“Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday he supports a ban on stock trading by members of Congress amid controversy about well-timed trades during recent market volatility,” Politico reports.
GOP Tax Chief Says Not Much Room for Boosting SALT
“House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) told reporters Wednesday there’s only about $50 billion available to increase a key tax deduction sought by blue-state Republicans,” Politico reports.
“Under legislation advanced out of Ways and Means early Wednesday morning, House Republicans would triple the $10,000 state-and-local-tax deduction to $30,000 and put a new $400,000 income limit on the write-off.”
“But a hardcore contingent of five New York, New Jersey and California Republicans have called the proposal wildly insufficient and threatened to withhold their vote from the GOP’s sweeping domestic policy bill without a further boost to the deduction.”
House GOP Hard-Liners Digging In on Medicaid
“House GOP hard-liners are livid over a move by leadership to delay implementation of new work requirements for Medicaid for several years,” Politico reports.
“It’s one of the thorniest and politically explosive pieces of the GOP mega-bill, and ultraconservatives are demanding changes in order to support the legislation, which GOP leaders want to put to a floor vote next week.”
Tulsi Gabbard Fires Two Senior Intelligence Officers
“Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fired the top two career officials leading the National Intelligence Council, the senior most analytical group in the intelligence community whose job it is to understand and assess the biggest threats facing the United States,” CNN reports.
“The dismissals come as Gabbard has vowed to root out what she has described as politicization of the intelligence community, and launched a war on leaks to the media that critics say is hollowing out the intelligence community of needed expertise from experienced professionals.”
Washington Post: Gabbard fires leaders of intelligence group that wrote Venezuela assessment.
Book on Biden Hits #1
Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson is now #1 on Amazon’s new releases list — a rarity for a book about politics, especially for one that hasn’t even come out yet.
From the authors: “The real issue wasn’t his age, per se. It was the clear limitations of his abilities, which got worse throughout his presidency. What the public saw of his functioning was concerning. What was going on in private was worse.”
It will be interesting to see if Biden tries to counter the book with any further television appearances.
Elon Musk’s Power Play at Copyright Office Backfired
“What initially appeared to be a power play by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to take over the US Copyright Office by having Donald Trump remove the officials in charge has now backfired in spectacular fashion, as Trump’s acting replacements are known to be unfriendly — and even downright hostile — to the tech industry,” The Verge reports.
“When Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden last week and Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter over the weekend, it was seen as another move driven by the tech wing of the Republican Party — especially in light of the Copyright Office releasing a pre-publication report saying some kinds of generative AI training would not be considered fair use. And when two men showed up at the Copyright Office inside the Library of Congress carrying letters purporting to appoint them to acting leadership positions, the DOGE takeover appeared to be complete.”
“But those two men, Paul Perkins and Brian Nieves, were not DOGE at all, but instead approved by the MAGA wing of the Trump coalition that aims to put tech companies in check.”
The End of the Rule of Law in America
J. Michael Luttig: “The 47th president seems to wish he were king—and he is willing to destroy what is precious about this country to get what he wants.”
France May Put Nuclear Weapons in Other Countries
“French President Emmanuel Macron said he was ‘ready to open a discussion’ with European allies about stationing France’s nuclear weapons on their soil, in an effort to beef up defenses against Russia,” the Financial Times reports.
The U.S. Nuclear Base Hidden Under Greenland’s Ice
“While flying above the Arctic Circle last spring, a team of NASA scientists testing a new radar system over northern Greenland detected something unusual,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Deep into the ice sheet, their instruments showed, sat a cluster of settlements connected by a network of tunnels, like a bygone civilization frozen in time. What the scientists saw on their screens wasn’t a lost civilization but remnants of a U.S. military base built under the ice during the Cold War.”
“The base was part of an ambitious and clandestine Pentagon plan, known as Project Iceworm, to build a network of nuclear-missile launch sites beneath the Arctic ice. The underground site, which was designed to store 600 medium-range ballistic missiles, reveals the extent of U.S. involvement in Greenland going back over half a century.”
Trump Tax Plan Heads to Floor Vote
“President Donald Trump’s signature economic package took a major step toward becoming law when the House Ways and Means Committee approved trillions in new tax cuts for corporations, households and small businesses on a party-line vote,” Bloomberg reports.
