House Rejects Trump Tariffs; GOP Passes Voter ID Bill

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1:02Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. Karen, we begin with a big blow this morning to President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Bloomberg's John Tucker joins us with the latest. Good morning, John. Good morning, Nate. The Republican-led House has passed a resolution to rescind President Trump's tariffs on Canada. Six Republicans joined nearly all Democrats in passing the measure. On this vote, the yeas are 219 and the nays are 211. The joint resolution is passed. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table.

1:46Even if it does pass the Senate now, President Trump would veto it. So this is all about sending a message. The House vote signals a growing rift within the Republican Party with the midterm elections approaching. Now, the GOP and those members who voted for it have to face their constituents who are increasingly worried about affordability. That Wednesday's vote happened at all actually represents a blow to House Speaker Mike Johnson, a top Trump ally who had spearheaded a block on bringing tariff-related bills to the floor for months. The passage also comes as the president is privately weighing quitting the U.S.-Mexico-Candida trade pact that he signed during his first term.

2:25of following the vote. Trump wrote on social media, any Republican in the House or the Senate that votes against tariffs will seriously suffer the consequences come election time, and that includes primaries. In New York, I'm John Tucker, Bloomberg Radio. All right, John, thank you. House Republicans have also approved legislation that would impose strict new voter ID requirements ahead of the midterm elections. The bill is a Trump administration priority aimed at scrutinizing ballot access, but it faces blowback in the Senate. The legislation requires Americans to present proof of citizenship when they register to vote and to show a valid photo identification before they cast ballots.

3:04Republicans say it's needed to prevent voter fraud. Democrats warn it'll make it harder for millions of Americans to vote. Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, Karen, Attorney General Pam Bondi had a contentious hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on the Jeffrey Epstein case and her agency's investigations into President Trump's political opponents. The committee's top Democrat, Jamie Raskin, accused Bondi of turning the Justice Department into an instrument of revenge. You replace real prosecutors with counterfeit stooges who robotically do the president's bidding. Nothing in American history comes close.

3:39And Democrat Jamie Raskin accused the Justice Department of redacting the names of abusers and co-conspirators in the Epstein files, not just his victims. Bondi apologized for what Epstein's victims experienced, but Democrat Pramila Jayapal asked if she would turn to face the victims who were in the audience to deliver that apology. Mr. Chairman, I have asked a question. Why didn't she ask Merrick Garland this? Twice. I'm reclaiming my time, and when I reclaim my time, it is mine. I'm not going to get in the gutter for her theatrics. Attorney General Pam Bondi flipped through a binder throughout the hearing to deliver attacks at individual lawmakers.

4:16She says the Justice Department has pending investigations related to Jeffrey Epstein, but she did not elaborate. Nathan, federal agents are looking along roadways in the Catalina foothills. This is the search for the 84-year-old mother of Today's show host Savannah Guthrie continues. They're looking near Tucson as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. The Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI said they are following up on 18 ,000 tips. And here's retired FBI agent Richard Frankel. 18 ,000 in what, a week and a half? That number is staggering. After 9-11, we had, I believe, 18 to 20 ,000 in two years.

4:54And retired FBI agent Richard Frankel. The FBI has also released images of a masked person on Nancy Guthrie's porch the night she went missing near Tucson. Guthrie was reported missing on February 1st. Turning to geopolitics now, Karen, the death toll from the crackdown over Iran's nationwide protests last month has reportedly reached more than 7 ,000. The U.S.-based human rights activist news agency, which offered the latest figures, has been accurate in counting deaths during previous rounds of unrest in Iran. It relies on a network of activists to verify those deaths. The rise in the death toll comes as Iran tries to negotiate with the U.S.

5:30over its nuclear program. Nathan, President Trump's energy chief has arrived in Venezuela to meet with the nation's new leader and assess its energy infrastructure. Energy Secretary Chris Wright met with Acting President Delce Rodriguez in Caracas as the U.S. pushes to revive Venezuela's oil sector. Bloomberg's Anne-Marie Hordern is traveling with the Energy Secretary and has more. Secretary Chris Wright of the Energy Department met with acting President Delce Rodriguez to discuss business ventures and how to collaborate further when it comes to energy, mining and electricity in the country. Secretary Wright said he came here with a message from President Trump was that he wants to make the Americas great again and he wants to transform this relationship.

