“At this point, who doesn’t want Trump impeached?”
— Ann Coulter, on Twitter, in response to Trump saying he wants to work with Democrats to protect DREAMers.
“At this point, who doesn’t want Trump impeached?”
— Ann Coulter, on Twitter, in response to Trump saying he wants to work with Democrats to protect DREAMers.
No more than a day since President Trump announced he would nominate James “Trey” Trainor III as a commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, the former election lawyer for the Trump presidential campaign is already under fire on multiple fronts, the National Law Journal reports.
“Perhaps to be expected, the nomination of Trainor was almost immediately opposed by advocacy groups such as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington — a nonprofit headed by former ethics czars in the Bush and Obama administrations — who said that Trainor stood for ‘exactly the opposite’ of what the FEC does: Police money in politics.”
“Perhaps less expected, Trainor’s Twitter feed came under the spotlight after users found that he had retweeted posts expressing what appeared to be anti-Protestant views.”
Leaving the White House for Florida this morning, President Trump told pool reporters that “the wall will come later,” adding that a deal is “fairly close” with Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell both on board, but both sides have to “get past the border security,” Axios reports.
Said Trump: “We’re working on a plan — subject to getting massive border controls. We’re working on a plan for DACA. People want to see that happen. You have 800,000 young people, brought here, no fault of their own. So we’re working on a plan, we’ll see how it works out. We’re going to get massive border security as part of that. And I think something can happen, we’ll see what happens, but something will happen.”
He added: “Mitch is on board, Paul Ryan’s on board. We all feel — look, 92% of the people agree on DACA — but what we want is very, very powerful border security, okay?”
You are reading the free version of Political Wire.
“Young Americans have been moving left and leaving the G.O.P. in recent years, but a successful Democratic coalition built on the backs of liberal youth is far from a sure thing, especially in the short term,” the New York Times reports.
“The party’s problem is straightforward: getting them to actually go to the polls. Politicians know which part of the electorate still butters their bread — and there’s no avocado on it. Those aged 18 to 29 vote at far lower rates than older groups, decreasing their electoral power. But there are at least some signs that their participation levels will improve. And if an increasingly left-leaning voting bloc does become more politically active, there are huge potential gains for the Democratic Party.”
“Russia has withdrawn parking privileges for U.S. diplomats, an apparent continuation of a diplomatic tit-for-tat between Washington and Moscow,” the AP reports.
“State-owned television channel Rossiya 24 reported on Wednesday that parking spaces outside the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg had been painted over with a pedestrian crossing, and special parking signs had been removed outside the U.S. consulate in Yekaterinburg, near the Ural Mountains.”
New Yorker: “When the C.I.A. first told Obama, in August, that the Russians had been meddling in the Presidential race, the agency shared the information with the Gang of Eight—the congressional leadership and the chairs and the ranking members of the intelligence committees. The Administration asked for a bipartisan statement of warning. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, adamantly refused, muffling for weeks any sense of national alarm.”
Said Clinton: “McConnell, in what I think of as a not only unpatriotic but despicable act of partisan politics, made it clear that if the Obama Administration spoke publicly about what they knew, he would accuse them of partisan politics, of trying to tip the balance toward me… McConnell basically threatened the White House.”
Playbook: “John Boehner and Eric Cantor were thrown to the wolves a few years ago for even toying with some sort of immigration reform package. Paul Ryan promised conservatives when he won the speakership in 2015 that he would not pursue and immigration package unless it had the support of the majority of Republicans. That means whatever deal Trump cut — or will cut — with Schumer and Pelosi needs to have the support of 121 House Republicans.”
“Remember: Paul Ryan is always under the threat of an immediate referendum vote of his speakership. Immigration isn’t like touching the third rail. It’s like hugging an electrified pole while wearing soaking wet clothing.”
“Following a rash of retirements, House Republican leaders are scrambling to get something done legislatively to convince other frustrated members not to toss in the towel in a tough political environment,” TPM reports.
“It’s not much fun to be a House Republican these days. President Trump has repeatedly taken potshots at their conference. Primary challenges burble on the right. Congress has been unable to pass much meaningful legislation in spite of unified control of Washington. Every trip home means an earful both from liberals furious at their support of the president and conservatives irate they’re not doing enough to support his agenda. And members who haven’t seen real competition for years face tough races due to Trump’s deep unpopularity.”
“That weighs heavily on Republicans who are on the fence about returning.”
President Trump said early this morning that “no deal was made last night on DACA,” after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi declared they agreed with President Trump to pursue to a legislative fix on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Daily Beast reports.
In a pre-dawn tweet, Trump wrote “Massive border security would have to be agreed to in exchange for consent. Would be subject to vote” and said his border wall with Mexico “would be built.”
The statement comes after Rep. Steve King (R-IA) tweeted that if Trump had made such a deal his base is “blown up, destroyed, irreparable, and disillusioned beyond repair. No promise is credible.”
