Welcome to the beat. I'm Ari Melbert. We are cooking up a special show for you tonight with a guest making a beat debut later in the hour.

The top story in politics right now is congressional Republicans facing heat tonight to define their budget demands for the Biden White House.

That's after the president drew that really memorable advantage. Much of the nation saw it at the State of the Union, where he highlighted how some Republicans do want to slash the safety net and then pulled others into opposing their

own extremists, as he viewed it, into saying they wouldn't do that. Now, pass this prologue,

because this is a big story tonight with a real twist. I'm going to tell you right now. The president

is drawing agreement on

that very point from an unlikely source. Dun-da-da-da-da. Donald Trump himself, who is, of course,

running against Biden right now, running to be president again. But Trump is, as political

reports, tying the entire GOP in knots by pushing back on something pretty straightforward,

the obviously unpopular plan to cut Medicare and Social Security that some conservatives want.

Now, that's the view from a candidate, while new reporting shows that veterans of the Trump administration

are actually part of the possible

push to get Medicaid or health care funding slashed. Now, in the House, Republicans have some

leverage. They narrowly took the majority there. But Democrats tonight also see this debate going

their way. They're relying on a new magic budget word.

That word is woke.

Call everything woke and then try to cut its funding.

Seems to be the strategy.

Housing, woke.

Drop it in half.

Public schools and job training, woke.

Slash it.

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