GoKawiilThis is CNBC's Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox. Happy Friday. If you're as fascinated by the retail sector as I am, you'll want to read this exclusive from CNBC's Melissa Repko. I don't want to spoil it, so just I'll say that Target isn't over its boycott woes. Stock futures are lower this morning. The three major indexes fell sharply yesterday. Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. +10 days
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks next to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 26, 2026. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
2. DHS deal
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, speaks to members of the media outside his office at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 26, 2026. Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Senate reached a deal early this morning that would fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, a sign of progress toward ending the department's shutdown. The bill will now head to the House of Representatives, where it could get a vote as soon as today. The package does not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, exactly what Democrats have been calling for, though it also doesn't include the changes to ICE's enforcement practices that Democrats wanted. The agreement comes as the partial government shutdown forces Transportation Security Administration agents to work without pay, causing long security lines at airports. Trump said yesterday that he would bypass Congress and issue an executive order to "immediately" pay TSA workers.
3. Claude's court conquest
The Anthropic logo appears on a smartphone screen in this photo illustration, as the AI firm files lawsuits against the United States Department of Defense after the Pentagon moves to blacklist the company following disagreements over safeguards limiting the use of its AI systems for surveillance and autonomous weapons. Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Anthropic got its wish in federal court yesterday: Judge Rita Lin granted the artificial intelligence startup's request for an injunction in its lawsuit against the White House. Lin said the Pentagon's blacklisting of Anthropic was "classic illegal First Amendment retaliation." Anthropic said in a statement that it was "grateful to the court for moving swiftly" and that it would still like to work with the government if possible. In other AI policy news, venture capitalist David Sacks said yesterday that his role as Trump's crypto and AI czar was ending. Sacks said he was joining the President's Council of Advisers on Science & Technology, a federal advisory committee.
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