Playbook: “Behind the scenes, Washington started to explode. The White House legislative affairs team was sending text messages and emails to Republican Hill staff, saying the president had only agreed to work on fixing DACA soon. He didn’t give up on the wall funding, but the White House conceded he said he wouldn’t insist it be part of this package.”
Jonathan Swan: “President Trump got a lot of attention for his Tuesday night dinner with three red-state Democratic senators, where he tried to win their support for tax reform. But here’s the thing: This was not the start of a bipartisan tax reform effort. This was the White House’s attempt to give Republicans a cushion in case they lose a few votes.”
“The White House did learn one lesson from the health care failure: It’s a mistake to rely on Republican votes alone. But the administration’s solution for tax reform is to give itself a little breathing room — not open the door to a broader bipartisan effort that would compromise what it wants to do. “
Former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), “whose career and personal life were wrecked in a series of sexting scandals, blamed a ‘deep sickness’ combined with the ‘profit-seeking curiosity’ of his 15-year-old victim for his legal troubles, as he asked a judge for leniency when he’s sentenced later this month,” Bloomberg reports.
The New York Times quoted Weiner saying, “My continued acting out over years crushed the aspirations of my wife and ruined our marriage.” He added that his young son “will forever have to answer questions about the public and private failings of his father.”
“The U.S. Office of Government Ethics has quietly reversed its own internal policy prohibiting anonymous donations from lobbyists to White House staffers who have legal defense funds,” Politico reports.
“The little-noticed change could help President Trump’s aides raise the money they need to pay attorneys as the Russia probe expands — but raises the potential for hidden conflicts of interest or other ethics trouble.”
A new Reuters/Ipsos/UVA Center for Politics poll finds 31% of Americans strongly or somewhat agreed that the country needs to “protect and preserve its White European heritage.” Another 34% strongly or somewhat disagreed with the statement, and 29% neither agreed nor disagreed.
Notably, 14% of all respondents both agreed that white people are under attack and disagreed with the statement that nonwhites are under attack.
Also interesting is that 16% agreed with the statement that “marriage should only be allowed between two people of the same race” and an additional 14% neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement, while 4% said they didn’t know. In total, about a third failed to express tolerance of interracial marriage.
“President Trump and top Democratic leaders late Wednesday agreed to work out an agreement that would protect the nation’s ‘dreamers’ from deportation and enact border security measures that don’t include building a physical wall,” the Washington Post reports.
“The president discussed the deal during a dinner at the White House with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). The meal included Chinese food and chocolate pie.”
Jonathan Swan: “If it is accurate, and Trump plans to enshrine DACA into law without funding the wall, Trump is risking a revolt from elements in his base. Many of his most hardcore supporters voted for him based on his hardline immigration policies. This plan is Jeb Bush/Marco Rubio territory — it’s not the Donald Trump they voted for.”
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster “has directed government departments and agencies to warn employees across the entire federal government next week about the dangers and consequences of leaking even unclassified information,” BuzzFeed reports.
“The Trump administration has already promised an aggressive crackdown on anyone who leaks classified information. The latest move is a dramatic step that could greatly expand what type of leaks are under scrutiny and who will be scrutinized.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin requested use of a government jet to take him and his wife on their honeymoon in Scotland, France and Italy earlier this summer, sparking an “inquiry” by the Inspector General, sources tell ABC News.
David Remnick: “For all of Hillary Clinton’s skills of survival, she will have a hard time finding a similar peace or place in public affairs. For one thing, Gore was in his early fifties when he lost. Clinton is sixty-nine. For another, the circumstances surrounding her defeat are immensely more disturbing. Clinton lost a race that few thought possible to lose. Her opponent was not Mitt Romney or John McCain or Marco Rubio but Donald Trump, a demonstrably crooked businessman and reality-television star, an unsavory, if shrewd, demagogue whose rhetoric and policy proposals had long flouted the constitutional norms of the United States.”
“She lost because of the tactical blunders of her campaign. She lost because she could never find a language, a thematic focus, or a campaigning persona that could convince enough struggling working Americans that she, and not a cartoonish plutocrat, was their champion. She lost because of the forces of racism, misogyny, and nativism that Trump expertly aroused. And she lost because of external forces (Vladimir Putin, Julian Assange, James Comey) that were beyond her control and are not yet fully understood.”
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), “the lone black Republican in the Senate, delivered a pointed lecture on America’s 300-year legacy of racism to President Trump on Wednesday in response to what he called Mr. Trump’s ‘sterile’ response to the riots in Charlottesville last month,” the New York Times reports.
“When a reporter asked the senator if the president had expressed regret, a pained look flashed on Mr. Scott’s face.”
He paused for a few seconds and replied: “He certainly tried to explain what he was trying to convey.”
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.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.