“About a month ago, with Tesla’s stock sinking and some investors irritated about Elon Musk’s White House focus, Tesla’s board got serious about looking for Musk’s successor,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Board members reached out to several executive search firms to work on a formal process for finding Tesla’s next chief executive.”
“Republicans are already hitting some snags as they begin the work of crafting a bill for President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy agenda. And they haven’t even made some of their hardest decisions yet,” NBC News reports.
“Fresh off a two-week recess, House committees have begun marking up their respective pieces of the package, which aims to extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, boost funding for immigration enforcement and the military, and increase the debt ceiling. In their hunt for steep savings to pay for it all, Republicans are starting with some of the lowest-hanging fruit when it comes to spending cuts.”
“President Donald Trump is skeptical of congressional Republicans’ emerging plans to make deep cuts to Medicaid, the safety-net health program covering nearly 80 million Americans,“ Politico reports.
“Speaker Mike Johnson and other House leaders are zeroing in on a framework that would roll back part of the Medicaid expansion enacted under President Barack Obama, generating hundreds of billions of dollars in savings to help pay for the rest of Trump’s legislative agenda — including sweeping tax cuts plus border security and defense spending.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said Wednesday she is considering a run for House Democrats’ top position on the Oversight Committee, Politico reports.
Said Ocasio-Cortez: “It’s something that I’m weighing, but the seat is not yet vacated, and I think that’s a bridge we can cross when we get to it.”
“Paramount Global and President Trump began mediation talks Wednesday millions of dollars—and an apology—apart,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“It isn’t known what the sides planned to offer to kick off the mediation talks. Among themselves, Paramount leaders have in recent weeks discussed settling the lawsuit for around $15 million to $20 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The range would be in line with what Disney and technology companies have agreed to pay to resolve lawsuits filed by Trump.”
“Meantime, Trump’s team is expected to ask for an apology, different people familiar with the matter said. They are also expected to seek far more than $20 million.”
“House Republicans came away empty-handed Wednesday afternoon from a high-stakes meeting aimed at ending a yearslong standoff within their caucus over a $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions,” Politico reports.
“The Senate narrowly defeated a resolution seeking to overturn President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, handing GOP leaders a victory,” Punchbowl News reports.
“The measure would have passed with full attendance but was deadlocked at 49% to 49%, with Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) absent. Both would have voted for the resolution if they were present.”
Tara Palmeri hosts a debate between James Carville, 80, and David Hogg, 25, on the future of the Democratic party.
“Attendance issues in the Senate could prove pivotal for GOP leaders ahead of a vote on a resolution to overturn President Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs,” Punchbowl News reports.
“Senate Republican leaders were on track for yet another defeat today, with four GOP senators prepared to cross party lines and vote with Democrats to rebuke Trump’s tariff regime for the second time in less than a month.”
“Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close ally of President Trump, is forging ahead on a plan to impose new sanctions on Russia and steep tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil, gas and uranium, as Trump struggles to fulfill his campaign promise to end the war in Ukraine,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The South Carolina Republican said that support for his bill crossed the critical threshold of 60 co-sponsors on Wednesday, meaning it has enough votes to overcome a Senate filibuster. By the end of the week, Graham predicted, the bill will have at least 67 co-sponsors, enough to override a potential presidential veto.”
Jonathan Lemire: What would it take for Trump to stand up to Putin?
NOTUS: “The Wednesday meeting is likely the FEC’s last for what could be weeks or months due to the departure of Republican Commissioner Allen Dickerson and the failure of President Donald Trump and the Senate to nominate and appoint new commissioners.”
“After Wednesday, the FEC won’t have its required quorum of four commissioners to conduct high-level business.”
Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith (R) “is facing backlash for sharing a debunked conservative argument that the Three-Fifths Compromise was a step toward ending slavery in response to a discussion surrounding a bill that would eliminate state diversity programs,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
Said Beckwith: “The Three-Fifths Compromise, and many other things like that, were designed to make sure that justice was equal for all people and equality really meant equality for all.”
“President Donald Trump said Wednesday that children in the U.S. may just have to live with fewer toys if his trade policy results in store shelves going empty,” the HuffPost reports.
Said Trump: “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.”
USA Today: Trump acknowledges prices will force consumers to cut back.
“Angel Ramirez (D) turned in the biggest overperformance by a Democrat in a special election this year with her victory last night, winning Iowa’s vacant 78th House district in a 79% to 21% landslide,” The Downballot reports.
“Last year, Kamala Harris carried the district, based in the Cedar Rapids area, by an already considerable 66% to 33% margin… That means Ramirez’s showing represents a 26-point improvement on last year’s presidential results.”
“The Trump administration has discussed with Libya and Rwanda the possibility of sending migrants who have criminal records and are in the United States to those two countries,” CNN reports.
“The proposals mark a dramatic escalation in the administration’s push to deter people journeying to the United States and remove some of those already here to countries thousands of miles away, some of which have checkered pasts…”
“In addition to sending migrants with criminal records, Trump officials are also hoping to enter formal negotiations with Libya to strike a so-called safe third country agreement, which would allow the US to send asylum seekers apprehended at the US border to Libya.”
“Elon Musk claimed Wednesday that his federal workforce slashing initiative so far has saved $160 billion — far less than his original projections — as the mega-billionaire Tesla CEO gave a sort of farewell to President Donald Trump’s Cabinet,” CNBC reports.
“He has said that going forward, he plans to work just one or two days a week on his Department of Government Efficiency.”
Wired: “To try to prevent the measles virus from spreading further throughout Mexico, its Ministry of Health has issued a travel warning for the United States and Canada, where cases have also risen sharply.”
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.