“A dormant government building in the nation’s capital may seem like an unlikely setting for the signing of a peace deal,” the New York Times reports.
“But nearly nine months after the Trump administration seized control of the U.S. Institute of Peace headquarters in an extraordinary public showdown and all but shuttered it, the center has re-emerged, newly named for President Trump.”
New York Times: “Less than a year out from midterm elections in which Republicans’ vanishingly small majority is at stake, Mr. Johnson’s grasp on his gavel appears weaker than ever, as members from all corners of his conference openly complain about his leadership. Some predict that he may not last as the speaker for the rest of this term.”
“Republican women, in particular, have been publicly challenging Mr. Johnson and taking issue with his priorities and his style.”
“Their dissatisfaction is indicative of a broader splintering of a restive group of GOP lawmakers who are perpetually unhappy with their leaders, but appear to be reaching a breaking point with the current man at the top.”
“The Pentagon knew there were survivors after a September attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea and the U.S. military still carried out a follow-up strike,” the AP reports.
“The rationale for the second strike was that it was needed to sink the vessel.”
“What remains unclear was who ordered the strikes and whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was involved.”
“Confronted with a growing string of GOP underperformances in off-year elections, key pro-Trump activists see more MAGA — not less — as the only solution,” Axios reports.
“The reaction suggests a movement uninterested in grappling with the limits of its appeal — a departure from the panicked introspection both parties have traditionally undergone after off-year disappointments.”
“President Trump didn’t tell Speaker Mike Johnson that he was granting a ‘full and unconditional pardon’ to Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) before announcing it on Truth Social this morning,” Axios reports.
“Trump’s pardon boosts one of House Republicans’ top political targets — and could hamper GOP efforts to protect their razor-thin majority in next year’s midterms.“
Rep. Chuy García’s (D-IL) “handpicked successor is officially getting a challenge,” NBC News reports.
“Mayra Macías is a lifelong Democrat and Chicago native who has worked on Latino advocacy and promoting former President Joe Biden’s agenda. She announced her candidacy Wednesday to run as an independent in Illinois’ 4th Congressional District. If elected, Macías said she would caucus with Democrats.”
Time: “Initially, House Republicans were prepared to defend 16 incumbents who appeared most vulnerable. On Wednesday, there was talk of doubling if not tripling that firewall.”
“Across the aisle, Democratic strategists close to the House Leadership team estimate that there are about 70 seats more friendly than Tennessee. By some tallies, that figure could reach 100 if Democrats keep building momentum and land their prime recruits.”
“Hiring by American businesses dropped last month, according to an estimate from payroll processor ADP, a further setback for a labor market that has slowed this year,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
New York Times: “It was the third decline in four months and, taken at face value, would be a clear sign that the labor market, after months of cooling, had entered a new, more worrying phase.”
“A top pollster for President Donald Trump advised a group of House Republicans on how to defend against Democrats’ attacks over expiring Obamacare tax credits: focus on reducing drug prices instead,” Politico reports.
“Tony Fabrizio showed new polling to members of the Republican Study Committee in a closed-door meeting held a few blocks from the Capitol Wednesday. He argued the most effective way for Republicans to counter Democrats’ health care messaging is to change the subject and pivot to reducing drug prices in tandem with Trump.”
Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend who was convicted of recruiting young girls into sex trafficking, is planning to ask a judge to release her from prison, CNN reports.
New York Times: “The letter, submitted by her lawyer, offers no details about what grounds Ms. Maxwell will cite in her filing, known as a habeas petition. But the letter indicated that she would file the request shortly, and that it would be done without a lawyer representing her.”
A new Public Policy Polling survey of the Republican Senate primary in Texas finds Ken Paxton (R) up by 10 points over both Rep. Wesley Hunt (R) and incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R).
However, 24% of GOP voters are still undecided.
Charles Booker (D) is planning a third run for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, the Louisville Courier Journal reports.
A meeting between Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky and a U.S. delegation has been cancelled after Russian president Vladimir Putin rejected a peace deal brokered by Donald Trump’s envoy, The Independent reports.
Washington Post: Confident of military success, Putin refuses compromise in Moscow talks.
“MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has filed paperwork to run for governor of Minnesota, creating a campaign committee that will allow him to raise money,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
“Lindell’s possible entrance into the race would shake up what’s become a crowded field of Republicans who are seeking to challenge DFL Gov. Tim Walz. His close proximity to President Donald Trump and prominence in the Make America Great Again movement could make him a top contender for the GOP nomination, despite concerns about his electability and promotion of debunked election fraud theories.”
Just published: President Next: A Historical Roadmap to Forecasting the Future President by David Carlucci.
From smoke-filled rooms to social media storms, American presidential politics has been transformed by candidates who weren’t supposed to win.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) said former Vice President Kamala Harris wasn’t truthful about him in her new book, The Atlantic reports.
Said Shapiro: “I can tell you that her accounts are just blatant lies.”
“What seemed to bother Shapiro, more than any one detail, was Harris portraying him in ways consistent with the whispers that had dogged him throughout the vetting process and throughout his career: that he was selfish, petty, and monomaniacally ambitious.”
He added: “She’s trying to sell books and cover her ass.”
Speaker Mike Johnson said he wants to strengthen rules to police insider trading by members of Congress, but believes that lawmakers should still be allowed to own stocks and other financial instruments, Punchbowl News reports.
Said Johnson: “We don’t want people cheating the system and abusing their office. So there’s probably a way to do that that still allows for lawful conduct by members… You don’t want another deterrence for good people running for office.”
“Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information, which could have endangered American troops and mission objectives, when he used Signal in March of this year to share highly-sensitive attack plans targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to four sources familiar with the contents of a classified Inspector General report,” CNN reports.
“The repercussions of Hegseth’s action are less clear since the IG concluded that the defense secretary has the authority to declassify information and Hegseth asserted he made an operational decision in the moment to share that information, though there is no documentation of such a decision.”
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.
