Vice President Kamala Harris said that Democrats failed to codify Roe v. Wade in the past because they “certainly believed” that issue was “settled,” Axios reports.
Said Harris: “I think that, to be very honest with you… we certainly believed that certain issues are just settled.”
She added: “That’s why I do believe that we are living, sadly, in really unsettled times.”
New York Times: “Just a year and a half into his first term, Mr. Biden is already more than a year older than Ronald Reagan was at the end of two terms. If he mounts another campaign in 2024, Mr. Biden would be asking the country to elect a leader who would be 86 at the end of his tenure, testing the outer boundaries of age and the presidency. Polls show many Americans consider Mr. Biden too old, and some Democratic strategists do not think he should run again.”
“It is, unsurprisingly, a sensitive topic in the West Wing. In interviews, some sanctioned by the White House and some not, more than a dozen current and former senior officials and advisers uniformly reported that Mr. Biden remained intellectually engaged, asking smart questions at meetings, grilling aides on points of dispute, calling them late at night, picking out that weak point on Page 14 of a memo and rewriting speeches like his abortion statement on Friday right up until the last minute.”
“But they acknowledged Mr. Biden looks older than just a few years ago, a political liability that cannot be solved by traditional White House stratagems like staff shake-ups or new communications plans. His energy level, while impressive for a man of his age, is not what it was, and some aides quietly watch out for him. He often shuffles when he walks, and aides worry he will trip on a wire. He stumbles over words during public events, and they hold their breath to see if he makes it to the end without a gaffe.”
New York Times: “Most Democratic donors are profoundly out of step with Ms. Cheney on those issues and others. But the Democrats supporting her say they have been impressed by her courage in opposing the former president — whom she voted to impeach after the Jan. 6 attack — and standing up for the peaceful transfer of power.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has moved his residency from Indiana to Michigan and plans to register to vote there, the Detroit News reports.
Buttigieg had purchased a home in northern Michigan with his husband, Chasten, who grew up in Traverse City.
Politico: “But the move also has another significant benefit. With two Democratic senators and a Democratic governor, Michigan is a much more hospitable state for a fellow Democrat with political ambitions. It’s also in the running to replace Iowa as the first presidential nominating contest.”
The Army has suspended a three-star general’s contract and placed him under investigation after he posted a tweet that appeared to mock first lady Jill Biden, USA Today reports.
“Poor guy. He left before his soufflé because he decided half the country should risk death if they have an ectopic pregnancy within the wrong state lines. It’s all very unfair to him. The least they could do is let him eat cake.”
— Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), on Twitter, responding to reports that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh left a DC steakhouse early amid protests outside.
“Former President Donald Trump on announced that he will not endorse Rep. Vicky Hartzler in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, delivering a major setback for Hartzler as she attempts to stand out in a crowded field of candidates,” the Kansas City Star reports.
“It is unclear what prompted Trump to come out against Hartzler, but the statement leaves Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and former Gov. Eric Greitens as the two most likely candidates to receive the endorsement in the final month before the Aug. 2 primary.”
“Protesters in Sri Lanka entered the president’s residence and his office on Saturday, as thousands descended on the capital, Colombo, to register their growing fury over his government’s inability to address a crippling economic crisis,” the New York Times reports.
NBC News: “Interviews with more than a dozen White House officials and others close to the administration say that a Harris staff shake-up has led to a closer relationship with those in the West Wing, contributing to greater involvement in the White House’s response at key moments. While Harris’ previous chief of staff had participated in senior staff and strategy meetings, the vice president’s new chief of staff, Lorraine Voles, was added to a separate daily meeting of Biden’s closest advisers at Harris’ request.”
“Harris herself has had a weekly one-on-one with chief of staff Ron Klain, who had served as chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore and Biden himself, since the start of the administration.”
“Republicans are favored to take control of the House in this year’s midterm elections, and redistricting has given them a built-in advantage that could span the next 10 years,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The GOP is expected to net a handful of seats based solely on new district lines drawn to reflect population changes captured by the 2020 census. Perhaps more important, the party will start with a larger base of safe seats than Democrats. Such an advantage, which could stretch over the next five election cycles if the new maps survive court challenges and the country’s political polarization remains largely unchanged, will allow the Republican Party to direct more resources at fewer seats in seeking a majority. It will also make the party less vulnerable to suffering a large loss of seats in a single election.”
“As he considers another White House run, polls show former President Donald Trump is the most popular figure in the Republican Party. But it wasn’t always that way,” the AP reports.
“Competing at one point against a dozen rivals for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, Trump won only about a third of the vote in key early states. He even lost the Iowa caucuses, which kick off the nomination process.”
“But he was able to prevail nonetheless because those in the party who opposed his brand of divisive politics were never able to coalesce around a single rival to confront him. And with Trump mulling another White House bid as soon as this summer, the same dynamic could repeat.”
“Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone spent over eight hours meeting with the Jan. 6 select committee, emerging Friday without commenting on his cooperation,” Politico reports.
“As Donald Trump continues to hint at running for the US Presidency in 2024, his son has announced that his VIP Boeing 757 private jet is back after an extensive refit,” Insider reports.
“The Justice Department released new details Friday evening of the alleged extensive planning by the Oath Keepers to prepare for violence in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021, including lessons to conduct ‘hasty ambushes,’ a ‘death list’ of Georgia election officials and attempts to acquire homemade firearms,” CNN reports.
“Heavily armed police on Friday swarmed around the Capitol Hill rowhouse where former Trump White House adviser Stephen Bannon lives after receiving a false report that a man with a gun was inside and had shot someone,” the Washington Post reports.
“Former President Donald Trump is considering sending a letter to Stephen Bannon saying that he is waiving executive privilege, potentially clearing the way for his former chief strategist to testify before the House select committee investigating the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol,” the Washington Post reports.
“The letter would reiterate that Trump invoked executive privilege in September 2021, when Bannon was first subpoenaed by the House committee. But it would say that the former president is now willing to give up that claim if Bannon can reach an agreement on the terms of an appearance before the panel.”
“Some advisers were seeking to talk Trump out of signing the letter.”
Elon Musk says he is terminating his agreement to buy Twitter because the company “is in material breach of multiple provisions of that agreement” and appears to have made “false and misleading representations” when entering into the agreement, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.