6:16He continuously talks about you can transform a relationship with commerce instead of boots on the ground. I'm Amarie Hordern in Caracas, Venezuela, and this is Bloomberg. All right, Amarie, thank you. We turn to the markets now. Futures are higher this morning after yesterday's declines, but shares of Cisco are sinking. They're down nearly 8 % in early trading. The largest maker of networking equipment gave a weaker-than-expected forecast, spurring concerns that mounting memory chip prices are taking a toll. The outlook overshadowed an upbeat sales forecast fueled by growing artificial intelligence revenue.

6:50Nathan's sales in the U.S. for McDonald's grew at the fastest pace in more than two years. They jumped 6.8 percent. The company's focus on affordability helped to improve traffic in the fourth quarter. Abby Roach is a senior portfolio analyst at Allspring Global Investments. I'd say they're doing a couple things well. They're leaning into the value for consumers who are seeking that out and who are really feeling stretched. They've got different offerings across different price points, across$5,$8, being able to add things on for$1. So they're really focused there. But also they're not letting their foot off the gas in terms of the marketing and the innovation.

7:27Abby Roach at Allspring Global Investments and shares of McDonald's are down a third of a percent this morning. Karen, AI company Anthropics nearing completion of a deal to raise more than$20 billion. Bloomberg News has learned the funding round is co-led by investors including Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, D.E. Shaw and Dragoneer Investment Group. Anthropics set to be valued at about$350 billion. dollars. The deal could be announced as early as this week. Nathan, Applied Materials will pay more than a quarter of a billion dollars to settle a Commerce Department investigation into improper exports to China, the settlement ending a years-long saga for the largest American supplier of chip-making machinery.

8:05And we got some more deal news this morning, Karen. Nuveen is buying Schroders for 13.5 billion dollars. The acquisition creates one of the world's largest active asset managers with nearly two and a half trillion dollars in assets. This ends more than two centuries of independence for the UK's largest standalone asset manager, although the Schroeder's brand will be retained.

8:30Time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world. And for that, we're joined by Bloomberg's Michael Barr. Michael, good morning. Good morning, Karen. Canadian authorities say the suspect in a school shooting in British Columbia was an 18-year-old who had a history of police visits to her home to check on her mental health. Police said the suspect, Jessie Van Rootselaer, first killed her mother and stepbrother at the family home before attacking the nearby school, resulting in eight fatalities. Dwayne McDonald is with the British Columbia Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

9:05I can say that the suspect was not related to any of the victims of the school. I don't have any broader information beyond that other than saying that the suspect was related to the two victims at the private residence. Dwayne McDonald with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Van Rootseller was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted wound following the assault on the school in the small community of Tumblr Ridge. Striking nurses at two of the three New York City hospitals ratified their new contracts ending a five-week strike. Rank and filed union members at Montefiore and Mount Sinai voted overwhelmingly to approve the new three-year contracts.

9:44However, the strike will continue for over 4 ,000 nurses at New York Presbyterian. Some nurses there say they were being pressured by the union to approve a contract that the local negotiating team rejected. In a statement from New York Presbyterian, the proposal includes, among other things, the same 4 % yearly wage increases for all three hospitals. The San Francisco teacher strike enters its fourth day. Teachers are demanding better pay and benefits. Public school teacher Leslie Hughes says they're also fighting for their students and their families. I hope that we can get this done as soon as possible.

10:24and educators here and standing with our families and students are prepared to go as long as it takes until we have a signed agreement. The strike closed public schools for more than 50 ,000 students in the city. Global news, 24 hours a day and whenever you want it. With Bloomberg News Now, I'm Michael Barr and this is Bloomberg. Karen. Thanks, Michael. Time now for our Bloomberg Sports Update. And for that, we bring in John Stashauer. Thanks, Karen. We're in second straight day at the Olympics where the United States won five medals and this time two gold. Liz Lemley, only 20 years old. She had never been in an Olympic event before.

10:59She won gold in freestyle skiing. And 21-year-old Jordan Stolls won in speed skating. He may end up winning four gold medals. The NBA, after that fight between the Pistons and Hornets, suspended four players, including Detroit's Isaiah Stewart, who got seven games. He had left the bench. That's your Bloomberg Sports Update. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this. This is Scarlett Fu. And I'm Paul Sweeney, inviting you to join us for the Bloomberg Intelligence Podcast. Every day, we harness the power of Bloomberg Intelligence to bring you deep dives into the companies that are moving markets from publicly traded companies like Apple to those that are privately owned but known by everyone on Earth like OpenAI.

