The House fell into uncertain territory Wednesday evening after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pulled a scheduled vote on a key budget measure in the face of intractable right-wing opposition.

Why it matters: It is not clear what Johnson's next steps are, with the speaker conceding to reporters that a Thursday vote is not assured.

• The GOP speaker said he doesn't have "any intention to have us working here this weekend," but added, "If we have to come back next week, then we'll do that."
• The vote was nixed after dozens of conservative fiscal hawks refused to back the Senate version of the budget blueprint that requires far fewer spending cuts than the version the House passed in February.

What we're hearing: The withdrawn vote touched off a round of internal GOP finger-pointing reminiscent of the tumultuous days of the 118th Congress.

• "The speaker sadly hasn't communicated with any of us what's happening," griped one House Republican, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "I don't know why they're pulling out, and that hasn't been communicated to the rest of the conference."
• The lawmaker added: "It's incredibly sad, disappointing and embarrassing that once again we've pulled another piece of legislation off the floor, and it just shows how ineffective the speaker is at his job."

State of play: Johnson is now being pulled into negotiations with his right flank as he tries to find a way out of his bind.

• He told reporters there are a "few different ideas on the table," including amending the Senate bill or going into what is called a conference committee to craft a compromise measure between the two chambers.
• Any of those options could be non-starters with Senate Republicans — creating a rocky path for Republicans' hulking fiscal legislation.

President Trump's decision to pause many of the sweeping tariffs he announced only a week ago comes after all corners of the MAGAverse soured on financial earthquakes the levies unleashed.

The big picture: The self-inflicted market meltdown rattled Trump's allies across Wall Street, Silicon Valley billionaires like Elon Musk, anxious congressional Republicans and even supportive podcasters in the Manosphere.

• Investors sought an "off-ramp" from the tariffs markets showing extremely rare volatility.
• The magnitude of the tariffs caught the markets off guard, leading some major Wall Street banks and economists to predict a recession.

Zoom in: There are a long list of Trump allies speaking out against the tariffs over the past week.

Congressional Republicans balk at tariffs

Republican lawmakers were desperate to see Trump at least nudge the brakes and calm the markets.

• In a significant break with the president, at least a dozen House Republicans considered signing onto Rep. Don Bacon's (R-Neb.) bill to restrict the White House's ability to impose tariffs unilaterally, Axios reported.
• The Senate had voted on a similar measure to block Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with four Republicans joining Democrats in voting yes.
• 57% of voters — including a quarter of Republicans — opposed the new tariffs, a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted over the weekend found. 39% of Americans support them.

Wall Street clamored for calm

Wall Street titans, including some of Trump's wealthy allies, have publicly urged caution as the tariffs tanked stock markets globally.

• DOGE leader Elon Musk, who has taken a multi-billion-dollar blow to his Tesla stock, called for more free trade this weekend, envisioning "a zero-tariff situation" between the U.S. and Europe. He's also publicly sniped at Trump tariff advocate Peter Navarro.
• Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, had warned of "economic nuclear winter" but praised Trump after announcement of the pause, saying, "This was brilliantly executed," adding, "Textbook, Art of the Deal."
• Prior to the pause, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon predicted a recession and for defaults to rise as Trump's tariffs roil global financial markets.
• Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller said that he doesn't support tariffs "exceeding 10%," the level of global levies Trump left in place.
• Howard Marks, co-founder of hedge fund Oaktree Capital, told Bloomberg the tariffs brought on the "biggest change in the environment" he's observed in his career.

MAGA podcasters soured on tariffs

Popular podcasters supporting Trump also voiced displeasure with the tariffs.

• Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said on an episode of his "All-In" podcast that he thinks "the way that the tariff plan was rolled out is about as bad a rollout as you could do." He told his 7 million YouTube subscribers that the idea that tariffs are good and make the American economy strong "is wrongheaded."
• Podcaster Joe Rogan, who endorsed Trump's 2024 bid, called the president's feud with Canada "stupid" last month and lamented that Canadians "booed us over tariffs" during sporting events.

Go deeper: Trump scales back tariffs, except on China

• Memes that mock Americans over Trump's tariffs have taken over Chinese social media.
• AI generated videos feature Trump and tech workers on the iPhone assembly line or sewing clothes.
• Scott Bessent said that "excess labor" in the federal government could be labor for manufacturing.

