Political Wire

Biden to End Covid-19 Emergency

January 31, 2023 at 6:37 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Joe Biden informed Congress on Monday that he will end the twin national emergencies for addressing COVID-19 on May 11, as most of the world has returned closer to normalcy nearly three years after they were first declared,” the AP reports.

“The move to end the national emergency and public health emergency declarations would formally restructure the federal coronavirus response to treat the virus as an endemic threat to public health that can be managed through agencies’ normal authorities.”

Senate Has a Problem with Biden on Classified Docs

January 31, 2023 at 5:53 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Biden Justice Department has its hands full with a slew of House GOP investigations. What they probably didn’t expect was the onslaught coming from Senate Democrats, too,” Punchbowl News reports.

“The administration’s refusal to share crucial information about the classified documents recovered from the homes of President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence has ignited bipartisan outrage from the upper chamber, where top Democrats are threatening extreme measures to force compliance.”

Margaret Sullivan: The media is blowing Biden’s documents ‘scandal’ out of proportion.

Huge Majority Says George Santos Should Resign

January 31, 2023 at 5:46 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Siena poll finds that by a margin of 78% to 13%, voters in New York’s 3rd congressional district overwhelmingly say freshman Rep. George Santos (R-NY) should resign.

Said pollster Don Levy: “Whether you look it at by party, gender, race, age, religion, income, or which county the voters live in, the answer is the same: resign. Similarly, voters of every party and every demographic breakdown know who Santos is, are following the news about Santos, and view Santos unfavorably.”

Trump Rips ‘Radical’ Manhattan Prosecutor

January 30, 2023 at 10:41 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Donald Trump lambasted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as a “radical” prosecutor on Monday for examining alleged “hush money” payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, the Daily Mail reports.

“It comes after the New York Times reported a grand jury is set to hear witness testimony this week about the former president’s alleged role in the payments, made to keep Daniels quiet during his 2016 campaign. She claims to have slept with him in 2006.”

“But Trump denied the affair in a forceful message on his Truth Social app and derided Daniels as ‘Horseface.’”

Kari Lake Accused of Campaign Violations

January 30, 2023 at 10:40 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Arizona’s top election official has asked the attorney general to investigate Kari Lake, the Republican candidate who lost her bid for governor in 2022, over potential campaign violations involving the disclosure of voter signatures,” the Washington Post reports.

“The complaint could set up a legal showdown in the battleground state between a prominent conservative election denier backed by Donald Trump and two newly elected Democrats who campaigned with messages of strengthening public trust in elections.”

IMF No Longer Forecasts Global Recession

January 30, 2023 at 10:36 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The International Monetary Fund said on Monday that it expected the global economy to slow this year as central banks continued to raise interest rates to tame inflation, but it also suggested that output would be more resilient than previously anticipated and that a global recession would probably be avoided,” the New York Times reports.

Israel Launched Drone Attack on Iranian Facility

January 30, 2023 at 5:41 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A drone attack on an Iranian military facility that resulted in a large explosion in the center of the city of Isfahan on Saturday was the work of the Mossad, Israel’s premier intelligence agency, according to senior intelligence officials who were familiar with the dialogue between Israel and the United States about the incident,” the New York Times reports.

“The facility’s purpose was not clear, and neither was how much damage the strike caused. But Isfahan is a major center of missile production, research and development for Iran, including the assembly of many of its Shahab medium-range missiles, which can reach Israel and beyond.”

Secret Hold Restricts Access to Scott Perry’s Phone

January 30, 2023 at 5:18 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A federal appeals court panel has put a secret hold on the Justice Department’s effort to access the phone of Rep. Scott Perry as part of a broader probe of efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to subvert the 2020 election,” Politico reports.

“In a sealed order issued earlier this month, the three-judge panel temporarily blocked a lower-court ruling that granted prosecutors access to Perry’s communications. The Dec. 28 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell was the product of a secret, monthslong legal battle by prosecutors who have been fighting the Pennsylvania Republican’s attorneys on the matter since August.”

Biden Team Weighs Fully Cutting Off Huawei

January 30, 2023 at 4:47 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Biden administration is considering cutting off Huawei Technologies from all of its American suppliers, including Intel and Qualcomm, as the U.S. government intensifies a crackdown on the Chinese technology sector,” Bloomberg reports.

Trump Sues Journalist Bob Woodward

January 30, 2023 at 4:29 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Former President Donald Trump is suing journalist Bob Woodward for releasing recordings of interviews that he gave to the journalist in 2019 and 2020, claiming he never agreed to those tapes being shared with the public,” Bloomberg reports.

