In today's newsletter: Democrats want to put guardrails on Donald Trump's ability to spend. Some groups are falsely blaming measles vaccinations for an outbreak of the virus in Texas. And an unlikely franchise has become one of this season's biggest NBA success stories.

Here's what to know today.

A multitrillion-dollar budget blueprint passed the House 217-215, a narrow margin that moves the plan to the Senate as Republicans push to advance President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.

The measure calls for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and a goal of $2 trillion in spending cuts. It also includes more than $100 billion in new spending on immigration enforcement and the military.

Passing the budget plan wasn’t without hurdles. House Speaker Mike Johnson hosted meetings throughout the day to win over GOP holdouts. In a chaotic moment, House GOP leaders appeared to briefly cancel the budget vote, only to reverse their decision minutes later.

Though Republicans have majorities in both chambers of Congress, they’ll need Democratic support to pass a spending bill — especially in the Senate, where Republicans have 53 seats but a 60-vote threshold is needed. So Democrats are using their leverage to demand guardrails that would limit the executive branch’s discretion and require the Trump administration to carry out spending directed by Congress. Democrats insist they’re willing to compromise on funding, but many see little value in signing off on a deal if Trump is empowered to ignore the parts he (or billionaire adviser Elon Musk) doesn’t like.

The sticking point has stalled negotiations ahead of the March 14 deadline to avert a government shutdown. Negotiators have even started to consider a stopgap funding bill at existing levels through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.

Republicans have made it clear they won’t accept constraints on Trump’s authority. Johnson, an outspoken defender of Trump, said Democrats’ demand to limit the president’s power was a “nonstarter.” Other Republicans were more blunt in their rejection of the idea.

Read the full story here.

More Trump administration and politics news:

Measles vaccine falsely blamed for Texas outbreak

The number of measles cases in a West Texas outbreak had risen to 124 as of Tuesday, health officials said, amid fears that the fast-moving outbreak could move to other regions. State health officials said earlier this week that a person infected with measles had traveled to the San Antonio region, well outside of the impacted area.

As cases climb, anti-vaccine groups are pushing a familiar and false theory: The highly contagious virus is being caused by the vaccine itself. A growing chorus of state “health freedom” groups and conspiracy theory websites are pushing false claims. One such group is Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit formerly led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The theories espoused about Texas echo Kennedy’s false statements about the measles outbreak in Samoa in 2019, when he suggested children “were dying from a bad vaccine.”

While the measles vaccine can stimulate an immune response that sometimes causes measles symptoms, it "does not cause measles infection," said Dr. Matthew Washam, a director of epidemiology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio who co-authored a paper about vaccine shedding.

Texas health officials are genotype testing measles samples from the current outbreak. All samples tested have come back as a known strain of the wild measles virus — not the vaccine, said Lara Anton, a senior press officer at Texas Department of State Health Services. Read the full story here.

Russia offers U.S. a rare minerals deal in seized Ukrainian territory

Russia has proposed a potential agreement in which the U.S. would gain some ownership of rare earth minerals and other valuable metals in parts of Ukraine controlled by the Russian military, according to two U.S. officials familiar with intelligence on the matter and another person briefed on the proposal. The Trump administration has not committed to a U.S.-Russia deal but has not ruled it out, the officials said.

The proposition comes as the U.S. and Ukraine also negotiate a deal about rare earth minerals. The Trump administration said this week the two countries were nearing an agreement.

Russia's deal would effectively ensure that it would retain swaths of Ukrainian territory that it occupies, and hopes to keep as part of a negotiated peace deal. It's also designed to appeal to Trump's pursuit of a financial cut for the U.S. in a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine. Read the full story here.

The Detroit Pistons are (finally) on a hot streak

Last season, the Detroit Pistons hit a historic low when the team lost a record 28 consecutive games. The NBA is often full of bad teams seemingly on a doom loop of rebuilding, and nothing seemed that different about Detroit, which had tried in recent seasons to reset its trajectory to no avail. That's why the team's sudden turnaround feels so notable. The Pistons endured plenty of struggles last fall when pairing a new coach with a mix of older additions and young, homegrown players, but things are turning around. Since December, they've become one of the biggest success stories in the league, building a 32-26 record — more wins than in their last two seasons combined.

— Andrew Greif, sports reporter

Apple has a brand new iPhone, the iPhone 16e, and it'll be the most inexpensive model in the company's lineup. NBC Select tech reporter Harry Rabinowitz dives into how it compares to the 16, and how to preorder it. Plus, here are all the best sales to shop this week from Le Creuset, Patagonia and more.

Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown. Today's newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Robinson.

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