A finance bro in a Patagonia vest sobbing as he sews a sock. Batman and Spiderman assembling tech products. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance stitching red hats in a factory.

These are some of the memes — many of which are AI-generated —that have been spreading on Chinese social media sites like Rednote and Weibo to mock Americans over Trump's tariffs.

Trump has cited national security and a large trade deficit with China as reasons to raise duties on the long time rival and manufacturing hub. He also accused China of currency manipulation to offset the impact of tariffs. During Trump's "Liberation Day" announcement, he said China has been charging the US 67% in duties.

One of the most viral memes, which has crossed over to American audiences on sites like TikTok and X, shows Americans in t-shirts looking sad as they sew clothes in a factory or screw cell phones together on an assembly line.

Traditional Chinese music plays over the scenes, and Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again" flashes across the screen at the end of the apparently AI-generated video. One X user's post of the viral meme has been viewed more than 7 million times, and a TikTok post of the video has been shared over 34,000 times.

The memes play on the concerns that Trump's significant tariffs on China, and his repeated calls to reduce US reliance on foreign goods and shore up American manufacturing, will hurt everyday Americans and be potentially regressive. While Trump has paused tariffs on other trading partners for 90 days on Wednesday, tariffs on China now stand at 125%.

"When you wanted to bring back manufacturing jobs to the US but you lost your overpaid, cushy powerpoint / excel job and now gotta hit the assembly line," wrote one user on X above a screenshot of "The White Lotus" character Piper looking emotional over not being able to endure living conditions in Thailand.

The fear that white collar workers might soon need to work in factories builds on comments made by politicians like US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said on Tucker Carlson's show last Friday that fired office workers could find manufacturing jobs "to re-lever the private sector."

"So what we are doing: on one side, the President is reordering trade. On the other side, we are shedding excess labor in the federal government and bringing down federal borrowings," said Bessent. "And then on the other side of that, we will have the labor we need for new manufacturing."

Other memes call out the countries Trump initially targeted in his sweeping tariffs, such as his 10% tariffs on the Heard and McDonald Islands. The group of Antarctic islands is an Australian external territory inhabited only by penguins, seals, and seabirds.

One Rednote post includes a clip of "The Penguins of Madagascar" over a news article about the tariffs on the islands. "Captain, walking into hostile environment," the penguins in the clip say. "We're gonna need special tactical equipments. We're gonna face extreme peril."

Also on Rednote, a slideshow of photos, some AI generated, depicts penguins wearing a red "Make America Go Away" hat, wielding weapons, and participating in a mass protest against Trump.

The tariff war has also generated a renewed wave of nationalism on Chinese social media site Weibo. Users are rallying behind their government's decision to retaliate, temporarily leaving behind dissatisfactions toward the ruling party over the country's economic downturn since the pandemic.

"Fully support," wrote one commenter under a state media post about China raising retaliatory tariffs to 84% on the US that garnered nearly a million likes. "May 1 holiday would be spent supporting domestic products."

Another commenter cited an ancient Chinese tale from the Qin Dynasty, that when a nation ceded five cities to a large and powerful enemy, the invader soon asked for ten cities and more. In this context, the cautionary story is being used to justify why China should not make any concessions towards the US.

A Bluesky comment perhaps best sums up how many tariff stricken Americans feel toward the long-time authoritarian rival right now: "If you told my 2024 self I'd be rooting for China to not back down, I'd have said you were crazy."

• The world's 10 richest people had a combined $135.33 billion rally in the stock market on Wednesday.
• Stocks surged after Trump said he'd rolled back tariff plans that had caused the market to plunge.
• Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg gained $80 billion alone — but they're still down over the past year.

The world's richest people saw their net worth once again skyrocket as the stock market surged on Wednesday following the news that President Donald Trump had rolled back his aggressive tariff plan that had, in recent weeks, sent the market into a tailspin.

Together, the top 10 wealthiest people saw a combined $135.33 billion rally in their personal fortunes on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg's Billionaire index.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk saw the largest single-day gains, raking in $35.9 billion alone, and French billionaire Bernard Arnault was the only one of the top 10 to keep registering losses, slipping down the Bloomberg Billionaire's Index list with a $5.7 billion loss. He's also the only non-American on the list.

