“An early version of the House GOP’s tax plan would cost nearly $5 trillion, according to a new estimate from Congress’s non-partisan tax scorekeeper,” Politico reports.
“The cost far exceeds what is permitted by the budget resolution Republicans adopted earlier this year, which set the parameters for the massive package of tax cuts and extensions, energy policy and border security investments the party wants to pass in the coming weeks.”
A review of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s thesis by The Daily Princetonian, in consultation with three experts on plagiarism, found eight instances of uncredited material, sham paraphrasing, and verbatim copying in his senior thesis.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) said Democrats are eying the “safest white boy” ahead of the 2028 election, The Wrap reports.
Said Crockett: “It is, it is this fear that the people within the party, within the primary system, will have about voting for a woman because every time we voted for a woman, we’ve lost.”
She added: “So far. And I think that that’s a natural fear because we just want to win. So there’s a lot of people that are like, you know what? Like, let’s go find the safest white boy we can find. I mean, I’m just saying.”
“Democratic National Convention Chair Ken Martin on Saturday doubled down on his ultimatum for rogue Vice Chair David Hogg: Take a neutrality pledge or step down,” Politico reports.
Said Martin: “Party officers have one job: to be fair stewards of a process that invites every Democrat to the table — regardless of personal views or allegiances.”
“Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) said Republicans are trying to pull John Fetterman to the right and argued Democrats should keep the Pennsylvania senator in their corner as he faces mounting questions over his health and shifting political persona,” Politico reports.
Said Gallego: “There needs to be space for Fetterman and for other senators in our caucus. He still is a senator that fights for working-class people. We may not be 100 percent in agreement a lot of times in a lot of areas, but we don’t have to be.”
“Marathon conversations here between U.S. and China officials came to an end Saturday, with more talks scheduled for Sunday over the continuing trade war between the countries,“ the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The talks, which were led on the American side by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, spanned at least eight hours and concluded without an announced deal.”
“If you can survive the Hill, you can survive in prison. The Hill can be a treacherous place, no question about it.”
— Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), who served a 17-month prison sentence, quoted by Politico, offering advice to former Rep. George Santos (R-NY).
Jake Sherman: “Sources tell me that House Republicans are not expected to pursue a new tax bracket for individuals earning $2.5 million and couples earning $5 million.”
“Trump had asked for this, but then said he didn’t want them to pursue it but he would be fine if they did. So I guess they took that as a cue to not do it.”
“Democratic members of Congress who were part of a scuffle with law enforcement officers at an ICE facility in New Jersey may face arrests,” Axios reports.
“It would be a major escalation in the Trump administration’s arrests of politicians and other public servants, including the mayor of Newark and a judge in Milwaukee.”
Rachel Bade: “Not even three months into his second term, the president is already hyper-engaged in the fight to keep the GOP’s majorities in Congress. Far from writing off the House or Senate, he’s bullish about defying history and keeping Democrats away from committee gavels and subpoena powers, according to five Republicans I’ve spoken to, including several close Trump confidants.”
“He’s rolling out early endorsements in hopes of forestalling messy primary fights that could divert precious resources from the general election campaigns. He’s making recruitment calls and buttonholing other Republicans about how he can best use his political muscle. And he’s continuing to raise boatloads of money to shell out in 2026.”
New York Times: “For years, the super PACs allied with House and Senate Republicans have been some of the most powerful and independent fiefs in American politics, raising and spending hundreds of millions of dollars in each election.”
“But even though Mr. Trump is in his second term and cannot run again, he is quickly bringing them inside his sphere of influence — a sign that his dominance over the party could endure well into the future.”
New York Times: “In April 2020, long before President Trump launched a trade war that would shake the global economy, China’s top leader held a meeting with senior Communist Party officials and laid out his vision for turning the tables on the United States in a confrontation…”
“Put simply: China should dominate supplies of things the world needs, to make its adversaries think twice about using tariffs or trying to cut China off.”
Wall Street Journal: What to watch during the U.S.-China talks this weekend.
President Trump announced that India and Pakistan had agreed to a ceasefire, after four days of the most widespread fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbors in decades.
New York Times: “As night set in, there were indications that the ceasefire was not holding entirely. Cross-border firing was reported in some areas of Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian part of the disputed region.”
Washington Post: India and Pakistan agree to an immediate ceasefire.
CNN: “On Friday morning, West Coast port officials told CNN about a startling sight: Not a single cargo vessel had left China with goods for the two major West Coast ports in the past 12 hours. That hasn’t happened since the pandemic.”
Bloomberg: “The House usually elects or reelects a chaplain to a two-year term at the beginning of each Congress, in a process that draws scant attention and little or no debate. With a current salary of more than $200,000 a year, the chaplain opens legislative floor business most days with prayers, and offers spiritual guidance and support to members. They also coordinate the ‘guest chaplains’ who are frequently invited by members to deliver the daily prayer.”
“But in a sign of the political times, this year even picking an official spiritual leader is proving divisive for the chamber where Republicans hold a slim 220-213 majority. In a series of private meetings, the 10-member panel has struggled to identify someone a majority of representatives can back.”
“Jeanine Pirro, whom President Trump selected this week to serve as the top prosecutor in the District of Columbia, is just the latest in a slew of Fox News hosts and personalities to join the president’s administration this year,” The Hill reports.
“Pirro on Thursday became one of more than a dozen former Fox employees or contributors who have spoken glowingly about the president on the network’s air and been rewarded with top jobs in his government.”
“When President Trump spoke to a room of top donors at his Florida club last week, he described ending Russia’s war in Ukraine as a growing frustration that keeps him up at night,“ the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin was particularly tough to negotiate with, and wanted ‘the whole thing,’ Trump said, referring to Ukraine… His comments came in response to a donor’s question about his biggest foreign-policy concerns.”
“The war in Gaza was also notably challenging, Trump told the crowd. Finding any solution was hard because ‘they’d been fighting for a thousand years,’ he said.”
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.