“A leading Democratic-aligned think tank is urging states to suspend their redistricting commissions, in an escalation of the growing war over state maps,” Politico reports.
“The Center for American Progress, one of the most prominent liberal think tanks in Washington, urged states that have adopted independent redistricting commissions — which are predominantly blue-leaning states — to set them aside.”
“Silicon Valley corporations and investors, emboldened by President Trump’s embrace of the technology and crypto industries, have pledged up to $200 million to two new super PACs that are aimed at forcing out politicians whom they see as insufficiently supportive of the push into artificial intelligence,” the New York Times reports.
Garrett Graff: “One of the hardest things to do in the modern moment is keep up with the daily slog of scandals and corruption unfolding in this administration — sometimes in broad daylight in front of cameras in the Oval Office. On the one hand, it’s just too much for the media to cover, but there’s also a bigger problem: The media does a terrible job noticing them as the scandals go by. I think often of Steve Bannon’s infamous quote: ‘The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.'”
“Almost every day there’s a scandal that just skates by that in any other moment of presidential history would launch endless follow-up stories, congressional investigations, and sink an administration.”
Time: “While the challenge of rising costs has become an increasingly prominent topic in energy circles, the issue has largely slid under the national radar up to this point, often seen as one component of a much bigger conversation about the cost of living.”
“But the implications of higher electricity prices—political, economic, and otherwise—should not be underestimated. Electricity prices will shape how companies spend their capital—including if, when, and how they build the data centers necessary for AI. Electricity prices will also help determine the U.S. climate trajectory. And for the first time, electricity bills seem destined to have a political valence.”
“Federal prosecutors on Tuesday were unable to secure a felony assault indictment against a man who threw a sandwich at a federal agent on the streets of Washington this month,” the New York Times reports.
“The remarkable failure by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington was the second time in recent days that it was unable to persuade grand jurors to bring an indictment in a felony assault case against a federal agent.”
“And it amounted to a sharp rebuke by ordinary citizens against the team of prosecutors who are dealing with the fallout from President Trump’s move to send National Guard troops and federal agents into the city on patrol.”
“Overwhelmingly the main frustration point that I am hearing is that we have an affordability crisis, whether that’s housing, child care or health care.”
— Catelin Drey (D), quoted by the Des Moines Register, on winning a deep red state senate seat in Iowa last night.
Cracker Barrel called the White House to alert them that they would retain their logo from 1969 and because “they wanted the President to know that they heard him.”
Dan Pfeiffer: “In terms of education and income, the Democratic Party of 2024 looks a lot like the Republican coalition that supported Mitt Romney in 2012: more college-educated, wealthier, and more suburban. There are advantages to this shift. Because college-educated suburban voters are high-propensity voters, Democrats tend to do very well in special elections and midterms.”
“But it’s a huge challenge in presidential elections. According to the 2024 exit polls, 59% of voters reported making less than $100,000 (Trump won that group by 4), and 57% did not graduate college (Trump won non-college graduates by 13 points).”
“This represents a complete inversion of the long-term coalitions of both parties. Democrats may call ourselves the party of the working class, but fewer and fewer working-class voters seem to agree.”
Wired: “In a private group chat in June, dozens of Democratic political influencers discussed whether to take advantage of an enticing opportunity. They were being offered $8,000 per month to take part in a secretive program aimed at bolstering Democratic messaging on the internet.”
“But the contract sent to them from Chorus, the nonprofit arm of a liberal influencer marketing platform, came with some strings. Among other issues, it mandated extensive secrecy about disclosing their payments and had restrictions on what sort of political content the creators could produce.”
A new AP-NORC poll finds 53% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling crime – higher than his overall job approval or approval on other issues.
Key takeaway: “Fifty-five percent of the public think it’s acceptable for the U.S. military and National Guard to assist local police in large cities. But only a third support the federal government taking control of major city police departments.”
Denmark summoned the head of the U.S. Embassy after allegations emerged that three Americans with close ties to President Trump were running “covert influence operations” in Greenland, the New York Times reports.
“The Transportation Department is planning to take over management of D.C.’s Union Station, Secretary Sean Duffy announced Wednesday, in another example of the White House exerting power over the District as National Guard soldiers and federal law enforcement officers continue to patrol the city,” the Washington Post reports.
G. Elliot Morris: “On average in 2025, Democratic candidates in special elections are running about 16 percentage points ahead of Kamala Harris’s margin versus Donald Trump in last year’s presidential election. That is 5-6 points higher than the average Democratic overperformance in 2017.”
The Downballot has tracked all of these special elections in a handy spreadsheet.
“The market response to President Trump’s Monday attempt to fire a Federal Reserve governor was relatively subdued,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Don’t let that fool you. If Trump’s effort to remove Lisa Cook for cause succeeds, and perhaps even if it doesn’t, this week will go down as one of the most consequential for financial markets in decades.”
“It could mark the end of the Federal Reserve’s independence from White House control, which it effectively obtained in 1951. As a result, inflation is likely to be higher and more volatile than in the decades before 2020.”
Bloomberg: Trump team weighing options to extend influence to Fed banks.
“The House Freedom Caucus is no longer the most feared group of GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill. And headed into the next fight with fellow Republicans over keeping the government funded this fall, members say they want to help make a deal, not tear one apart,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The group of roughly 30 lawmakers—there is no official list—has included many of the most outspoken dissidents in Trump’s second term, drawing putative red lines on major legislation ranging from President Trump’s ‘big, beautiful’ tax law to a recent crypto proposal. But when it comes time to vote, caucus members have lined up with Trump and party leaders, not torpedoing bills like in years past.”
New York Times: “There in the Cabinet Room — which is starting to take on the gilded-cage look of Mr. Trump’s Oval Office — all of the president’s men and women took their turns, each working a little bit harder than the last to offer Mr. Trump praise and to assure him that they were working to tackle his long list of grievances.”
“That list is as ever-growing as it is specific to Mr. Trump’s pet peeves and political ambitions. It includes preventing ‘transgender for everybody’ in American sports; using a heavy hand — perhaps the death penalty, the president said — to crack down on violent crime; the ongoing threat of windmills; the foul state of traffic medians; the speed with which water flows; and the attempts at securing peace deals for as many as seven international wars, a number that seems to grow by the day.”
Washington Post: In marathon meeting, Trump enjoys a playbook more familiar abroad.
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.