Still, while Wednesday's market rally reshuffled the rankings, the world's wealthiest people have lost a combined $244.36 billion so far this year.

Here's where their fortunes stood after Wednesday's market close, according to the index.

1. Elon Musk

Net worth: $326 billion

1-day change: up $35.9 billion

Year-to-date change: down $107 billion

Of the top 10 list's names, Elon Musk gained the most on Wednesday, seeing personal gains of $35.9 billion during the market rally. Year to date, he's still registering $107 billion in losses.

While his net worth has fluctuated wildly in recent months, Musk has maintained his status as the world's richest person despite facing increasing anger for his proximity to the White House's DOGE agency, which has spearheaded cost-cutting across the federal government, and public backlash against Tesla. The backlash coincided with a downturn in the electric vehicle company's stock.

Musk's wealth stems primarily from his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX. His other businesses include Neuralink, X, The Boring Company, and xAI.

2. Jeff Bezos

Net worth: $210 billion

1-day change: up $18.5 billion

Year-to-date change: down $28.7 billion

Jeff Bezos, the founder and executive chairman of Amazon, who stepped down as CEO in 2021, saw his personal wealth increase by $18.5 billion on Wednesday — though he's still down to $28.7 billion this year.

In addition to his role at Amazon, Bezos also owns The Washington Post, which he purchased in 2013. The news outlet has seen an exodus of subscribers in recent months as Bezos has ordered the paper's editors not to make a presidential endorsement, and announced that the paper's op-ed pages would only publish viewpoints that support "personal liberties and free markets."

3. Mark Zuckerberg

Net worth: $207 billion

1-day change: up $25.8 billion

Year-to-date change: down $723 million

Mark Zuckerberg, whose net worth jumped $25.8 billion on Wednesday, has registered the least amount of losses so far of any billionaire on the top 10 list — only having lost $723 million.

Zuckerberg is the cofounder and CEO of Meta Platforms, the social media giant that owns Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Threads.

4. Warren Buffett

Net worth: $162 billion

1-day change: up $8.12 billion

Year-to-date change: up $20 billion

Warren Buffett, 94, is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and the only member of the top 10 list to have consistently made gains this year. He's up $8.12 billion as of Wednesday, and $20 billion so far in 2025.

Buffet's conglomerate holds multibillion-dollar stakes in public companies such as Apple and American Express. His ability to withstand market crashes has earned him a reputation as a legendary investor.

5. Larry Ellison

Net worth: $159 billion

1-day change: up $15.5 billion

Year-to-date change: down $32.7 billion

Larry Ellison, a major investor in Tesla, is also the cofounder and chief technology officer of Oracle, among the world's biggest software and cloud computing companies. His year-to-date losses of $32.7 billion were buoyed by his $15.5 billion gains on Wednesday.

Business Insider previously reported that Ellison, along with OpenAI's Sam Altman and SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, is spearheading Project Stargate, a $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative supported by Trump.

6. Bill Gates

Net worth: $152 billion

1-day change: up $4.81 billion

Year-to-date change: down $6.64 billion

Bill Gates, the cofounder of Microsoft, stepped down from the tech company's board in 2020 and now owns only a small percentage of its shares.

He saw relatively modest gains compared to others on the top 10 list with a $4.81 billion net worth increase on Wednesday, bringing his year-to-date losses to $6.64 billion.

Gates now spends the majority of his public life promoting the Gates Foundation, a philanthropic endeavor supporting global health, education, and climate initiatives.

7. Bernard Arnault

Net worth: $148 billion

1-day change: down $5.7 billion

Year-to-date change: down $28.4 billion

Bernard Arnault is the chairman and CEO of LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods conglomerate that owns more than 75 brands including Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Moët & Chandon.

Arnault was the only one of the world's richest people to register further losses after Trump rolled back his tariff plan, losing $5.7 billion on Wednesday, and bringing his total year-to-date losses to $28.4 billion.

8. Larry Page

Net worth: $142 billion

1-day change: up $11 billion

Year-to-date change: down $25.8 billion

Google cofounder Larry Page remains a board member and major shareholder of its parent company, Alphabet, after stepping down as Alphabet's CEO in 2019.

