“Mortgage rates close to 7%. Gas prices near their highest levels since 2022. A Federal Reserve interest-rate hike for the first time in three years,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Everything from buying a house to filling up your gas tank now costs more than even a week ago—putting affordability back in the spotlight just before midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.”
“Former staff members of the U.S. Institute of Peace asked a federal court on Thursday to prevent the Trump administration from carving President Trump’s name into the facade of the headquarters in downtown Washington,” the New York Times reports.
“The effects of the U.S.-led war on Iran are about to intensify in the form of huge jumps in the prices of gasoline and diesel, analysts predict. And despite the Trump administration’s assurances, a new and potentially even more economically damaging phase of the war may be about to begin,” the Washington Post reports.
A new Quantus Insights poll in Montana finds Kurt Alme (R) leading Seth Bodnar (I) in the U.S. Senate race, 44% to 24%, with Alani Bankhead (D) at 23%.
“Voter disgust over an avalanche of political spending by corporations, labor unions and other special-interest groups is driving support for a possible ban on ‘dark money’ in Montana, which could test a landmark Supreme Court decision,” the New York Times reports.
“The ballot measure has strong backers from across the political spectrum, including a well-known former Republican governor and Democratic senator who have campaigned for it together.”
“The main challenge: Threading the needle of Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court decision in which a 5-4 majority ruled that independent political spending by corporations and labor unions was a protected form of free speech.”
“Attorney General Todd Blanche has repeatedly participated in campaign events and spoken in partisan terms about the coming midterm elections since his confirmation last month, despite criticism that he violated a longstanding Justice Department principle of steering clear of electoral politics,” the New York Times reports.
“This week he waded again into those waters — twice.”
A new Florida Politics/St. Pete Polls poll in Florida finds Ashley Moody (R) and Angie Nixon (D) tied in the U.S. Senate race, 45% to 45%.
“President Trump spent months attacking the Federal Reserve for keeping interest rates too high. On Wednesday, the central bank raised them, and Trump said he was standing by the chairman he picked,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The mild response was the clearest sign yet that Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh has, for now, reset a relationship in which the White House treated the central bank as an adversary.”
CNBC: Warsh rate hike reinforces Fed independence after Trump pressure.
“Barbra Streisand expressed disdain for President Donald Trump’s ‘unchecked ego’ on Thursday following his threat to demolish the Kennedy Center amid the ongoing legal battle to mount his name on its exterior,” The Wrap reports.
Said Streisand: “You can easily imagine my indignation at seeing this revered institution become the subject of such a bitter struggle over one man’s name and unchecked ego.”
A new Fox News Poll finds 53% of voters say the Trump administration’s enforcement of immigration laws has gone too far.
Among those saying enforcement has gone too far, voters are divided on the reason: 45% point to the government using too much force, while 49% say the wrong people are being targeted.
A new Fox News Poll finds 71% of voters think the Trump administration lacks a clear strategy for ending the Iran War, including 95% of Democrats, 83% of independents, and 43% of Republicans.
Sixty percent say U.S. military action against Iran was the wrong decision, while just 37% say it was right.
Businessweek: “Marco Rubio is executing the president’s wishes around the world, even when they contradict his past beliefs. What’s his long game?”
Kansas U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hamilton (D) told CNN that he’s not willing to support Sen. Chuck Schumer for Democratic Leader if he wins his challenge to Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS).
“Senate Democrats closed the door Thursday to any significant data center legislation passing Congress before the midterms,” Punchbowl News reports.
“By blocking Sen. Jon Husted’s (R-OH) unanimous consent request to pass the Ratepayer Protection Act, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) all but ensured lawmakers will go home without acting on an issue worrying a lot of voters.”
“This was a tricky situation for Democrats. They could risk looking bad for blocking a proposal that nearly every House Democrat voted for Wednesday. Or, they could hand Husted a win on the defining issue of his reelection fight against former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH).”
“Democrats chose the former, although they deny it has anything to do with politics.”
Ed Kilgore: “While there are plenty of race ratings and election forecasts weighing the odds of a Democratic takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives in November, the single most reliable indicator historically has been the so-called generic congressional ballot, a poll question asking voters which party they want to control the House.”
“It has probably become a bit more reliable of late given the steady rise of straight-ticket voting. And right now, the generic ballot numbers are spiking for the Democratic Party.”
Check the Polling Dashboard for the latest.
“Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. returned to his roots on Thursday during a keynote address at a conference hosted by the Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit he helped start,” Stat reports.
“Kennedy, who previously downplayed his work sowing doubt about vaccine safety, has now made it central to his legacy as health secretary.”
MS NOW: Amid measles outbreaks, RFK Jr. headlines anti-vaccine conference.
“The House’s last in-session week before the midterms was beset by furious private finger-pointing between House Democrats following several high-profile rebellions,” Axios reports.
“This dynamic may only worsen if Democrats retake the House, which is set to see an influx of distinctly rebellious and independent lawmakers, particularly on the left.”
“There is even chatter among members contrasting the ability of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to control members with that of his top deputy, Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), according to two House Democrats.”
“The Pentagon is weighing a drastic plan to pull planes, ships, weapons and tens of thousands of U.S. troops from Europe, despite warnings from NATO allies about the growing threat of Russian aggression,” NBC News reports.
“The reduction could be roughly one-third of all U.S. troops in Europe, or roughly 25,000. One U.S. official and another person with knowledge of the deliberations say it could be even larger — as much as half, or up to 40,000 troops.”
“If carried out, it would be the most significant scaling back of the 80,000-strong U.S. military presence in Europe since the aftermath of the Cold War in the 1990s.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.