“The bill, once it clears procedural steps, will head to the House floor for passage.”
“But crucial issues — including an unresolved battle over the state and local tax deduction — threaten to delay or imperil Republicans’ legislative agenda. Lawmakers are continuing to meet behind closed doors to negotiate the SALT write-off and spending cuts in the bill as they aim to pass the legislation in the House by the end of the month.”
Georgia Democrats Cool on Third Bid by Stacey Abrams
“Democrats are throwing cold water on the possibility of Stacey Abrams mounting a third bid for Georgia governor, underscoring how the once-rising star’s image has been tarnished by consecutive losses and recent controversies,” The Hill reports.
Democrats Are Deeply Pessimistic About Their Party
A new AP-NORC poll found that only about one-third of Democrats are “very optimistic” or even “somewhat optimistic” about their party’s future.
That’s down sharply from July 2024, when about 6 in 10 Democrats said they had a positive outlook.
The poll finds that about half of Republicans, 55%, are very or somewhat optimistic about their party’s future, up from 47% last summer.
Democrats Seethe Over Trump Impeachment Move
Punchbowl News: “Two top Democratic leaders rebuked Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) over his decision to seek a vote on impeaching President Donald Trump during a pivotal legislative week.”
“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Minority Whip Katherine Clark spoke with Thanedar on Tuesday.”
“Thanedar angered Democrats across the caucus because of the timing of his move — in the midst of the reconciliation markups full of hot-button issues like Medicaid and tax. Plus there’s the fact that such a vote could be politically toxic for battleground Democrats who need to court Trump voters.”
Quote of the Day
“He’s taking a $400 million jet for lifetime use from a foreign government. He’s selling places at a White House dinner for people that buy his memecoin, which goes right into his pocket. And that’s what the tragedy is. That’s what the Democrats need to do, they need to jump on this corruption and never get off of it.”
— James Carville, quoted by the Daily Beast.
Cuomo Holds Commanding Lead in Mayoral Race
A new Marist College poll in New York City showed Andrew Cuomo defeating second-place opponent Zohran Mamdani by 24 points in the fifth round of ranked-choice voting, when the ex-governor clears the 50% threshold to win.
Inside Marco Rubio’s Meteoric — and Precarious — Rise
Washington Post: “Just a few months ago, Beltway Republicans grimly speculated how long Rubio would last in the tempestuous cauldron that is President Donald Trump’s inner circle.”
“Now, the former senator from Florida has become the most powerful U.S. Cabinet member by title since Henry Kissinger — accumulating four positions, including secretary of state, acting head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and acting archivist at the National Archives and Records Administration…”
“Rubio’s meteoric rise in Trump’s orbit has coincided with his enabling of policies that Democratic and some Republican colleagues say are unrecognizable from those he espoused as a senator and presidential candidate.”
Why Trump Backed Down on China Tariffs
Washington Post: “By the end of the month, a growing number of blue-collar workers whom Trump saw as part of his political base — including longshoremen and truckers — began warning that tariffs and a near-total cessation of trade with China were hurting them.”
“Behind the scenes, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other aides told Trump that his own voters were in danger if the tariffs did not come down…”
“That gave them a path to initiating negotiations with the Chinese, which culminated this past weekend in Geneva with a partial deal to reduce tariffs between the world’s two biggest economies.“
Mike Johnson Contends With Republican Mistrust
Wall Street Journal: “The relationship between Johnson and rank-and-file lawmakers will be crucial as Republicans look to pass extensions to expiring tax cuts as well as new breaks such as “no taxes on tips” while also pushing through cuts to Medicaid and food aid. Johnson has a razor-thin 220-213 majority in the chamber, and he will have to pass the party-line measure with no help from Democrats. He also will need to persuade House colleagues to get on board even as Senate Republicans could make major changes to the bill.”
“The tensions, which started in the restive conservative wing of the party last year, have now spread more broadly, according to more than 20 House Republicans who recounted episodes or experiences that have led them to be skeptical of what Johnson says. The complaints center on issues related to the current budget negotiations and past votes related to the bill, as well as other incidents involving the speaker and lawmakers.”
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