Page's life and finances have been overseen by wealth manager Wayne Osborne since 2012. Though he's registered $25.8 billion in losses so far this year, Wednesday's rally saw Page's net worth increase by $11 billion.

9. Steve Ballmer

Net worth: $136 billion

1-day change: up $11.2 billion

Year-to-date change: down $10.1 billion

Microsoft's former CEO, Steve Ballmer, remains one of the company's largest individual shareholders with an estimated 4% stake in the tech giant. His net worth on Wednesday increased by $11.2 billion, offsetting the $10.1 billion in losses he has seen so far this year.

Ballmer also owns the Los Angeles Clippers, an NBA team Forbes values at $5.5 billion, which he purchased in 2014 for $2 billion.

10. Sergey Brin

Net worth: $134 billion

1-day change: up $10.2 billion

Year-to-date change: down $24.3 billion

Like Page, most of Sergey Brin's net worth is tied to Alphabet stock. The Google cofounder played a key role in developing its early search algorithms, and, though he stepped down as the company's president in 2019, he retains a significant amount of Class B shares.

The billionaire, whose net worth jumped by $10.2 billion on Wednesday alone, recently made headlines suggesting current Google employees work 60 hours a week to boost production.

OpenAI countersued Elon Musk on Wednesday arguing in its lawsuit that he "could not tolerate seeing" the company's success and that he sought to build a direct competitor "not for humanity" but for himself.

The big picture: It's the latest in a high profile legal battle pitting the AI revolution's standard-bearing company against the tech billionaire who helped found it.

Driving the news: OpenAI said in a filing that Musk "made it his project to take down OpenAI" and that he "could not tolerate seeing such success for an enterprise he had abandoned and declared doomed."

• The company asked the federal court in San Francisco to hold Musk responsible for damage he caused them and to stop him from "further unlawful and unfair action."

What they're saying: "Elon's nonstop actions against us are just bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit," OpenAI said in a post on X, adding that they're countersuing to "stop him."

• Representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment Wednesday evening.

Flashback: Musk helped found OpenAI in 2015 but has since become a bitter opponent and critic of the ChatGPT maker. He's also the founder of xAI, an OpenAI rival.

Catch up quick: Musk in August sued OpenAI and two of its founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, two months after withdrawing a similar suit.

• Musk's complaint, like the original lawsuit, alleged that Altman and Brockman abandoned the company's founding agreement by prioritizing profits over the public interest.
• OpenAI argued in a December filing that Musk's own emails showed he wanted OpenAI to have a for-profit component and wanted to own and run it himself.

Go deeper: OpenAI hits back at Elon Musk's lawsuit in court filing

President Trump has revoked the security clearances belonging to former CISA leader Chris Krebs and ex-DHS official Miles Taylor and ordered investigations into the work they did while in public service.

Why it matters: The move is the latest in Trump's full-throttle attack on his perceived political enemies.

Zoom in: The order calls for the Department of Justice to investigate both officials' activities as government employees and also temporarily revokes the clearances held by any of their known associates.

• For Taylor, the order specifically calls out any security clearance for individuals at the University of Pennsylvania, where Taylor is a lecturer, "pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest," according to the White House.
• For Krebs, the security clearances include any given to staff at cybersecurity company SentinelOne, where Krebs currently works.
• Krebs' DOJ investigation will include "a comprehensive evaluation of all of CISA's activities over the last 6 years and will identify any instances where Krebs' or CISA's conduct appears to be contrary to the administration's commitment to free speech and ending federal censorship," according to the order.

Catch up quick: Taylor served as the chief of staff to Homeland Security Secretary during the first Trump administration and later detailed his concerns in a damning New York Times' op-ed and book under the pen name "Anonymous."

• "I think he's guilty of treason if you want to know the truth," Trump said while signing Taylor's order.

Meanwhile, Trump fired Krebs by tweet after he factchecked the president and publicly said that the 2020 election was the "most secure in American history."

• Trump called Krebs a "wise guy," as well as a "fraud" and "a disgrace" during Wednesday's signing.

What they're saying: "I said this would happen," Taylor wrote in an X post after the signing. "Dissent isn't unlawful."

