“Can we completely repeal and replace Obamacare? Many of us are skeptical about that now, because the roots are so deep, it was really sinister, the way it was created. I believe Obamacare was created to implode upon itself, to collapse upon itself.”
— Speaker Mike Johnson, addressing reporters.
After reports surfaced that Jay Jones (D) sent violent text messages about colleagues, the race for Virginia attorney general has tightened — with polling averages now showing a dead heat.
Ruth Marcus: “The former president once made an offhand remark about Charles Manson’s guilt. The reaction shows how aberrant Donald Trump’s rhetoric is.”
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Former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) “has told his inner circle to start working on putting an Ohio gubernatorial campaign plan together, though he still hasn’t decided whether to enter the race,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
Politico: “Voters blame Republicans more than Democrats for the federal government shutdown, according to a review of polling conducted after services shuttered… Those same voters, however, delivered the GOP a 4-point advantage when asked which party they trust more on economic issues.”
“That dichotomy underscores an electoral hurdle for the party locked out of power: Even as Democrats hold the line over expiring health care subsidies that could send millions of Americans’ insurance prices soaring, voters still favor Republicans on the economy and cost of living.”
Washington Post: “There are really three political parties in Washington, according to an old saying: Democrats, Republicans and appropriators.”
“The latter are members of Congress lucky enough to get placed on the powerful committees that dole out roughly $1.6 trillion in federal funds for the military and government services each year. They have traditionally shared a common goal of jealously guarding their tremendous ability to steer federal resources. It’s a bond that often defies the political rules of gravity that govern everything else on Capitol Hill.”
“But now, those ties are being tested like never before: The White House was aggressively encroaching on Congress’s power of the purse even before it began using the ongoing government shutdown as justification for rolling back billions more in spending.”
Justin Murphy: “The symbol of public mourning loses its meaning when it’s used too much.”
“When coal miners came to Washington in April, they posed behind President Trump at the White House, wearing their hard hats and thanking him for trying to reinvigorate their struggling industry,” the New York Times reports.
“But on Tuesday dozens of miners and their families will be in a more unusual position: protesting the Trump administration outside the Labor Department building, arguing it has failed to protect them from black lung disease, an incurable illness caused by inhaling coal and silica dust.”
Ruth Marcus: “The question raised by the prosecution of Letitia James is: would any other federal prosecutor have brought this case against any other defendant? The answer seems to be no.”
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined President Donald Trump’s invite to attend a Gaza ceasefire ceremony in Egypt on Monday, citing time constraints ahead of the start of a public holiday,” Bloomberg reports.
“Former Democratic Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was expected to report to prison Monday to begin serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence,” NewsNation reports.
“The longtime political figure was convicted in February on 10 of 23 counts in a remarkable corruption trial that lasted four months. The case churned through 60 witnesses and mountains of documents, photographs and taped conversations.”
New York Times: “Few candidates have touched off fear and opposition among New York’s captains of industry the way that Mr. Mamdani has. Some have talked of moving out of state. Others are backing efforts to block his election.”
“But a surprising thing has been happening when Mr. Mamdani gets behind closed doors with New York’s elite. They are finding themselves, unexpectedly, charmed.”
“It’s partly because of what Mr. Mamdani, the well-educated and well-mannered son of Manhattan intellectuals, does: He listens, asks questions and is amiable.”
“But it’s also what he doesn’t do: He doesn’t lecture the business leaders, instead absorbing their points of view and, at times, promising to think about their arguments.”
Paul Krugman: “There is, however, one big difference between Trump’s trade policy and China’s. Namely, the Chinese appear to know what they’re doing.”
“It should have been obvious from the beginning that if America were to get into a full-scale trade war with China, the Chinese would have the upper hand. For one thing, in real terms China has the bigger economy.”
“Furthermore, while our economies are interdependent, America is more vulnerable to a rupture than China is. True, Chinese industry has relied to an important degree on sales to the United States. But the U.S. economy is dependent on China for critical inputs, above all those rare earths.”
“And here’s the thing: China can quickly compensate, at least in part, for the loss of the U.S. export market by stimulating domestic demand. Given time, America could wean itself from dependence on Chinese inputs — but doing so would take years.”
“Since they entered California politics over 20 years ago, Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsom have ducked a one-on-one showdown. Now the Democratic rivals are barreling toward what could be a contest on the biggest stage: the 2028 race for the White House,” Axios reports.
“It could be a Hollywood script: The former vice president, now touting a new book, is seeking redemption after falling to Donald Trump last year.”
“The California governor, a rising star, has burst onto the national stage this year as a leading voice in the resistance to Trump.”
“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he still expects Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will meet, while warning that all options are open for retaliating against China’s move to tighten exports of rare earths,” Bloomberg reports.
Former President Barack Obama slammed President Donald Trump for sending the National Guard to Chicago to crack down on crime, saying it is “inherently corrupting” for a president to use the military “against their own people,” Mediaite reports.
Said Obama: “When you have military that can direct force against their own people, that is inherently corrupting.“
He added: “When you have what looks like a deliberate end run around not just a concept but a law that’s been around for a long time, Posse Comitatus, that says you don’t use our military on domestic soil unless there is an extraordinary emergency of some sort.”
“What we’re doing now, it could’ve happened a long time ago, but it was strangled and set back almost irretrievably by the administrations of Barack Obama and then Joe Biden. There was a hatred toward Israel.”
— President Trump, speaking in Israel.
New York Times: “President Trump is shattering all sorts of diplomatic taboos. He just turned to Isaac Herzog, Israel’s president, with an appeal on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the defendant in a long-running criminal trial on charges including bribery.”
Said Trump: “Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t you give him a pardon?”
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.
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