Political Wire

Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, trending news, a private podcast, no ads and more!

If you're already a member, log in for the full experience.

The ‘If Trump Doesn’t Run’ Primary

March 22, 2021 at 7:18 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “But what’s truly unique about the Republicans’ pre-presidential primary is the contingent framework that is unfolding around it. It’s a primary — but a wholly conditional one. Prospective 2024 candidates, donors and conservative media outlets — the entire Republican ecosystem — are building strategies and structuring the race around the single question of whether former President Donald Trump runs again.”

“It’s been nearly a half-century since either party had to navigate a primary in which a losing president loomed as a potential contestant.”

How Biden Quietly Created a Huge Social Program

March 22, 2021 at 7:15 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “An unlikely coalition of Democrats across the ideological spectrum mounted an 11th-hour push in the final weekend before the American Rescue Plan for President Biden to go big on tackling child poverty. They prevailed over what one person involved in the process called the “cost police” in Biden’s inner circle, those anxiously warning about the ballooning cost of the stimulus package.”

“This under-the-radar success created what could be the most consequential piece of the $1.9 trillion package — one that, if made permanent, could approach the impact of the programs established under President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty.”

“The sudden, unexpected creation of an approximately $120 billion social program has thrown a twist into the political landscape. Some Democrats now fear being labeled big-government spenders in the upcoming midterms. Some conservatives, on the other hand, are embracing the idea as a family-friendly measure.”

Biden Moves to Shore Up Obamacare

March 22, 2021 at 7:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

CNN: “In his first two months in office, Biden has taken several steps to bolster the landmark health reform law, which marks its 11th anniversary on Tuesday, and to embed it even more firmly in the nation’s health care system. Former President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak Monday about how the Affordable Care Act has benefited Americans and how the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion relief package, which Biden signed into law earlier this month, has strengthened the law.”

“Aided by the stimulus package, the Biden administration is making these moves even before its top health officials are in place. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was only confirmed on Thursday, while the President’s pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, has yet to go before the Senate.”

The Atlantic: Why Obamacare survived.

Biden’s Next Challenge Is Vaccine Diplomacy

March 22, 2021 at 7:09 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The U.S. accounts for 27% of the world’s coronavirus vaccine production, but 0% of the global supply beyond its own borders. Critics and allies alike say it’s time for that to change,” Axios reports.

“China has gotten a head start on vaccine diplomacy, sending millions of doses all over the globe, including to Latin America. Experts say it’s in America’s interests to compete in the race to vaccinate the world, and the calls to start doing so are getting louder.”

Democrats Look to Take Back Iowa House Seat

March 22, 2021 at 6:57 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “Just weeks after blasting Donald Trump for trying to overturn the Electoral College, House Democrats are about to try to reverse the outcome of a House election in Iowa to pad their slim majority by an extra seat.”

“Democrats say their candidate Rita Hart, who lost to GOP Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks by six votes, has every right to ask the House to resolve one of the closest House races in American history. Congress, they point out, has dealt with 110 such contested election cases over the past 90 years. Only three, however, resulted in the declared winner being ousted and replaced, according to the House Administration Committee.”

Key takeaway: “The effort to oust Miller-Meeks in favor of Hart has been blessed by the top echelons of House Democratic leadership.”

Washington Post: Pro-impeachment Republicans object to Democratic probe of narrow Iowa race.

Trump Looks to Take Down Raffensperger In Georgia

March 22, 2021 at 5:13 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Former President Donald Trump is expected to endorse Rep. Jody Hice in a campaign to unseat Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in next year’s Republican primary,” Politico reports.

“Trump publicly seethed about Raffensperger after the November election, when the secretary of state refused to support Trump’s false claims that Georgia’s 16 electoral votes were stolen from him.”

Karl Rove to Headline Fundraiser for Kinzinger

March 21, 2021 at 10:08 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A fundraiser for Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) will be headlined by Karl Rove and co-hosted by a who’s who of Illinois Republicans, a show of political strength coming as ex-President Donald Trump vows revenge against GOP House members who voted to impeach him,” the Chicago Sun Times reports.

Reed Won’t Run for Re-Election in 2022

March 21, 2021 at 8:02 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY) said in a statement Sunday night he would not run for re-election or for governor in 2022, following allegations last week of inappropriate sexual conduct,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Sedition Charges Likely In Capitol Attack

March 21, 2021 at 7:42 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Evidence the government obtained in the investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol most likely meets the bar necessary to charge some of the suspects with sedition, Michael Sherwin, the federal prosecutor who had been leading the Justice Department’s inquiry, said in an interview that aired on Sunday,” the New York Times reports.

