“A PAC aligned with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) is going up with new ads Monday bolstering GOP senators in Ohio and Florida,” Axios reports.
“The group will spend half a million dollars between the two states. It’s another sign of Republican leaders moving early to try to sway voters ahead of next year’s midterm elections.”
Washington Post: “The stream of defendants who shuffled through a federal courtroom on Thursday afternoon illustrated the new ways in which laws are being enforced in the nation’s capital after the president’s takeover of the city’s police. They were appearing before a magistrate judge on charges that would typically be handled at the local court level, if they were filed at all.”
“One man had been arrested over an open container of alcohol. Another had been charged with threatening the president after delivering a drunken outburst following his arrest on vandalism. And one defendant’s gun case so alarmed prosecutors that they intend to drop the case.”
President Trump plans to sign an executive order that aims to eliminate “cashless bail” for arrested suspects in Washington, D.C., Axios reports.
Under cashless bail, a suspect doesn’t need to pay money to be released from custody before trial.
You're reading the free version of Political Wire
Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock full access. The process is quick and easy. You can even use Apple Pay.
NOTUS: “The House Freedom Caucus, as Washington knows it, will look fundamentally different next year. Some staffers — particularly delighted Democrats — are speculating that with so many ideological leaders of the caucus looking for the exits, the group might functionally cease to exist, or, at least, cease to be a serious thorn in leadership’s side.”
“President Donald Trump has long quested after a Nobel Peace Prize, a distinction that would put him in a vaunted and exclusive club. But unlike a U.S. presidential campaign, winning a Nobel Peace Prize depends on an electorate of five — and Trump may not have a majority,” the Washington Post reports.
“Trump’s desire for a Nobel has been a through-current of both of his terms, but his effort has escalated in recent months. He has mused aloud that the peace deal in Ukraine that he worked on in recent weeks might be one key to the prize. But at least three of the five Norwegian deciders have criticized Trump publicly, making his path to winning their votes far from clear.”
NOTUS: “Inspired by Dan Osborn’s surprisingly strong showing in Nebraska, independents are jumping into races across the country.”
Axios: “Bedrock concepts that economists hold dear — of central bank independence, reliable data collection, and technocratic decision-making — are under threat in ways that have left the global central banking community discombobulated.”
“In formal proceedings at the Kansas City Fed’s annual economic symposium this weekend, there were only the subtlest of references to the Trump administration’s actions that throw Federal Reserve independence and government economic data into doubt.”
“But in whispered private conversations against the stunning backdrop of the Grand Tetons, there was melancholy — a fear that the war for empiricism and independence may already be lost.”
Wall Street Journal: “A virtual halt to unauthorized border crossings, plus stepped-up deportations and a souring climate for foreigners means net immigration this year could be negative for the first time in decades, some experts predict.”
“That has a short-run benefit, as Powell alluded to. It means slumping labor demand won’t necessarily push up the unemployment rate, which at 4.2% is historically low. But in the long run it could limit the economy’s potential growth and generate larger budget deficits.”
Wall Street Journal: “But the truce came with a cost: In return for Trump’s support, the administration proposed taking an equity stake in the company. It decided to convert nearly $9 billion in grants—promised to Intel as part of the 2022 Chips Act—into a 10% equity stake in the company, an unusual arrangement that makes the government Intel’s biggest shareholder.”
“The meeting was the pivot point in a frenzied period for Intel, once one of America’s most venerated technology companies, now stuck in a yearslong downward spiral. The company’s scramble to control the fallout from the president’s demand that Tan step down—triggered by a Fox Business Network segment—underscores the unpredictable environment major corporations face under Trump.”
CNBC: U.S. government takes 10% stake in Intel, as Trump expands control over private sector.
“President Trump is molding D.C. into his own personal Epcot — a political theme park where troops keep the peace, the White House glitters like Mar-a-Lago and museums answer to MAGA,” Axios reports.
“No president has asserted such direct and sweeping control over the nation’s capital. With America’s 250th anniversary coming next year, Trump has claimed dominion over D.C.’s crime, culture, cleanliness — even its rats.”
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia reported to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Baltimore on Monday, just days after his release from jail. ICE alerted his attorneys on Friday that he could be deported to Uganda and was ordered to report to authorities,” Fox DC reports.
“Now, he faces the possibility of being sent to Uganda, a country where he has no known ties.”
Nate Silver: “Democrats don’t merely have to reciprocate — tit-for-tat might be a game-theory optimal strategy over the long run, but it doesn’t work as well if you’re always a half-step behind. They should also consider acting preemptively, something few Democrats other than Beto O’Rourke of all people have dared to suggest.”
“In the long run, voters could turn against aggressive gerrymandering, especially if they see their longstanding moderate members of Congress replaced by partisan hacks. But to change that requires Congressional action, a new court, or a constitutional amendment — and all of those require winning elections. Democrats can’t be too proud to play by the rules of the game as they’ve so clearly been established under Roberts: they might even come out ahead.”
Paul Krugman: “Donald Trump is threatening to fire Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, over allegations that she made false claims on mortgage applications before she went to the Fed.”
“I am not going to lead with a discussion of what Cook may or may not have done. That would be playing Trump’s game. Clearly, he’s just looking for a pretext to fire someone who isn’t a loyalist — and who happens, surprise, to be a black woman. If you write about politics and imagine that Trump cares about mortgage fraud — or for that matter believe anything Trump officials say about the affair without independent confirmation — you should find a different profession. Maybe you should go into agricultural field work, to help offset the labor shortages created by Trump’s deportations.”
“The real story here isn’t about Cook, or mortgages. It’s about the way the Trump administration is weaponizing government against political opponents, critics, or anyone it finds inconvenient.”
Donald Trump demanded that Roger Clemens be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame after golfing with him.
Vice President JD Vance told NBC News that it’s right to negotiate with Vladimir Putin because “if you go back to World War II, if you go back to every major conflict in human history, they all end with some kind of negotiation.”
Playbook: “Which was certainly news to WWII historians, given the total capitulation of the Germans and the Japanese.”
This year’s most far-reaching immigration case is likely to decide if immigration agents in Los Angeles are free to stop, question and arrest Latinos they suspect are here illegally, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) continued to pull huge crowds in Wisconsin and Chicago this weekend for his “Fight Oligarchy” tour, the Chicago Sun Times reports.
Sanders said the nation is now “of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class and for the billionaire class.”
He added: “What the media doesn’t talk about very often, and what you almost never hear in the halls of Congress, is the reality that today you are living in a nation where a handful of incredibly wealthy people, multi multi billions, have enormous powers and control over our economy, over our media, over our political system. And we are gathered here today to say, that is going to change.”
“Ken Martin is in the fight of his life,” the AP reports.
“The low-profile political operative from Minnesota, just six months on the job as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is charged with leading his party’s formal resistance to President Donald Trump and fixing the Democratic brand.”
Said Martin: “I think the greatest divide right now in our party, frankly, is not ideological. The greatest divide is those people who are standing up and fighting and those who are sitting on the sidelines.”
Politico: Democrats brace for battle over 2028 primary calendar to “explode.”
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.