“A judge in Tennessee has temporarily barred two federal agencies from enforcing directives issued by President Joe Biden’s administration that extended protections for LGBTQ people in schools and workplaces,” ABC News reports.
Trump’s Fundraising Slows
“Former President Donald Trump’s online fundraising has slowed in recent months, a financial disclosure on Friday showed, adding to doubts over the firmness of his grip on the Republican Party,” Reuters reports.
“Trump’s political committees raised about $18 million between April and June, about $2 million less than in the prior three months.”
“Trump’s decline, seen both among small and large donors, contrasts with fundraising growth across the rest of the Republican Party, as campaigns heat up ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm elections, when Republicans hope to seize control of Congress.”
Pelosi’s Husband Bought Chip Stocks Before Subsidy Vote
“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband purchased up to $5 million in stock options on a computer-chip company ahead of a vote on legislation next week that would deliver billions of dollars in subsidies to boost the chip-manufacturing industry, new financial disclosures show,” the New York Post reports.
GOP Primary Losers Cast Doubt on Elections
Associated Press: “This idea has seeped deeply into this year’s Republican primaries, which have revealed a new political strategy among numerous candidates: running on a platform that denies President Donald Trump’s defeat two years ago. As some of those candidates lose their own races, they are reaching new frontiers in election denial by insisting that those primaries, too, were rigged.”
Lawyer Pitched Trump on Plan to Subvert Election
“The role of William Olson in advising the president in late 2020, which has not previously been disclosed, shows how fringe figures were influencing him at a critical time,” the New York Times reports.
“The involvement of a person like Mr. Olson, who now represents the conspiracy theorist and MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell, underscores how the system that would normally insulate a president from rogue actors operating outside of official channels had broken down within weeks after the 2020 election.”
“That left Mr. Trump in direct contact with people who promoted conspiracy theories or questionable legal ideas, telling him not only what he wanted to hear, but also that they — not the public servants advising him — were the only ones he could trust.”
Voters See a Really Bad Economy
A new New York Times/Siena poll finds just 10% of registered voters say the U.S. economy is “good”or “excellent,” a remarkable degree of pessimism at a time when wages are rising and the unemployment rate is near a 50-year low.
Bad news for Democrats: “78% of voters say inflation will be ‘extremely important’ when they head to the polls.”
But a head-scratcher: “43% of voters said their personal financial situation was good or excellent.”
Democrats Fear State Legislative Races Overlooked
Washington Post: “Democrats hoping to inject new urgency into these contests are demanding more money and attention from party leadership — with no clear indication they will get what they want.”
“Instead, Democratic messaging has largely focused on federal races and a debate over the Senate filibuster, some frustrated Democrats noted, even as individual states now have sole discretion over abortion laws.”
Republicans Plot Revenge on January 6 Committee
“House Republicans are plotting revenge on the select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, as the GOP weighs a broader effort to re-litigate some of Donald Trump’s biggest election grievances if it recaptures the House majority,” CNN reports.
“Republicans have already asked the January 6 panel to preserve a broad range of documents in its possession — a signal they’re preparing to force those records to be turned over should they wield powerful committee gavels next year. And privately, Republican sources say there have been discussions about subpoenaing members of the select committee, particularly Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who is fighting an uphill battle for reelection, and retiring Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, if both Republicans are private citizens next year.”
Biden Drops Plan to Name Anti-Abortion Judge
“The White House is abandoning plans to nominate a Kentucky lawyer who opposes abortion rights and is backed by Senator Mitch McConnell to a federal court seat, citing opposition from Senator Rand Paul, Mr. McConnell’s home-state colleague,” the New York Times reports.
“The resistance from Mr. McConnell’s fellow Republican marked a new twist over a potential nomination that had prompted outrage on the left. Democrats were incensed that President Biden’s team had agreed to advance a conservative chosen by Mr. McConnell to fill a district court vacancy as the party is stepping up its focus on countering new abortion restrictions.”
Where Democrats Went Wrong with Joe Manchin
“For a full year Democrats have tried to divine what Sen. Joe Manchin would say yes to, beginning with private huddles last fall at the White House to more recent Zooms with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY),” the Washington Post reports.
