn’t change our approach.” Greer also said that talks in Mexico next week on the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement would focus on “rules of origin and economic security,” though it was “a little up in the air” whether he would attend.

— Eleanor Mueller

Audie Cornish and Ari Shapiro spent years together in the buttoned-up, professional audio journalism world of NPR co-hosting All Things Considered. Now, they’re reuniting at CNN for something very different — podcasting. On this week’s episode of Mixed Signals, they join Max and Ben to talk about turning their off-mic chemistry into a show, navigating the pivots and shifts of today’s media landscape, and the surprising lessons amateur podcasters can learn from the audio pros who came before them.

Listen to the latest episode of Mixed Signals now.

Campaigns

• Pressure is building on Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin after he released an autopsy report about the 2024 presidential campaign that donors and party members say deepens concerns over transparency and the party’s direction.
• Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., announced she will seek reelection in Florida’s newly redrawn 20th Congressional District, a move that has intensified tensions among Black Democrats over representation after Republican redistricting.
• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick donated $5 million to a House Republican super PAC shortly after agreeing to testify before lawmakers about his past connections to Jeffrey Epstein.

White House

• President Trump said he will “work very hard” to pass bipartisan legislation to make daylight saving time permanent.
• The Defense Department released a second batch of previously classified files on alleged UFO sightings.

Congress

• Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., has begun more actively communicating over the phone after his two-and-a-half month disappearance, including giving a “lengthy” phone interview to the New Jersey Globe.

Courts

• A federal judge in Tennessee granted a motion by Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawyers to dismiss his case for vindictive prosecution. — Lawfare

Business

• Former Trump administration advisor, Taylor Budowich, will lead a new advocacy group backed by Kalshi, as players in the prediction market gear up for clashes with regulators. — Politico

Health

• An Air France flight from Paris to Detroit was diverted to Canada because a passenger was blocked from entering the US under Ebola restrictions.
• The acting director of the NIH’s infectious disease institute quietly stepped down as the US responds to outbreaks of Ebola and hantavirus.

World

• Asian currencies are falling sharply as rising oil prices and investor demand for the US dollar pressure regional economies and drain central bank reserves. — NYT
• China and Russia have invested in and staffed electronic-eavesdropping facilities in Cuba to spy on US military sites in Florida in recent years. — WSJ
• Cuba’s military is a “shell of a shell” of what it once was, lacking advanced forces to take on the US. — WSJ