“President Donald Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to quickly decide whether he has the power to impose broad tariffs under a law designed for use during times of emergency,” NBC News reports.
“The Justice Department is appealing a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Aug. 29 that said Trump had exceeded his authority.”
Former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) is preparing to run for Florida’s 19th congressional district seat, Axios reports.
“Cawthorn, who once said the House Republican conference is full of degenerates, appears eager to rejoin his old colleagues. If elected, he’d almost certainly create fresh headaches for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).”
“Rep. Ronny Jackson announced that the Navy has restored his retired rank of rear admiral, overturning a 2022 demotion that followed a scathing investigation that found major issues with his behavior while he was the top White House physician,” the AP reports.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani called reporting Wednesday that the White House is considering administration jobs for Mayor Eric Adams and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa an “affront to our democracy,” ABC News reports.
Said Mamdani: “Today, we have learned what New Yorkers have long suspected — that Andrew Cuomo is Donald Trump’s choice to be the next mayor of this city.”
“President Trump on Thursday will host two dozen high-profile tech and business leaders for the first event in the newly renovated White House Rose Garden, including Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and OpenAI founder Sam Altman,” The Hill reports.
“House Republicans are weighing a slate of legislation that would overhaul criminal justice policies in D.C. and further restrict home rule — including a proposal that would remove the city’s locally elected attorney general and replace him with a presidential appointee,” the Washington Post reports.
A leaked memo obtained by the Daily Mail “sheds light on the shady dealings of Corey Lewandowski, a powerful advisor to Kristi Noem at the Department of Homeland Security and Trump’s former campaign manager.”
“The documents bring to light a history of questionable links to other nations, arrests and substance and alcohol abuse.”
“Senate Republicans are coalescing around a rules-change package that would effectively steamroll Democrats’ blockade of President Donald Trump’s nominees,” Punchbowl News reports.
“And they want to move fast.”
“After a two-hour meeting in the Capitol on Wednesday, GOP senators said they want to act quickly to trigger the so-called “nuclear option” to unilaterally change the chamber’s rules via a simple majority vote. Republicans plan to do this before the Senate’s next recess, which begins in two weeks.”
“The White House has taken the extraordinary step of instructing a half-dozen agencies to draft plans to thwart the country’s offshore wind industry as it intensifies its governmentwide attack on a source of renewable energy that President Trump has criticized as ugly, expensive and inefficient,” the New York Times reports.
“Agencies that typically have little to do with offshore wind power have been drawn into the effort.”
“At the Health and Human Services Department, for instance, officials are studying whether wind turbines are emitting electromagnetic fields that could harm human health. And the Defense Department is probing whether the projects could pose risks to national security.”
“Over the next two months, Democratic and Republican donors are expected to funnel as much as $200 million into a California ballot fight that could heavily shape which party wins control of the U.S. House next year,” the New York Times reports.
“It is an enormous amount of cash to raise in such a brief amount of time, but one that befits the stakes of the race.”
“House Republicans voted on Wednesday to establish a new subcommittee to reinvestigate the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, moving to reopen one of the most polarizing chapters in American politics,” the Washington Post reports.
“A federal judge on Wednesday ruled President Donald Trump’s administration unlawfully terminated about $2.2 billion in grants awarded to Harvard University and can no longer cut off research funding to the prestigious Ivy League school,” Reuters reports.
“The decision by U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston marked a major legal victory for Harvard as it seeks to cut a deal that could bring an end to the White House’s multi-front conflict with the nation’s oldest and richest university.”
New York Times: “Although Harvard’s case centered on its research funding, the university contended that the administration had compromised its First Amendment and due process rights. Now, the judge’s decision stands to give Harvard new leverage with the White House in settlement talks that began in June.”
New York City mayor Eric Adams has been offered a position at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development if he drops his re-election bid, Politico reports.
“Democrats have to give up on the idea that they’re a governing party. They have to give up on the idea that the Republican party is a traditional political party of which you can have some sort of meeting of the minds.”
— Former GOP strategist Stuart Stevens, on the Bulwark Podcast.
“A bipartisan group of House members on Wednesday unveiled a bill to bar lawmakers and their families from trading or owning individual stocks, a much-anticipated compromise that some conservatives and liberals say their colleagues can get behind,” NOTUS reports.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said he would not consider a nominee to replace ousted Fed governor Lisa Cook until the legality of President Trump’s move to fire her has been determined in court, signaling that the Senate is unlikely to approve a new nominee for her seat while the issue is being litigated, Politico reports.
Said Tillis: “I’m not going to consider anybody until that’s been adjudicated.”
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.