“The department has rarely brought charges of sedition, the crime of conspiring to overthrow the government.”

Said Sherwin: “I personally believe the evidence is trending toward that, and probably meets those elements. I believe the facts do support those charges. And I think that, as we go forward, more facts will support that.”

Ducey Cites Border Drug Busts That Never Happened

March 21, 2021 at 7:06 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Ahead of his visit to the border, intended to draw attention to what he has called a security problem of increasing immigration, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s office issued a news release Thursday touting drug busts supposedly made by its Border Strike Force,” the Arizona Republic reports.

“However, each of the highlighted seizures appeared to have been made through the solid, and routine, work of troopers patrolling the state’s highways. And none took place near the border.”

High-Income Tax Avoidance Far Larger Than Thought

March 21, 2021 at 7:03 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The top sliver of high-income Americans dodge significantly more in income taxes than the Internal Revenue Service’s methods had previously assumed, according to forthcoming estimates from IRS researchers and academic economists,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Overall, the paper estimates that the top 1% of households fail to report about 21% of their income, with 6 percentage points of that due to sophisticated strategies that random audits don’t detect. For the top 0.1%, unreported income may be nearly twice as large as conventional IRS methodologies would suggest.”

House Democrats Eye ‘Kitchen Sink’ for Next Big Bill

March 21, 2021 at 7:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Less than two weeks after President Joe Biden signed into law one of Congress’ most expansive measures in decades, House Democratic leaders are already dreaming bigger,” Politico reports.

“With most items on their agenda hobbled by the Senate filibuster, top House Democrats are eyeing ways to muscle through drug pricing and climate policy goals using the same arcane budget process that let the party bypass GOP votes for its pandemic aid bill.”

“Sweeping immigration bills are also on the wishlist for many members, with Democrats eager to fit what they can in Biden’s next high-profile package — which could be the party’s last shot at using the budget tool before the midterm elections.”

Republicans Target Provisions In Relief Law

March 21, 2021 at 6:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Republicans are looking for ways to attack President Biden’s COVID-19 stimulus despite its huge popularity. One idea they’re testing: target add-ons like an $86 billion pension plan bailout,” Axios reports.

“Republicans privately acknowledge they failed to successfully define the legislation before it passed. Now the American Rescue Plan is becoming a law Americans identify as giving them $1,400 checks and supercharging the economy.”

McCarthy Hires Top Trump Official

March 21, 2021 at 6:37 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has hired former President Trump’s White House political director, Brian Jack, to lead his own political operation,” Axios reports.

“The move to bring on Jack underscores McCarthy’s strategy of keeping Trump and his orbit close as Republicans seek to retake the House majority in 2022 — and McCarthy achieves his personal goal of becoming speaker.”

Domestic Extremism Is Now Greatest Terrorism Threat

March 21, 2021 at 4:17 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC News that domestic violent extremism is the “single greatest terrorism-related threat” in the United States.

Ron Johnson Fills the Trump Misinformation Void

March 21, 2021 at 4:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) “incited widespread outrage when he said recently that he would have been more afraid of the rioters who rampaged the Capitol on Jan. 6 had they been members of Black Lives Matter and antifa,” the New York Times reports.

“But his revealing and incendiary comment, which quickly prompted accusations of racism, came as no surprise to those who have followed Mr. Johnson’s career in Washington or back home in Wisconsin. He has become the Republican Party’s foremost amplifier of conspiracy theories and disinformation now that Donald Trump himself is banned from social media and largely avoiding appearances on cable television.”

Biden Does What Obama Did Not

March 21, 2021 at 2:35 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Maureen Dowd: “So now comes a delicious twist: President Biden is being hailed as a transformational, once-in-a-generation progressive champion, with comparisons to L.B.J. and F.D.R. aplenty, while Obama has become a cautionary tale about what happens when Democrats get the keys to the car but don’t put their foot on the gas.”

“The collective smirk was wiped off the face of Obamaworld this past week, as former aides expressed their irritation at the retrospective dissing, and while Biden’s inner circle enjoyed an unfamiliar sensation: schadenfreude. Now the friendly fire once aimed at Biden is coming toward Obama.”

Senator Says GOP Can’t ‘Explain Away’ Insurrection

March 21, 2021 at 1:26 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) urged Republicans not to come up with “alternative versions” for what happened on January 6 at the Capitol, an apparent reference to those who have argued that “antifa” or left-wing protesters were responsible for driving the violence, NBC News reports.

Said Blunt: “We don’t need to try and explain away or come up with alternative versions. We all saw what happened, we know what happened. We can’t let that kind of thing be repeated in our country. Totally unacceptable.”