“They seem to have all made the same mistake: Hearing the nice tones that the West Virginia Democrat said in their private meetings, while dismissing his pessimistic comments in public as standard negotiating ploys.”
“Instead, Manchin is the odd politician whose public pronouncements, whether in brief Capitol hallway interviews or in detailed prepared statements, carry more weight than whatever he tells his colleagues in private.”
Biden’s Fraught Saudi Visit Garners Scathing Criticism
“President Biden exchanged the shaken fist for a fist bump on Friday as he abandoned his promise to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” and sat down with the crown prince he deemed responsible for the grisly killing and dismemberment of a columnist who lived in the United States,” the New York Times reports.
“In the most fraught foreign visit of his presidency to date, Mr. Biden’s encounter with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave the de facto Saudi leader a measure of the international rehabilitation he sought, while securing steps toward closer relations with Israel and an unannounced understanding that the kingdom would soon pump more oil to relieve high gas prices at home.”
“Mr. Biden’s discomfort was palpable as he avoided a handshake with the prince in favor of a fist bump that in the end proved no less problematic politically.”
CNN: “Senior administration officials on Saturday defended Biden’s decision to meet with MBS face-to-face, despite the fierce pushback and criticism, saying it would have been ‘backsliding if the president didn’t come to the region and it would be backsliding if he didn’t and wasn’t willing to sit and raise human rights concerns with foreign leaders around the world.’”
Weak Fundraising by GOP Senate Candidates
Josh Kraushaar notes “unusually weak” fundraising numbers from Senate Republicans in the second quarter, despite the historically-strong political environment for their party.
In contrast, many Democrats are hitting fundraising records.
A Stunning Fall for Biden’s Agenda
Washington Post: “For the moment, Schumer has not indicated the path forward in the Senate, where work remains underway to prepare critical portions of the spending package for floor consideration. Democrats are set to confront the impasse directly at their private weekly lunch on Tuesday, two other people familiar with the matter said. They are expected to try to devise a strategy in the wake of Manchin’s demands, the aide said, at a time when tensions are running high.”
“At the White House, meanwhile, top aides to Biden already had grown dismayed and cynical about the negotiations. Only seven months earlier, the last attempt at a grand bargain around an economic package ended in public acrimony, with Manchin and the White House trading sharp barbs over who was to blame for collapse in talks.”
Said one White House adviser: “This is how the White House has always feared this would end. It really is a stunning turnaround from the dreams of a Green New Deal to this.”
Quote of the Day
“Trump would say anything, he would lie about anything.”
— Steve Bannon, quoted by The Guardian, in a new book, The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020 by Jonathan Lemire.
Hageman Holds Huge Lead Over Cheney
“Former President Donald Trump’s pick to unseat Rep. Liz Cheney in the race for Wyoming’s lone House seat holds a commanding 22-point lead with a month until the primary,” a new Casper Star-Tribune poll shows.
“Natural resources attorney Harriet Hageman leads Cheney 52% to 30%, the poll shows. No other challenger received more than 5% support. Only 11% of voters were undecided.”
Dr. Oz Embroiled in Inheritance Battle
“New court papers in Manhattan reveal that TV personality-turned Pennsylvania GOP congressional candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz is embroiled in an intensifying inheritance battle in the US and Turkey — complete with accusations of a forged will and millions of dollars looted from an Istanbul bank account,” Yahoo News reports.
Panel to Dissect Trump’s 187 Minutes of Inaction
“The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is planning to return to prime time on Thursday for what could be the finale of its summer hearing schedule: a session focused on former President Donald Trump’s 187 minutes of inaction as a mob of his supporters assaulted Congress,” the New York Times reports.
“The hearing, scheduled for 8 p.m. on July 21, is expected to give a detailed account of how Mr. Trump resisted multiple entreaties from staffers, lawyers and even his own family to call off the attack, which raged for hours in the early afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021.”
January 6 Committee Subpoenas Secret Service
“The House select committee investigating January 6, 2021, has issued a subpoena to the US Secret Service, marking the first time the panel has publicly done so for an executive branch agency,” CNN reports.
Politico: “The subpoena, directed at agency director James Murray — who is retiring later this month — demands the production of records by July 19.”
