Politico: “Biden’s trip west will take him to Rancho Santa Fe, a wealthy enclave of sprawling estates north of San Diego… He also will have likely stops in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Nev. The trip is planned for Monday and Tuesday, though the two people stressed Biden’s itinerary is still being finalized and specifics remain fluid.”
Democrats Fret About Third Party Ticket
Playbook: “A prominent Democratic think tank is raising alarms about a third-party ticket spoiling 2024 for Democrats and landing Donald Trump back in the White House.”
“A new two-page memo from Third Way takes aim at the potential ‘unity ticket’ being promoted by the centrist group No Labels. With tens of millions of dollars in financial backing, No Labels’ stated intention is to nominate a moderate alternative to potential extreme major-party nominees as an ‘insurance policy.’”
“A No Labels ticket would not have to be especially successful to spoil a Democratic win, the memo points out: Biden won six of the seven most competitive states by three points or fewer. As such, it argues, ‘even a paltry third-party performance would put 79 Biden electoral votes at risk.’”
Earlier for members: Is a Bipartisan “Unity Ticket” Coming Together?
Plunge in Border Crossings Could Blunt GOP Attack
“A sharp drop in illegal border crossings since December could blunt a Republican point of attack against President Joe Biden as the Democratic leader moves to reshape a broken asylum system that has dogged him and his predecessors,” the AP reports.
House GOP Attacks Biden Before Fiscal Showdown
“House Republicans have unleashed an early onslaught of attacks against President Biden and his 2024 budget, as they ready their own plan seeking billions of dollars in spending cuts — and steel themselves for a political standoff over the country’s finances,” the Washington Post reports.
Debt Default Would Cripple U.S. Economy
“The U.S. economy could quickly shed a million jobs and fall into recession if lawmakers fail to raise the nation’s borrowing limit before the federal government exhausts its ability to pay its bills on time, the chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, Mark Zandi, will warn a Senate panel on Tuesday,” the New York Times reports.
“The damage could spiral to seven million jobs lost and a 2008-style financial crisis in the event of a prolonged breach of the debt limit, in which House Republicans refuse for months to join Democrats in voting to raise the cap.”
A Full House
“When Virginia state Sen. Jennifer McClellan is sworn into the House of Representatives this evening, Congress’s lower chamber will be something it hasn’t been in a long time: full,” FiveThirtyEight reports.
“The last time the U.S. had a full House — with all 435 of its voting representatives seated — was nearly three and a half years ago. And even then, it wasn’t full for long.”
Biden Lays Out Plan to Extend Medicare Trust
“President Biden’s coming budget blueprint will propose extending the solvency of a key Medicare trust fund by at least 25 years, according to the White House, in part by increasing tax rates on people earning more than $400,000 a year,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The plan would raise Medicare taxes to 5% from 3.8% for those top earners and effectively expand the reach of the tax so it applies to business income as well as investments, wages and self-employment income.”
Biden explains the plan in a New York Times op-ed.
New York Republicans Go to All-Out War Against Santos
“New York’s House Republicans are racing away from the walking political grenade known as George Santos,” Politico reports.
“Six of Santos’ New York colleagues, particularly the four who flipped tight battleground districts last fall, are working — out in the open and behind the scenes — to contain the blowback from the embattled lawmaker’s deceptions about his past. The first-term foursome started by breaking from the vast majority of their party by calling for Santos to resign, a move that would hurt the GOP’s already tiny majority.”
Democrats Steam at White House Over Crime Bill
“The Senate is headed towards a vote on the GOP’s D.C. crime bill Wednesday. But it’s hard to overstate how much frustration there is behind the scenes from top House Democrats over the debacle,” Punchbowl News reports.
“Democratic members feel they were blindsided by the White House on the issue, particularly when President Joe Biden announced last Thursday that he’d sign a GOP-drafted resolution disapproving of changes to the D.C. criminal code if it reached his desk.”
GOP Lawmaker Calls Neo-Nazi Photo a Mistake
Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) said he unwittingly posed for a photo with high profile members of the neo-Nazi movement last week walking between congressional hearings, the Billings Gazette reports.
Five Women Sue Texas Over Abortion Ban
“Five women who say they were denied abortions despite grave risks to their lives or their fetuses sued the State of Texas on Monday, apparently the first time that pregnant women themselves have taken legal action against the bans that have shut down access to abortion across the country since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade,” the New York Times reports.
“The women — two visibly pregnant — plan to tell their stories on the steps of the Texas Capitol on Tuesday.”
Tucker Carlson Depicts January 6 as Peaceful
“Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday released new security footage from the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, using video provided exclusively to him by Speaker Kevin McCarthy to portray the riot as a peaceful gathering,” NBC News reports.
“Carlson focused Monday’s segment on promoting former President Donald Trump’s narrative by showing video of his supporters walking calmly around the U.S. Capitol. He asserted that other media accounts lied about the attack, proclaiming that while there were some bad apples, most of the rioters were peaceful and calling them ‘sightseers,’ not ‘insurrectionists.'”
Said Carlson: “The footage does not show an insurrection or a riot in progress. Instead it shows police escorting people through the building, including the now-infamous ‘QAnon Shaman.’”
Biden May Reinstate Detention of Migrant Families
“The Biden administration is considering reviving the practice of detaining migrant families who cross the border illegally — the same policy the president shut down over the past two years because he wanted a more humane immigration system,” the New York Times reports.
“Although no final decision has been made, the move would be a stark reversal for President Biden, who came into office promising to adopt a more compassionate approach to the border after his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, introduced a series of harsh immigration policies.”
FBI Searching for Rioter Who Didn’t Show for Trial
“The FBI is searching for a Florida woman who did not show up to court in Washington, DC, on Monday, when she was set to go to trial on federal charges related to the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot,” CNN reports.
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Murdoch Could Face Fine for Giving Info to Kushner
“Rupert Murdoch could potentially face financial penalties from the Federal Election Commission if the allegations that he shared confidential information with former White House advisor Jared Kushner are true,” Salon reports.
U.S. Not Ready for ‘Great Power’ Conflict
Wall Street Journal: “The U.S. military’s success in the Mideast and Afghanistan came in part from air superiority, a less well-equipped foe and the ability to control the initiation of the war.”
“A conflict with China would be very different. The U.S. would be fighting with its Asian bases and ports under attack and would need to support its forces over long and potentially vulnerable supply routes. If a conflict with China gave Russia the confidence to take further action in Eastern Europe, the U.S. and its allies would need to fight a two-front war.”
Texas Republican Seeks Vote on Secession
Texas state Rep. Bryan Slaton (R) has introduced a bill that would place a referendum for Texas’ secession from the United States on the 2024 ballot.