• "It certainly isn't treasonous," he added. "America is headed down a dark path. Never has a man so inelegantly proved another man's point."
• Krebs and SentinelOne did not immediately respond to Axios' requests for comment. CISA referred all questions to the White House.

The big picture: In the first months of his second term, Trump has taken unprecedented actions against his perceived political enemies, including law firms, politicians, former intelligence officers and more.

• The latest moves are sure to spur outrage across the cybersecurity and national security communities, in which both Krebs and Taylor are highly respected.

Go deeper: Trump's overflowing grudge list

The more than 200 migrants sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador by U.S. immigration agents should stay there "for the rest of their lives," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Wednesday.

Why it matters: Noem's remark reflects the Trump administration's harsh approach to noncitizens it views as criminals or gang members — in this case, arresting and deporting them to a foreign, maximum-security prison without giving them a court hearing.

Zoom in: Her comment came two days after the Supreme Court signaled that such detainees designated as "enemies" of the U.S. can be deported — but should have some way to challenge their removal.

• "We're confident that people that are [imprisoned in El Salvador] should be there, and they should stay there for the rest of their lives," Noem said after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) event.
• She said her assessment was based on intelligence work by ICE and other agencies, including the State Department.

Catch up quick: The administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport the alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to the El Salvador prison has drawn several legal challenges.

• In an interview with Axios this week, border czar Tom Homan said immigration agents are the "principal" deciders on whether a detainee is linked to a gang and should be deported immediately.
• A recent CBS News investigation found that 75% of those sent to the prison had no criminal records.

ICE agents' decisions for identifying gang members are made using a rubric with an eight-point threshold for removal, according to a court document.

• In the case of Tren de Aragua, a tattoo "denoting membership/loyalty to TDA" would count four points toward a removal action, according to the document. If a person admits being a gang member, that alone would be enough for removal from the U.S.
• In his interview with Axios, Homan said: "I've talked to the highest level at ICE and they've reassured me several times: Everyone that was removed under the Alien Enemies Act was a gang member and a terrorist."

The other side: "Nothing in U.S. immigration law, nothing in U.S. criminal law would permit" the detainees to be imprisoned indefinitely without court decisions, said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council.

• "To see Secretary Noem's suggestion that people never convicted of any crime, who have received no process whatsoever [but will be] imprisoned for life at U.S. expense, is something that should make every American who believes in civil liberties angry."

• President Donald Trump has added another law firm to his list of targets.
• On Wednesday, Trump issued an executive order targeting Susman Godfrey.
• Susman previously represented Dominion Voting Systems in its suit against Fox News after the 2020 election.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday added Susman Godfrey to the list of law firms he's targeting with the weight of the White House's bully pulpit.

According to a White House fact sheet, Susman is being targeted over what the White House has called its work to "weaponize the American legal system and degrade the quality of American elections."

White House staff secretary Will Scharf described the Susman action as similar to Trump's previous orders targeting firms that either participated in suits against him or hired former government attorneys who worked on Trump-related litigation when the president was out of power. Some of Trump's targets have been among the biggest firms in the country, including Perkins Coie.

Susman represented Dominion Voting Systems in its defamation suit against Fox News, resulting in a $787.5 settlement in 2023. Fox News, Trump allies, and other conservatives repeatedly spread unfounded rumors about Dominion's election machines in the aftermath of Trump's 2020 loss.

The firm also represents Dominion in a lawsuit against Newsmax, another conservative media organization that promoted false conspiracy theories about the election technology company's role in the 2020 election. In a ruling Wednesday, moments before Trump signed the executive order, a Delaware judge ruled that Newsmax defamed Dominion and that the case could proceed to trial.

The firm also represents The New York Times in the publication's copyright suit against OpenAI and Microsoft.

Trump hinted that further law firm-related actions may be coming. He told reporters that "we have another five to go."

So far, Paul Weiss, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, and Milbank have all reached deals with the White House that call for hundreds of millions in pro bono legal work to advance Trump administration-supported causes.

On Tuesday, a group of former Republican and Democratic government officials, represented by Susman Godfrey lawyers, filed an amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie.

Perkins Coie sued the Trump administration, arguing its targeting of law firms violated the US Constitution.

"The Constitution did not make the President a king empowered to punish subjects arbitrarily based on animus or whim," wrote the Susman Godfrey attorneys in their brief.