Helen Lewis: “To a degree that seems bizarre to me as an outsider, the American party system, particularly on the Democratic side, defers to incumbents. (Since the 2022 midterm election, eight members of Congress have died in office. All of them were Democrats.) But in Holmes Norton’s case, something unusual has occurred: People close to her have continued to express concern about her ability to serve, and, even more unusually, have done so under their own names.”
Three Centrist Women in a Group Chat Lead Democrats
“They jumped into politics in President Donald Trump’s first term. They ascended to Congress with similar résumés. They text all the time in a group chat,” the Washington Post reports.
“Now Abigail Spanberger, Mikie Sherrill and Elissa Slotkin are all playing leading roles for the Democratic Party — a trio of centrist women with national security backgrounds who helped retake the House in 2018 and this year hope to steer their beleaguered party back toward winning.”
Senate Begins Its ‘Byrd Bath’
Punchbowl News: “The Senate Finance Committee is beginning its ‘Byrd Bath’ process to litigate tax and health provisions with the Senate parliamentarian. This is to ensure compliance with the Byrd Rule, which governs the reconciliation process.”
“Democratic staffers are meeting with the parliamentarian’s office today. GOP aides will also have their own meetings. After that, full Byrd Bath arguments with GOP and Democratic staffers will start Sunday, according to sources briefed on the plans.”
“Democrats intend to challenge about 60 provisions in the Finance Committee text. That includes targeting Republicans’ plan to use the current policy baseline, which Democrats have panned as a gimmick designed to mask the true cost of the GOP package.”
GOP Lawmaker Claims He Was ‘Run Off the Road’
Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) claimed that he was “run off the road” by an aggressor with a Palestinian flag in his home state of Ohio, drawing condemnations from across the aisle, Politico reports.
Miller, who is Jewish and is a self-described “staunch defender of Israel,” decried the incident as an act of antisemitism.
Israel’s War May Cost Hundreds of Millions of Dollars a Day
“Israel’s conflict with Iran is costing the country hundreds of millions of dollars a day, according to early estimates, a price tag that could constrain Israel’s ability to conduct a lengthy war,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The biggest single cost are the interceptors needed to blow up incoming Iranian missiles, which alone can amount to between tens of millions to $200 million a day, experts say. Ammunition and aircraft also add to the price tag of the war, as does the unprecedented damage to buildings. Some estimates so far say that rebuilding or repairing damage could cost Israel at least $400 million.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Poised for More Power
“Israeli strikes have taken direct aim at the backbone of its enemy’s military power: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“But the attacks are also increasing the chance of a change in leadership that would concentrate power in the hands of the elite military force, potentially resulting in a more hawkish and anti-Israeli Iran.”
Democrats Need More Hobbies
David Litt: “For most of my adult life, I worked in and around Democratic politics, and my hobby was work. Then, in 2022, I started taking surf lessons and got hooked. In April of 2023, and again last December, I took a trip to an outdoor wave pool in Waco, Texas.”
“If you want to meet the voters who swung toward Donald Trump and put him back in the White House, you could do worse than the hot tub at Waco Surf. I went there with my pickup-truck-driving, Joe Rogan–superfan brother-in-law, and from the moment we arrived, he couldn’t have felt more at home, and I couldn’t have felt more out of place.”
“At first I couldn’t put my finger on what, exactly, made me feel like the odd man out. But I soon developed a theory: The great divide between us is that I constantly think about politics and they do not.”
Juneteenth Goes Uncelebrated at White House
“Juneteenth, the holiday that marks the end of slavery in the United States, has been celebrated at the White House each June 19 since it was enshrined into law four years ago. But on Thursday, it went unmarked by the president — except for a post on social media in which he said he would get rid of some ‘non-working holidays,’” the New York Times reports.
Said Trump: “Soon we’ll end up having a holiday for every once working day of the year. It must change if we are going to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
NPR: Trump is silent about Juneteenth on a day he previously honored as president.
It’s Always Two Weeks
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Bannon Visits the White House
Steve Bannon was spotted entering the White House, the New York Daily News reports.
Kamala Harris Asked Mark Cuban to be Considered for VP
Mark Cuban told The Bulwark that Vice President Kamala Harris’s team had asked him to submit vetting materials to be considered for vice president during the 2024 campaign, but he turned her down.
Said Cuban: “I’m not very good as the number two person. And so if the last thing we need is me telling Kamala, you know, the president that, no, that’s a dumb idea. Right. And I’m not real good at the shaking hands and kissing babies.”
He added: “She would have fired me within six days.”
Russia Warns Against Regime Change in Iran
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sky News that said Russia would react “very negatively” if Israel were to assassinate Iran’s leader with U.S. assistance.
Peskov said regime change in Iran was “unimaginable,” adding that “even talking about that should be unacceptable for everyone.”
Biden Shares Message of Unity at Juneteenth Celebration
“Former President Joe Biden celebrated Juneteenth on Thursday at a historic Black church in Texas, calling for Americans to come together to push the country forward,” CNN reports.
Said Biden: “I don’t come here today to only commemorate the past. I come here because we know the good Lord isn’t done with us yet. We have work to do. We need to keep pushing America forward.”
Trump Buys Himself Time
“President Trump’s sudden announcement that he could take up to two weeks to decide whether to plunge the United States into the heart of the Israel-Iran conflict is being advertised by the White House as giving diplomacy one more chance to work,” the New York Times reports.
“But it also opens a host of new military and covert options.”
“Assuming he makes full use of it, Mr. Trump will now have time to determine whether six days of relentless bombing and killing by Israeli forces — which has taken out one of Iran’s two biggest uranium enrichment centers, much of its missile fleet and its most senior officers and nuclear scientists — has changed minds in Tehran.”
Stephen Collinson: Why Trump’s two-week pause on Iran makes sense — and why it may not work.
Court Lets Trump Keep Control of California Guard
“A federal appeals court on Thursday night allowed President Trump to maintain command of the California National Guard in response to the Los Angeles protests, blocking a lower court that ordered him to return those forces to the state’s control,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Politico: Appeals court blocks Newsom’s bid to reclaim control of National Guard from Trump.
Latino Trump Voters Still Back the President
“Some divides are emerging among swing-state Latinos who voted for President Donald Trump when it comes to his approach to mass deportations, according to new focus group conversations with some of these voters, who nevertheless remain broadly supportive of the president,” NBC News reports.
Big Majority Don’t Want U.S. to Attack Iran
A new Economist/YouGov poll finds 60% of Americans think the U.S. military should not get involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran.
Only 16% support U.S. military action, and 24% are unsure.
Trump Will Decide on Iran Attack Within Two Weeks
President Trump said Thursday he will decide whether the United States will attack Iran “within the next two weeks,” adding in a statement that “there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future,” the New York Times reports.
“For days, Mr. Trump had mused publicly about the possibility of ordering American forces to bomb Iranian nuclear sites, suggesting that strikes could be imminent, while also insisting that it was not too late for talks. With his comments on Thursday, he appeared to opt for some breathing room to consider options that carry a lower risk of escalation.”
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