“The Missouri House is expected to approve a new congressional map Tuesday that would eliminate a Democratic-controlled US House seat, as Republicans around the country scramble to boost their chances of retaining control of Congress after next year’s midterm elections,” CNN reports.
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Trump Halts IRS Crackdown on Major Tax Shelters
“The Trump administration is quietly dismantling efforts by the Internal Revenue Service to shut down a slew of aggressive tax shelters used by America’s biggest multinational companies and wealthiest people,” the New York Times reports.
Gerrymandering May Get Even Worse
Nate Cohn says if the Supreme Court slashes the Voting Rights Act further in a case they’ll hear next month, Republicans could gerrymander eight more safe seats in the South.
Can a Despised Autocrat Consolidate Power?
Paul Krugman: “Roughly speaking, the American public doesn’t support anything Trump is doing. Yet he has been governing as if he has an overwhelming mandate to do whatever he wants, and to a large extent has been getting away with it. How is he managing that?”
“Part of the answer is anticipatory compliance on the part of members of the elite, from corporate CEOs to university presidents to law partners. Many of our institutions have been giving in to demands that Trump clearly has no legal right to make, out of fear of the consequences if they don’t.”
“Part of the answer is that Trump keeps declaring various kinds of emergency, then claiming that he has extraordinary powers to respond to these supposed emergencies…”
“But are cowardly elites and a compliant Supreme Court that keeps granting emergency powers enough to let a president who has not yet established a widespread climate of fear, who has low and declining public support, consolidate his position as autocrat?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. But I guess we’re going to find out.”
Trump Won’t Be Able to Stop Vote on Epstein Files
“Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) discharge petition on releasing the Epstein files is all but certain to force a House vote by the end of this month — even if no additional Republicans sign on,” Axios reports.
“That’s bad news for many House Republicans, who are torn between their base’s demand for transparency around the Epstein case and President Trump’s insistence that the matter be dropped.”
“Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has also publicly opposed the discharge petition, which would undermine his control of the floor.”
Deny, Deny, Deny
Playbook: “How much trouble is the president in? Under normal laws of politics, the answer should be — an awful lot, given the whole world has now seen the suggestive and intensely creepy note included in the pedophile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein‘s ‘birthday book’ of 2003, bearing what appears to be Trump’s signature.”
“But when Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt arrives in the White House briefing room at 1 p.m. today — and, later, when Trump himself invites the press pool into the Oval Office at 4.30 p.m. — don’t expect the faintest glimpse of admission, contrition or regret. Instead, the playbook will be the same as always. Deny, deny, deny — and counterattack.”
Mamdani Holds Huge Lead in Mayor’s Race
Zohran Mamdani has opened a commanding lead in the race for mayor of New York City, buoyed by support for his affordability platform and by the splintered opposition, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll.
The poll found that 46% of likely voters currently planned to choose Mr. Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, in a four-way race.
By comparison, 24% of likely voters in New York City said they would support Andrew Cuomo, 15% would back Curtis Sliwa; and 9% favored Eric Adams.
Senate to Confirm 48 Trump Nominees Next Week
“Senate Republicans are teeing up four dozen sub-Cabinet nominees for confirmation next week as they move toward invoking the so-called ‘nuclear option’ to change the chamber’s rules,” Punchbowl News reports.
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The Rough Road Ahead for Scott Bessent
9Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has weathered market turbulence from President Donald Trump’s trade wars, the administration’s clashes with the Federal Reserve and battles with fellow officials,” Politico reports.
“But his biggest challenge may lie ahead, with signs that the economy is faltering just eight months into the Trump presidency.”
Major Jobs Revision Could Show Weaker Labor Market
CBS News: “The latest jobs report points to a labor market that’s faltering, but the slowdown may have begun much earlier. Economists expect the Bureau of Labor Statistics to issue a major downward revision on Tuesday, showing the nation added hundreds of thousands fewer jobs than first reported.”
GOP Hardline Won’t Rule Out Short-Term Funding
“House Republicans are inching closer together on a plan to fund the government, with a key GOP hard-liner suggesting he could tolerate a short-term punt before funding runs out Sept. 30,” Politico reports.
“Maryland Rep. Andy Harris, who chairs the House Freedom Caucus and for weeks has pushed for a year-long continuing resolution, said in a brief interview Monday he could support a shorter stopgap plan that Appropriations Chair Tom Cole is backing — if Cole has the votes.”
The ‘I Haven’t Seen It’ Defense Is Back
“It was hard to miss the letter Donald Trump reportedly sent disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein for his 50th birthday — complete with a sketched outline of a naked woman — after the House Oversight Committee Democrats published a copy of the 2003 note to X on Monday afternoon,” NOTUS reports.
“But the Republican lawmakers gathered on Capitol Hill, just hours later, claimed they were not among those millions of viewers.”
Video Shows GOP Lawmaker Taunting Protester
“New video footage shows there was more to the skirmish last week between a protester and Rep. Tim Burchett, which ended with the Tennessee Republican forcefully shoving the man,” Politico reports.
“Burchett characterized the encounter at the time as a heated verbal exchange that grew physical when the demonstrator got in the lawmaker’s face and ‘bumped’ him. But a recording of the incident shows that prior to the two of them coming face to face, Burchett taunted the man, saying ‘come over here.’”
“After a tense back-and-forth, the protester appeared to move away from Burchett, but the lawmaker stepped toward him again and escalated the interaction, mocking the man for ‘quivering.’”
Mar-a-Lago Member Joked Epstein ‘Sold’ Trump a Woman
A member of President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club joked about the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein selling Trump a “fully depreciated” woman for $22,500 in 2003.
Trump Says Having a ‘Fight With the Wife’ Isn’t a Crime
President Trump suggested that offenses that “take place in the home” should not count against his record of crime reduction in Washington, saying his opponents are using reports of “a little fight with the wife” to undermine his crackdown, the New York Times reports.
The Epstein Letter Is Real
Jonathan Chait: “The president’s initial strategy of denying that the document exists leaves him with few options now that it has been made public.”
Aaron Blake: “The key fact here is that this comes from Epstein’s estate. In other words, for this letter to have been fake, someone would have had to plant it in Epstein’s possessions a long time ago, somehow.”
White House Denies It’s Trump’s Signature
“The White House is denying the authenticity of a newly released letter that President Donald Trump reportedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday, suggesting that the signature on the document does not match current documents,” NOTUS reports.
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