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12:23coast to coast on bloomberg radio nationwide on sirius xm and around the world on bloomberg.com and the bloomberg business app this is bloomberg daybreak good morning i'm nathan hager president trump's signature economic policy has just taken a blow on capitol hill the house has voted to repeal the president's tariffs on goods from canada democrats are promising more votes to come Six Republicans joined with Democrats on this vote, including California's Kevin Kiley. We should have these debates. Let's have the discussion. Let's do so in front of the American people. That's what, you know, representative government is all about.

12:59That was California Republican Kevin Kiley. Joining us now is Bloomberg's Laura Davison. And Laura, we know that Congressman Kiley is facing a pretty tough re-election fight in California. Politics definitely plays a role in this vote last night. Good morning. Good morning. Yes, this vote wasn't so much about actually being able to rescind these tariffs, but more giving some of these members an opportunity to come out and come out against these tariffs. You saw that the six Republicans who joined with Democrats are folks who either, you know, have clashed with the president in the past, Thomas Massey, for example, or represent some of these these moderate swing districts where they could be vulnerable.

13:35You know, we're starting to see, you know, Republicans really come out against some of the tariffs. There was a lot of vote no hope yes yesterday among House Republicans in terms of wanting to see this, not wanting to stand out and specifically rebuke the president. But they're recognizing that there's a messaging issue with voters, that voters are not happy with the economy. They think prices are too high and they recognize that tariffs are contributing to a piece of that. Getting to those affordability concerns that the president in the past has called something that's fake. How could this play out heading into the midterms, Laura?

14:10Yeah, this is a fight that we're likely to see really grow. This vote this week was just about the Canada tariffs. Democrats or even some Republicans could continue to bring up different resolutions to strike down different portions of these tariffs. So it could be the Brazil tariffs, for example, or the tariffs on Mexico. So this is a way to kind of keep this issue alive, even though it doesn't have any strong policy implications, but keeps the political messaging of this ahead. And of course, this comes at a time where Bloomberg News has learned that President Trump is privately talking about walking away from the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement.

14:48Not that he's made a decision, but at least floating the idea. I mean, what could that mean in terms of ongoing trade pressure? This would really be a huge trade shift. About 80 percent of goods that flow between the U.S., Mexico and Canada are covered by this trade pact, which would mean if the U.S. were to exit, that all of those rules of the road would go away. So if people think that the tariffs right now on U.S. – that the U.S. is opposed on Canada and Mexico are big, this would really be a complete sea change. So this is something that Trump, as he goes into these tariff negotiations, he likes to take these maximalist positions.

15:24So that's how some are interpreting this move of that Trump is sort of taking, you know, or at least considering taking a sort of an extreme position that then he could, you know, kind of moderate as the discussions go on. In our last minute, Laura, let's talk about the hearing at the House Judiciary Committee for Attorney General Pam Bondi, her first appearance since October. Apart from the shouting, did anything of substance come out of it as far as you saw? The big headline here is that she did mention that there are, that the Justice Department is investigating various things related to Epstein, but she did not elaborate.

15:56You know, the Justice Department has said previously that they were looking into Democrats, including Larry Summers, Bill Clinton, and other Democratic donors, in terms of what they knew about Epstein. But it was clear that she said there are still these investigations going on, but did not give any details as to what that might be or what we could expect to see in the future. This is Bloomberg Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond. Look for us on your podcast feed by 6 a.m. Eastern each morning on Apple, Spotify or anywhere else you listen.

16:29You can also listen live each morning starting at 5 a.m. Wall Street time on Bloomberg 1130 in New York, Bloomberg 99.1 in Washington, Bloomberg 92.9 in Boston and nationwide on Sirius XM Channel 121. Plus, listen coast to coast on the Bloomberg Business app, now with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto interfaces. And don't forget to subscribe to Bloomberg News Now. It's the latest news whenever you want it, in five minutes or less. Search Bloomberg News Now on your favorite podcast platform to stay informed all day long. I'm Karen Moscow. And I'm Nathan Hager. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak.

17:19Hello, I'm Michelle Hussain. And for more than 20 years, I was at the BBC. Military withdrawal from Afghanistan. But all the time I was delivering the headlines, I wanted to go further than the news of the day. To spend more time with the people shaping our world. And that's what I'm doing here on this podcast. Speaking to people from Nigel Farage. Russia needs to be taught a lesson. Listen, love, you're trying ever so hard. To tech journalist Kara Swisher. And the tech industry is running wild. You know, they've gotten what they wanted and they've seen a huge run-up in their stock prices. This will be a place where every weekend you can count on one essential conversation to help make sense of the world.

18:03So please join me, listen and subscribe to The Michelle Hussain Show from Bloomberg Weekend, wherever you get your podcasts. You certainly ask interesting questions.