Comey Levels Odd Charge Against Comey
Rep. James Comer (R-KY) accused former FBI Director James Comey of trying to “jizz up some type of coup” against President Donald Trump, the Daily Beast reports.
Medicaid Cuts Are Turning Into GOP Battle Royal
“House Republicans’ attempt to curb Medicaid as part of President Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ tax-and-spending bill has opened up a constellation of intraparty fights that are complicating the GOP-controlled Congress’s efforts to advance the sweeping legislation,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The fight over Medicaid—how deeply and quickly to trim the program that serves more than 70 million people—helped snarl progress Friday on getting the megabill to the House floor. Spending-hawk holdouts on the Budget Committee blocked the measure, setting the stage for further talks into the weekend. But even if the bill makes it through the House by leaders’ self-imposed Memorial Day deadline, more battles are expected in the Senate.”
Republican Revolt Reflects a Core Party Divide
New York Times: “The handful of lawmakers who blocked their own party’s sprawling domestic policy measure from advancing out of a key committee on Friday acted out of a fundamentally different view of federal spending and debt than the rest of the G.O.P. They are single-mindedly focused on slashing deficits by restructuring the government to dramatically scale back social programs, whatever the political consequences.”
Trump Remkes the Foreign Trip
“The first multi-day foreign trip of President Donald Trump’s second term bucked the norms of presidential travel, demonstrating just how swiftly and drastically his transactional approach to foreign policy has reshaped the way other countries interact with the United States,” Politico reports.
“Trump’s whirlwind journey this week through three wealthy Arab Gulf states appeared more like a governor’s economic development mission — with corporate leaders and investment pledges — than a typical presidential trip. Usually, those highly choreographed missions are geared toward affirming alliances, engaging in tough diplomatic negotiations and advancing American foreign policy priorities. Trump did all of that, but his chosen allies and priorities were strikingly different.”
Prosecutor’s Audio Shows Biden’s Memory Lapses
“Amid long, uncomfortable pauses, Joe Biden struggled to recall when his son died, when he left office as vice president, what year Donald Trump was elected or why he had classified documents he shouldn’t have had, according to audio obtained of his October 2023 interviews with special counsel Robert Hur,” Axios reports.
“The newly released recordings of Biden having trouble recalling such details — while occasionally slurring words and muttering — shed light on why his White House refused to release the recordings last year, as questions mounted about his mental acuity.”
“The audio also appears to validate Hur’s assertion that jurors in a trial likely would have viewed Biden as ‘a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’”
DOGE’s Plan to Remake Social Security Is Backfiring
“The U.S. DOGE Service arrived at the Social Security Administration this year determined to slash staff and root out what it claimed was widespread fraud and wasteful spending — a mission Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team has pursued across the government,” the Washington Post reports.
“But as of this week, many of the major changes DOGE pushed at Social Security have been abandoned or are being reversed after proving ineffective, while others are yielding unintended consequences and badly damaging customer service and satisfaction. The problems come as the agency struggles to cope with a record surge of hundreds of thousands of retirement claims in recent months.”
Trump Allows Sale of Device to Transform Firearms
The Trump administration has decided to permit the sale of devices that enable standard firearms to fire like machine guns, a move that one person familiar with the matter said was “by far the most dangerous thing this administration has done” on gun policy, NBC News reports.
Moody’s Downgrades U.S. Credit Rating
Moody’s downgraded the credit rating of the United States by a notch to “Aa1” from “Aaa”, citing rising debt and interest “that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns,” Reuters reports.
Wall Street Journal: “The move strips the U.S. of its last remaining triple-A credit rating from a major ratings firm, following similar cuts by Fitch Ratings in 2023 and S&P Global Ratings in 2011.”
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The Republican Finger Pointing Begins
Punchbowl News: “There is a ton of blame going around right now for today’s GOP debacle in the House Budget Committee.”
“There’s a healthy amount of anger toward Johnson. Some of this is legitimate. He did leave a lot of these decisions to the last minute.”
“But the White House seems extremely annoyed with Arrington for holding a vote on a package that wasn’t going to pass the committee. Republican leadership did want to proceed with the vote, or at least that’s what they told us.”
J.D. Vance Is Clear Favorite to Win 2028 GOP Nomination
A new J.L. Partners survey found 46% of Republican voters are ready to back Vice President J.D. Vance as President Donald Trump’s successor, while no other named prospect got more than double-digit support.
Just 8% would back Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, while 7% supported Vivek Ramaswamy. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) each received 6% support.
Trump Wants to Move 1 Million Palestinians to Libya
“The Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate up to 1 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya,” NBC News reports.
“In exchange for the resettling of Palestinians, the administration would potentially release to Libya billions of dollars of funds that the U.S. froze more than a decade ago.”
Justices Block Trump from Using Alien Enemies Act
“The Supreme Court on Friday blocked President Donald Trump from moving forward with deportations under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act for a group of immigrants in northern Texas, siding with Venezuelans who feared they were poised for imminent removal under the sweeping wartime authority,” CNN reports.
“The decision is a significant loss for Trump, who wants to use the law to speed deportations – and avoid the kind of review normally required before removing people from the country.”
NBC News: Supreme Court rules Trump administration must give Venezuelans more time to challenge deportation under Alien Enemies Act.
Consumer Sentiment Sinks to Near Record Low
“U.S. consumers are becoming increasingly worried that tariffs will lead to higher inflation, according to a University of Michigan survey released Friday,” CNBC reports.
“The index of consumer sentiment dropped to 50.8, down from 52.2 in April, in the preliminary reading for May. That is the second-lowest reading on record, behind June 2022.”
Dave Yost Exits Ohio Governor’s Race
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) has suspended his campaign for governor, clearing the field in the Republican primary for Vivek Ramaswamy (R), Politico reports.
Said Yost: “I do not wish to divide my political party or my state with a quixotic battle over the small differences between my vision and that of my opponent. I am simply not that important.”
Quote of the Day
“This isn’t ‘The Hunger Games’ for immigrants. This is not, ‘Hey, if you lose, we are shipping you out on a boat out of the country.'”
— Television producer Rob Worsoff, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, confirming that he’s working with the Department of Homeland Security on a reality television show.
The New MAGA World Order
Jonathan Chait: “It appears that Trump does care about the internal character of regimes he deals with. Rather than following a foreign policy that ignores values altogether, Trump has a clear preference for values that are, in the American context, historically anomalous or—to put it in less neutral terms—bad. And he wishes to spread those values around the world.”
“Whatever you say about this policy, it is not amoral. The primary difference between the Trump doctrine and traditional American values promotion is that the former, rather than seeking to impose a moral world order, aspires to create an immoral one.”
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