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Welcome back to The Daily Courant, your afternoon medley of Puck’s best new reporting.

First up today, Leigh Ann Caldwell intercepts the furious chatter surrounding Chuck Schumer following the Democratic Senate leader’s decision to acquiesce to House Republicans’ government funding bill—avoiding a shutdown and inviting what might become the most significant rupture within the Democratic Party in years.

Plus, below the fold: Bill Cohan assesses the chilly M&A pipeline under Trump II and the state of Elon’s businesses since the Tesla founder moved into an office steps from the White House. Dylan Byers presents his candid chat with Emma Tucker about rebooting The Wall Street Journal. Julie Davich relays the art world whispers from Art Production Fund’s
25th anniversary gala. Marion Maneker previews the most sought-after lots during Asia Week in New York. And Sarah Shapiro examines the return of nostalgic motifs on the runway and across fashion retail.

Meanwhile, on the pods: John Ourand and Luis Silberwasser have a rollicking discussion on The Varsity about the TNT-NBA divorce. On Impolitic, John Heilemann and
actor Liev Schreiber dig into Liev’s friendship with Volodymyr Zelensky and his thoughts on a Ukraine ceasefire. And on The Powers That Be, Jon Kelly reunites with Peter Hamby to weigh into Gavin Newsom’s Rogan-esque, MAGA-friendly makeover.

WASHINGTON

Chuck Schumer, arguably the most powerful Democrat within his flailing party, is facing a crisis of confidence. He
defied the party’s activist base and bucked 212 House Democrats in supporting the G.O.P.’s government funding bill last Friday—all while visibly failing to foment a strategy. According to critics (of which there are many), in delivering the votes to keep the government open, he caved to Donald Trump and Elon Musk without even putting up a fight. And yet, while Schumer knew the decision was unpopular, he seems to have underestimated the anger within his party, which, as Leigh Ann reports,
erupted in the aftermath of the vote and flowed through the weekend. So much for that book tour…

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WALL STREET

Bill unpacks a trio of timely, top-of-mind topics for Wall Street insiders: First, he offers an update on the
Skydance–Paramount Global deal, and dismisses the fears of those worried that the quixotic bid from Project Rise Partners will disrupt the sale. Then, he chats with a longtime M&A banker, who explains why C.E.O.s are sitting on their hands and losing hope that the much-anticipated, Trump-induced investment banking bonanza will yet materialize. Finally, he takes a close look at how Elon Musk and his various businesses have fared since throwing in his lot with the MAGA faithful.

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MEDIA

Emma Tucker joined the Journal as editor-in-chief a little over two years ago, and in nearly every
subsequent restructuring—the international desk, the Washington bureau, and, most recently, the technology unit—Tucker has drawn controversy and ignited fears that she was scaling back from those coverage areas. Quite the contrary. Today, the Journal is decidedly a more punchy and engaging read, and where many of her fellow British expats have been struggling to refurbish America’s legacy media companies, Tucker is succeeding. The Journal now counts more than 4 million
subscribers, remains profitable, and has again claimed a stake on the zeitgeist. Herewith, Dylan shares their candid conversation about her transformation of the paper.

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ART

Last Wednesday night, Julie attended the Art Production Fund’s 25th anniversary of its annual bash at The Grill—the
Carbone-ified site of the old Four Seasons in Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Seagram Building. The gala united the fashion and art worlds, and APF packed the room with 300 well-heeled attendees—and while the party’s Truth or Dare dress code, a risky idea on paper, actually played out pretty tamely in the room, Julie reports that the prevailing mood of national uncertainty just could not be downplayed. As one of the partygoers confided, “the vibe this year felt off.”

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ART

Asia Week, the biannual pilgrimage of dealers and collectors of Asian art to New York, is already in full swing. This
weekend, some 27 galleries—with a bent toward Japanese art—opened shows around the city. The auction houses, too, were gearing up for sales this week, where much of the action this season centers on works from South Asia, Japan, and Korea. It was only a matter of time before India’s rapidly advancing economy spurred a revival of the market for South Asian art. The global financial crisis and the continuing restrictions on exporting and importing art to India put that market in hibernation until
just recently, when modern and contemporary art from the subcontinent again moved to the front burner. Meanwhile, some of the most expensive works of art by estimate come from Korea this season.

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FASHION

Fashion keeps recycling itself, sometimes in the least expected ways. The latest runway collections in Paris, for
example, left many feeling simultaneously nostalgic and inspired owing to their gestures to 1980s opulence. Take, for example, the revival of ’80s power coats, part of the rising so-called “boom boom aesthetic”—or Gen Z’s growing appetite for fur in the vintage market. In this dispatch, Sarah connects the dots between these nostalgic trends, before unpacking the somewhat strange ubiquity of Marant hats among the Parisian fashionable set. 

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SPORTS

Luis Silberwasser, the C.E.O. and chairman of TNT Sports, joins John for a rollicking discussion about the state of
his company in the aftermath of losing its rights to the NBA. Luis goes deep on how those negotiations unfolded, and breaks down TNT’s shifted focus on digital expansion and engaging a younger audience. He also dishes on their unique relationship with March Madness, and how he feels about a potential expansion to the tourney.

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WASHINGTON

John is joined by acclaimed actor Liev Schreiber to discuss his humanitarian aid work in Ukraine, his friendship with
Volodymyr Zelensky, and the efforts to bring an end to the war in his ancestral homeland. Schreiber explains the apparent strategy behind Donald Trump’s efforts to forge a ceasefire and force both sides to the negotiating table, and why the sharp turn against Zelensky by so many of his once-steadfast Republican supporters is so shocking and infuriating. Schreiber also breaks news by revealing his plans to return to the stage this spring as part of a new theater company, Together Productions,
being founded by his friend, Hugh Jackman.

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MEDIA

Jon Kelly joins Peter to weigh into Gavin Newsom’s new Rogan-esque podcast and debate whether his MAGA-friendly
strategy is helping Democrats or simply repositioning Newsom himself. Then they turn to Bill Simmons’ new role at Spotify, and explore why video is poised to dominate the future of audio.

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