Political Wire Members get the complete experience: exclusive analysis, a 24/7 trending news, no advertising, the weekly news quiz and more.
Join today for instant access.
“The Russian military has fired or replaced a number of field commanders in Ukraine in recent weeks, according to the British Defense Ministry, suggesting that the poor performance of Russian forces is taking a toll on the country’s senior officer corps,” the Washington Post reports.
“The purge, described in an intelligence update Thursday, included the sacking of commanders involved in two of Russia’s most humiliating defeats since it invaded Ukraine in February.”
John Ellis: “On paper, it doesn’t make any sense. Recapturing control of the U.S. Senate is far more important than which candidate keeps the seat on the Republican side of the aisle. That certainly would be Sen. Mitch McConnell’s point of view.”
“But who knows with Trump? ‘Stop The Steal’ has been the political fund-raising pitch of all time. Trump has raised well over $100 million proclaiming it (and other grievances) in countless direct mail and email solicitations. Why not refresh it, give it a new spin?”
“If that angers Mitch McConnell, so much the better. From Trump’s point of view, anything that creates turmoil in the ranks of the Republican Senate Caucus and gets a few more Senators thinking that maybe Sen. Rick Scott, just to pick a name out of the air, might be a better GOP Senate Leader, well…why not?”
Washington Post: Trump uses Pennsylvania primary to continue effort to undermine electoral system.
Punchbowl News: “Their own polls have them in the dumps. Party leaders have struggled to wrangle the votes for a simple messaging bill. Meanwhile, the caucus continues to be dominated by fallout over the revised New York House maps, led by an internal backlash against the DCCC chair.”
“We’ll get to the latest drama in a minute but first a little news: We checked in with senior House Democrats late last night who told us after several days, they finally have the votes to pass a bill today to punish oil companies for price gouging.”
“Remember, this is a messaging bill designed to help the most vulnerable House Democrats in their campaigns. It’s not going anywhere in the Senate. Yet it took all week just to get the Democratic Caucus on board. That’s how it’s going for House Democrats right now.”
Playbook: “With Memorial Day recess around the corner and much of President Joe Biden’s agenda still stuck on Capitol Hill, a sense of helplessness has settled in among some Democrats: The closer they inch toward Election Day, they realize, the more unlikely they are to notch any additional legislative victories. And yet, voters are angry and demanding action now.”
“Stock futures slid, pointing to deeper losses for U.S. markets on growing worries of an economic slowdown,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The Biden administration is developing plans to further choke Russia’s oil revenues with the long-term goal of destroying the country’s central role in the global energy economy, a major escalatory step that could put the United States in political conflict with China, India, Turkey and other nations that buy Russian oil,” the New York Times reports.
“The proposed measures include imposing a price cap on Russian oil, backed by so-called secondary sanctions, which would punish foreign buyers that do not comply with U.S. restrictions by blocking them from doing business with American companies and those of partner nations.”
“Republican voters in this week’s primary races demonstrated a willingness to nominate candidates who parrot Donald J. Trump’s election lies and who appear intent on exerting extraordinary political control over voting systems,” the New York Times reports.
“The results make clear that the November midterms may well affect the fate of free and fair elections in the country.”
“Federal health officials warned on Wednesday that a third of Americans live in areas where the threat of Covid-19 is now so high that they should consider wearing a mask in indoor public settings,” the New York Times reports.
“They cited new data showing a substantial jump in both the spread of the coronavirus and hospitalizations over the past week.”
Wall Street Journal: Latest Covid-19 wave expands to more of the U.S.
“Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and fellow Democrats Elizabeth Warren and Raphael Warnock pitched President Joe Biden to go big with student loan forgiveness during a White House meeting Wednesday,” Bloomberg reports.
“The three Democrats, who have been leading the effort in the Senate, support $50,000 in student debt relief, which is five times what Biden has indicated he would support.”
“If Dr. Mehmet Oz loses the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, he could be back at his Cliffside Park home in time to vote in the June 7 Republican primary in New Jersey,” the New Jersey Globe reports.
“Records show that Oz remains on the voter rolls in Bergen County, where he voted as recently as November 2020.”
“The Senate confirmed Bridget Brink late Wednesday as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, filling the post as officials plan to return American diplomats to Kyiv during the nation’s continuing battle against the Russian invasion,” the AP reports.
“The Defense Department’s watchdog found that Trump administration officials targeted Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, the brother of a key impeachment witness, for reprisal when he raised concerns about former President Donald Trump’s phone call with Ukraine’s President,” CNN reports.
“Vindman, an Army attorney who served as the ethics counsel on the National Security Council, was given unfavorable reviews, stripped of his responsibilities, and ultimately fired, the Pentagon Inspector General report concluded, after he told National Security Council officials that Trump may have broken the law in a July 25, 2019, phone call with Ukraine’s recently sworn-in leader, Volodymyr Zelensky. In the now infamous call, Trump asked Zelensky to open an investigation into Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election.”
“The decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq. I mean of Ukraine.”
— Former President George W. Bush, in a speech.
“The Biden administration is invoking the Defense Production Act to increase production of baby formula and launching a new program that would use commercial aircraft to pick up overseas formula that meets U.S. standards,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Under the Korean War-era national security mobilization law, President Biden is requiring suppliers to prioritize giving resources to U.S. formula manufactures.”
Mehmet Oz (R) told supporters he was being advised in his U.S. Senate primary race by Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Said Oz: “I want to thank Sean Hannity. Sean’s like a brother to me. When Sean punches through something, he really punches through it. He understands exactly how to make a difference and he’s been doing that this entire campaign.”
He added: “Much of it behind the scenes. Giving me advice in late-night conversations — again the kinds of things that true friends do for one another.”
Chris Wallace will host a Sunday evening show on CNN, Axios reports.
The longtime Fox News host had recently moved to CNN to launch a show on its now-defunct streaming service, CNN+.
President Joe Biden warned that the country will likely see “another tough hurricane season” this year, and he pledged that his administration was prepared to respond to the storms and help Americans recover from them, the AP reports.
Said Biden: “We know hurricanes are coming our way. They grow more extreme every season.”
“Is Google trying to fuck me?”
— Donald Trump, quoted by Rolling Stone, complaining to friends and advisers that his social network still doesn’t have an Android app.
An Emerson College Polling/The Hill poll of very likely Alabama primary voters finds Katie Britt with a six-point advantage in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate with 32%, followed by Michael Durant at 26%, and Mo Brooks at 25%.
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.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.