“In a lawsuit filed Monday against Woodward, Simon & Schuster Inc., and the publisher’s parent company Paramount Global, Trump claimed that although he had given Woodward consent to record their conversations ‘for the sole purpose of a book,’ that didn’t extend to packaging those recordings as an audiobook.”

Sale

The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward's Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump

Amazon Kindle Edition

Southern Democrats Push Atlanta for Convention

January 30, 2023 at 4:26 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Southern Democrats are banding together to urge President Joe Biden to select Atlanta for the 2024 Democratic National Convention, arguing the choice would solidify the party’s gains in Georgia and demonstrate commitment to the entire region,” NBC News reports.

“Atlanta is one of the three finalists to host the convention, along with New York City and Chicago.”

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports more than 60 officials signed a letter saying that picking Atlanta for the prestigious event will “inspire Democrats in other competitive states to run, to organize, to fundraise and to volunteer in what is now truly fertile Democratic territory.”

Politics Extra

January 30, 2023 at 4:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

I encourage you to sign up for Politics Extra, a companion newsletter from Political Wire.

Subscribe now and you’ll get it in your inbox at the end of each weekday.

Florida Seeks to Allow Concealed Guns Without Permits

January 30, 2023 at 3:22 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Florida House Speaker Paul Renner (R) unveiled a bill removing the state’s requirements for a permit and training to carry concealed guns, an idea endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), the Orlando Sentinel reports.

The legislation would eliminate the need to get a license to carry a concealed weapon as well as the required weapons training that goes with it.

Trump Flooded IRS with Record Requests

January 30, 2023 at 3:03 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Donald Trump demanded reams of information from the Internal Revenue Service as it was preparing to turn over his personal tax returns to a congressional committee, papering the agency with a deluge of Freedom of Information Act requests in search of a behind-the scenes look at its deliberations,” Bloomberg reports.

“The former president routinely works to drag out any legal challenge to him personally or politically. But this effort took an unusual turn when he filed several FOIA requests during the nearly four years he spent unsuccessfully trying to block his tax returns from becoming public.”

“Trump’s decision to use the public records request law to get information from his own government is unconventional, largely because as commander-in-chief and leader of the Executive Branch he has numerous options to get data from federal agencies that don’t require him to use a last-resort tool available to anyone.”

Spending Cuts Are Easier Promised Than Delivered

January 30, 2023 at 3:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Daily Beast: “Instead of wide agreement on when, where, and how to cut spending, members are still haggling over how to start.”

“The defense budget is huge, but some Republicans are cautious to be seen cutting money for the military and national security—a line-item Republicans have fought to increase for decades. Social Security and Medicare are allegedly on the table, but it’s a red line for some Republicans that former President Donald Trump—still the most prominent Republican—has insisted they should not touch.”

“And then there are earmarks. Earmarks—the member-directed spending for special projects in specific congressional districts—is another area of scorn for Republicans that could perhaps garner some support. But it makes up a minute fraction of overall spending, and wouldn’t offset the debts House Republicans have sworn to tackle.”

Why Biden is Correct About the Debt Ceiling

January 30, 2023 at 2:56 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Dan Pfeiffer: “I worked in the West Wing during a financial crisis, a pandemic, multiple active terrorist plots, once-in-a-century storms, and the rise of ISIS. None of those threats were anywhere near as frightening as the two times the House Republicans tried to take the full faith and credit of the United States hostage. In both cases, a group of radical extremists with a faint grasp on reality led by a weak Speaker almost stumbled ass-backward into a global financial crisis that would make 2008 look like an economic head cold.”

“Well, here we are again.”

“A group of radical House Republicans led by a Speaker in name only is threatening a confrontation over raising the debt limit. Like President Obama in 2013, President Biden is refusing to negotiate with House Republicans. And like in 2013, all of the usual voices are raising concerns about that strategy.”

Bolsonaro Seeks to Stay in the United States

January 30, 2023 at 2:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, has applied for a six-month visitor visa to remain in the U.S. as his legal standing in his home country grows perilous, the Financial Times reports.

As the Washington Post notes, Bolsonarro really doesn’t want to go to jail.

Lindsey Graham Floats Compromise on Qualified Immunity

January 30, 2023 at 1:56 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is floating a possible compromise on what was one of the key holdups in the negotiations surrounding policing reform legislation after the death of George Floyd in 2020,” The Hill reports.

“The death of Tyre Nichols, 29, at the hands of police in Memphis earlier this month has sparked a renewed push for policing reform legislation. But one of the main obstacles to an agreement between Republicans and Democrats has long been the issue of qualified immunity.”