“A neo-Nazi leader recently released from prison has been arrested again and accused of plotting an attack on the Maryland power grid with a woman he met while incarcerated,” the Washington Post reports.
State of The Union Weakens
Monmouth Poll: “About 4 in 10 Americans say the state of the union is strong – although just 7% call it very strong while 32% say it is somewhat strong. Another 32% say the union is not too strong and 26% deem it not at all strong. The number who feel the state of the union is at least somewhat strong has steadily declined over the past five years, from 55% in 2018 to 39% in the current poll.”
“There is a clear partisan divide on the strength of the union, with Republicans being more optimistic when Donald Trump was president and Democrats being more optimistic now that Joe Biden is in office.”
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Biggest Election Case This Term Could Be Moot
Rick Hasen: “Will a power grab by the new Republican majority on North Carolina’s Supreme Court—ostensibly to reverse a power grab by the earlier Democratic majority on North Carolina’s Supreme Court—deprive conservatives on the United States Supreme Court of a power grab over U.S. elections? Or will it just delay an urgent election ruling to a much worse time—when it could decide the outcome of a major election?”
“The Supreme Court’s potential blockbuster election decision in Moore v. Harper, now expected by late June, could soon be rendered moot by an order that the North Carolina Supreme Court issued on Friday to rehear the underlying case. If Republican state justices in North Carolina moot Moore, it might simply delay an outcome on an issue that should be resolved sooner rather than later.”
100,000 Green Jobs Announced Since Climate Law
“Between last August, when President Joe Biden’s landmark climate bill became law, and the end of January, companies have announced more than 100,000 clean energy jobs in the US,” Bloomberg reports.
“Most of those projects are in seven states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.”
“Georgia has attracted the most investment so far, the group found, with roughly $15 billion worth of projects in the pipeline that are expected to produce close to 17,000 jobs.”
Republicans Who Refuse ‘Clean’ Debt Ceiling Hike Grows
“Republican pragmatists in the House of Representatives have a message for President Joe Biden: We don’t support a clean debt ceiling increase, either,” The Dispatch reports.
“Rep. Dusty Johnson says that the group of pragmatic conservatives he leads in the House would oppose legislation raising the federal borrowing limit absent an accompanying deal with Biden and Senate Democrats to rein in government spending and reduce Washington’s $31.4 trillion debt. Absent such an agreement, the United States risks defaulting on its financial obligations, conceded Johnson, chairman of the Main Street Caucus, which now numbers more than 70.”
Quote of the Day
“I’m the target of Donald Trump’s new tantrum. None of his lies about me today bothered him when he asked me to prep him for every general election debate or offered me three different cabinet posts. He’s the only man to lose to Biden outside Delaware. That loss to Joe still stings.”
— Former Gov. Chris Christie (R), on Twitter.
US Plans 200% Tariff on Russia Aluminum
“The U.S. is preparing to impose a 200% tariff on Russian-made aluminum as soon as this week to keep pressure on Moscow as the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine nears,” Bloomberg reports.
“Tariffs would effectively end U.S. aluminum imports from Russia.”
The State of the Union by ChatGPT
The Associated Press instructed the artificial intelligence program ChatGPT to draft some State of the Union speeches as they might have been written “by some of history’s greatest minds as well as some stooges.”
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Bipartisan Support for Mental-Health Programs
Wall Street Journal: “The budget proposals seek to address the nationwide scarcity of mental-health workers, the mental-health needs in schools and growing demand for emergency services. They represent a rare bipartisan point of agreement for more government action and underscore how dire many think the problem has become.”
Trump Officials Didn’t Even Know About Spy Balloons
“The transiting of three suspected Chinese spy balloons over the continental US during the Trump administration was only discovered after President Joe Biden took office,” CNN reports.
“The official said that the intelligence community is prepared to offer briefings to key Trump administration officials about the Chinese surveillance program, which the Biden administration believes has been deployed in countries across five continents over the last several years.”
National Enquirer Is Sold
The National Enquirer, the scandal-plagued tabloid that engaged in “catch-and-kill” practices to bury stories about Donald Trump during his presidential campaign, has been sold, the AP reports.
Rick Scott Dials Up Pressure on Mitch McConnell
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) says he is “tired of caving” on the debt limit and is dialing up the pressure on Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) not to swoop in to strike a last-minute deal with President Biden, The Hill reports.
China Moves From Contrite to Confrontational Over Balloon
“Beijing’s abrupt shift from expressing regret to threatening retaliation over the U.S.’s spy-balloon claims reflects the domestic imperative for Xi Jinping to show he’s standing up for China against external pressure, further narrowing the window to reset ties before the US election season gets into full swing,” Bloomberg reports.
More Than 1,700 Killed in Earthquake in Turkey
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake in southern Turkey early Monday killed more than 1,700 people across the country and in neighboring Syria, the Washington Post reports.
Trump Aims to Be the Dove Among Hawks
Politico: “Over the past week, Trump has assailed President Joe Biden’s handling of Afghanistan. He has said he could end the almost year-long conflict in Ukraine within “24 hours,” but without any indication how, and suggested sending tanks to the country could spark nuclear war. He has railed against China and called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a ‘globalist.'”
“Those close to Trump’s campaign operation say he plans to try and paint himself as an anti-war dove amongst the hawks. They believe doing so will resonate with GOP voters who are divided on, but growing wary of, continued support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.”
Record Numbers Say They Are Worse Off
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that 41% of Americans say their personal finances have gotten worse since President Biden took office — the highest that survey has ever measured going back 37 years.
Fears Mount Around ‘Catastrophic’ Abortion Case
Washington Post: “Driving their anxiety is a Texas lawsuit brought by conservative groups seeking to revoke the decades-old government approval of a key abortion drug.”
“The suit has been widely ridiculed by legal experts as rooted in baseless and debunked arguments. But in recent weeks, abortion rights advocates and some in the Biden administration have grown increasingly concerned that the case is likely to be decided entirely by conservative judges who might be eager for a chance to restrict abortion access even in Democrat-led states, where the procedure has remained legal since the fall of Roe v. Wade.”
