Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has hired the prominent Republican consulting firm Axiom Strategies to run his primary campaign against GOP Sen. John Cornyn, we scooped tonight.

Why it matters: Paxton's challenge of the four-term senator — which he announced tonight on Fox News — is expected to be the GOP's most expensive primary in 2026.

• A Texas fight is a major potential headache for Senate GOP leader John Thune, who'll face an injection of uncertainty in a state Trump won by 14 percentage points last fall.

Zoom in: Paxton has tapped Nick Maddux, who served as the chief political adviser in his 2022 campaign, to run his primary challenge.

• Sam Cooper, another Axiom consultant, is expected to lead an outside effort to elect Paxton.
• Axiom has long worked for GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, Cornyn's home-state colleague, as well as Paxton.

The intrigue: Jeff Roe, the firm's founder, won't be involved in the campaign, sources tell us.

• He's among the party's most controversial political operatives and is in a feud with Trump's 2024 co-campaign manager, Chris LaCivita.
• The disdain for Roe among Trump allies dates to the 2024 Republican primary when Roe ran an outside group backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Zoom out: Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has pledged his organization will support GOP incumbents.

• But he has vowed to stay in close consultation with Trump on the best way to avoid nasty intraparty fights.
• "We want to make sure that the president and I are on the same page on these issues," Scott told Axios last month.

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— Alex Isenstadt, Hans Nichols and Stef Kight

At least a dozen House Republicans are considering signing onto Rep. Don Bacon's (R-Neb.) bill to restrict the White House's ability to impose tariffs unilaterally, we scooped this afternoon.

• Bacon isn't ruling out an eventual effort to force it to the House floor by bypassing House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Why it matters: It's a significant break with Trump, who issued a veto threat that we scooped yesterday.

• Bacon told us two Republicans — Reps. Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) — and two Democrats have signed on to the bill as cosponsors.
• He added: "I have 10 others who want to do it but they want to talk to the trade representative first."

Zoom in: Johnson has vowed to give Trump "space" on tariffs.

• "We'll see how it all develops," he told reporters yesterday.

The details: The bill would cause any tariffs a president institutes to expire after 40 days unless Congress votes to pass a resolution of approval.

• More than half a dozen Senate Republicans have co-sponsored an identical bill from Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

The bottom line: Some House Republicans who have said they are otherwise inclined to support the bill cited Trump's veto threat as a reason to not do so.

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— Andrew Solender

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is challenging Johnson to a "one-on-one debate" on the House floor over the GOP budget resolution.

• Johnson didn't back down, telling reporters he's "happy to debate" his Democratic counterpart "anytime."

Why it matters: Jeffries wants to force Johnson to explain the details of the Republican plan when they clearly don't have them all ironed out.

• Jeffries wrote in a letter to Johnson they should "fully and transparently explain and defend our differing budget values to the American people."

📺 Don't set your C-Span recorder just yet, but look for Democrats to be creative in showing their base they want to stand up to the GOP.

— Hans Nichols and Andrew Solender

It's hard to think of a Senate duo further apart on Trump's sweeping tariffs than Indiana Republican Sens. Jim Banks and Todd Young.

• Why it matters: The divergent views from the state's two senators cast the broader divide in the GOP in sharp relief, with old guard free-traders vs. the party's new populist isolationists.

Zoom in: While not fully opposed, Young definitely has questions.

• Young is one of seven Republicans who have signed on to a bill to reassert congressional oversight over tariff actions. He also joined a letter asking the White House to spell out how countries might be able to get tariffs lifted.
• "Hoosier farmers, manufacturers, and rural communities are often the first to feel the impact of retaliatory actions from other countries," Young posted on X today, with a clip of him questioning U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
• While acknowledging tariffs can be a tool, he has raised more questions and concerns.

Banks has been singing the praises of the new tariffs and their benefits for Indiana. He's touted reports of Honda and GM increasing their production of cars in Indiana — and he's credited Trump's trade policy for the moves.

• "The days of other countries ripping off America and our workers are OVER," he posted on X last week.
• "President Trump is bringing good paying jobs back to Indiana and leading us into the Golden Age of America," Banks told Axios in a statement. "I'm proud to stand with him and fully support his America First trade agenda."

— Stef Kight