“I’ve known him for a very long time. I’ve liked him and I’ve respected him, but lately I’ve seen him go on TV and make arguments that really make no sense in support of this administration’s policies. It’s a scary thought to have the kind of Fed chair that’s willing to sacrifice the central bank’s independence out of loyalty to the president.”
— Gregory Mankiw, a former economic adviser to President George W. Bush, quoted by Politico, on the possibility of Kevin Hassett becoming Fed chairman.
President Trump posted on his social media site that a meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials went well and that a deal was reached regarding “a ‘certain’ company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save,” the AP reports.
He didn’t provide any details on the deal, only that younger Americans “will be very happy!”
In a new book out tomorrow, Dead Center, former Sen. Joe Manchin, a lifelong Democrat who publicly broke with his party last year, offers some biting criticisms of former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama, as well as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Punchbowl News reports.
President Trump threatened to declare a “national emergency” and “federalize” Washington, D.C., in an escalating standoff with Mayor Muriel Bowser after she announced the city’s police would not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Smart people don’t like me, you know? And they don’t like what we talk about.”
— President Trump, speaking to attendees of a gala at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club.
Wall Street Journal: “Gold’s value has ballooned by 39% this year, putting it on track for a greater annual price jump than during the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic or 2007-09 recession, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Futures for the precious metal haven’t surged so much in a year since 1979, when a global energy crisis fueled an inflationary shock that thrashed the world’s economy.”
Wall Street Journal: “A master of 21st century mass media, Kirk accomplished what Republicans had failed to do for decades: break through with younger generations. Regardless of whether they supported him or not, it was nearly impossible for college students to open social media without being served a video of Kirk.”
“For a generation of young conservatives, he inspired them to proudly tout their views, including opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. Countless others said his views were discriminatory and offensive. Love him or hate him, Kirk was ubiquitous.”
“The Trump administration sought to convince a federal court on Sunday that President Trump possesses vast powers and ‘discretion’ to fire federal officials, as it raced to block Lisa Cook, a governor on the Federal Reserve, from participating in this week’s meeting of the central bank,” the New York Times reports.
“President Donald Trump, high-level administration and Republican Party officials, and top political influencers are expected to converge in Arizona on Sunday to honor Charlie Kirk, the assassinated conservative activist,” CNN reports.
“But the memorial service, to be held at the massive State Farm Stadium in Glendale, just outside Phoenix, is going to pose an enormous test for law enforcement, particularly the US Secret Service, an agency already facing strain and enormous pressure.”
“And the reason for the gathering — a single, fatal bullet intended to silence a political figure — only underscores the risks.”
Axios: “It’s hard to see how people cheering Kirk’s killing, and others threatening retribution, ends well.”
Nate Silver: “So if we had some sort of probabilistic forecast of the race, it would undoubtedly think that Zohran’s chances are high. The de facto margin of error is almost certainly large here: the further you go downballot, the higher polling error tends to be (races to the U.S. House are harder to nail than presidential elections, for instance). Furthermore, New York has a lot of groups that are hard to poll (including plenty of voters who are not native English speakers). It’s a multi-candidate race, which considerably increases the variance. And the polls were way off in the primary — although they lowballed Mamdani rather than his opponents.”
“Still, let’s say that Mamdani’s lead is really ‘just’ 19 points, closer to the average of recent polls than his 22-point lead in the Times/Siena poll. And let’s say the practical margin of error in the race is 20 points — in other words, very large — partly because there are still almost two months of campaigning left. A formula based on the normal distribution would nevertheless imply that Zohran has around a 95 percent chance of winning.”
Punchbowl News: “The government-funding deadline isn’t for another 15 days. But this week will go a long way toward revealing the massive challenges that Congress and the White House face in avoiding a shutdown come Oct. 1.”
“We’re officially in the danger zone. A shutdown appears more likely than not at this point. That’s not to say it’s guaranteed. Shutdowns are terrible politics and policy. But Republicans and Democrats are heading in diametrically different directions right now, with each side comfortably betting on their own strategy. And that could lead to a shutdown unless something changes.”
Matthew Yglesias: Could a shutdown finally end the filibuster?
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) is pushing for South Carolina to enter the redistricting fray, the Charleston Post & Courier reports.
“A far-right faction of the S.C. Legislature says it will introduce legislation to redraw the lines to give the GOP near-guaranteed control of all of the state’s congressional seats.”
But Republican legislative leaders are wary of diving back into an issue “that landed them in a long-running federal lawsuit over alleged racial gerrymandering of the 2020 congressional maps.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) warned that “something dark” may be coming and that he fears “a dizzying campaign to shut down political opposition groups and lock up or harass its leaders.”
“China escalated its regulatory campaign against U.S. chip juggernaut Nvidia, heightening pressure on Washington as senior officials from both countries meet in the latest round of trade negotiations,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“China’s antitrust regulator said Monday that preliminary investigations found Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nvidia violated the country’s anticompetition law. The regulator didn’t say whether it would punish the U.S. company, saying only that it would conduct further investigations.”
Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk purchased about $1 billion worth of the carmaker’s shares, Bloomberg reports.
“Prime Minister Keir Starmer was elected last July promising a ‘quieter’ politics after years of chaos and scandal under the Conservatives. Losing two senior members of the UK government to scandal in less than a week sees the premier facing a charge he could never have imagined: that his Labour administration is no less noisy than the Tories,” Bloomberg reports.
“That’s the perilous domestic subtext as President Donald Trump flies in to Britain for an historic second state visit on Tuesday. The timing of the three-day trip could barely be more awkward for Starmer coming just days after he sacked his ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, following a Bloomberg News investigation which revealed his relationship with pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein lasted longer than previously known.”
“The prospect of a joint news briefing in which Trump and Starmer are repeatedly asked about Epstein is giving UK government officials nightmares, one said.”
Vice President JD Vance will host the “The Charlie Kirk Show” on Monday, sitting in for his friend who was fatally shot on Wednesday, The Hill reports.
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.