There’s been no confirmation from the White House, but Buckingham Palace just announced that Queen Elizabeth will meet the President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at Windsor Castle on June 13.
NRCC Automatically Doubles Donations 5 Days Later
The fundraising arm of House Republicans now has a confusingly labeled pre-checked box that authorizes a second donation five days later on its WinRed page.
Tattoo Helps FBI Nab Capitol Rioter
A man who allegedly rioted at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 and struck two officers was arrested Friday after the FBI identified him by his stomach tattoo, the ABC Arizona reports.
Cuomo Refuses to Release Details of His Book Deal
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) office “is refusing to release a multitude of public records related to his $5.1 million book deal, with his attorneys invoking one law that keeps records of the state’s ethics panel secret and another designed to keep law enforcement records hidden if releasing them could interfere with an investigation,” the Albany Times-Union reports.
Excessive Drinking a Concern at Connecticut Capitol
Connecticut House Speaker Matt Ritter (D) “said he has spoken to his colleagues about excessive drinking at the state Capitol complex following a Democratic lawmaker’s obvious impairment during a debate on the House floor last week,” the Hartford Courant reports.
“With the Capitol complex largely empty due to pandemic restrictions and legislators left with long stretches of free time, alcohol consumption has become an issue this session.”
Bush Announces Primary Challenge to Paxton
Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush (R) announced that he is running for attorney general, challenging fellow Republican Ken Paxton (R) with a sharp focus on Paxton’s legal troubles, the Texas Tribune reports.
New Jobless Claims Hit Another Pandemic Low
U.S. jobless claims drop to 385,000, another pandemic low, as layoffs further slow with economy strengthening, the AP reports.
Eric Swalwell’s Attorneys Can’t Find Mo Brooks
“Attorneys for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) said they’ve hired a private investigator to find Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) in order to serve a lawsuit that alleges he and other pro-Trump allies bear responsibility for the Capitol riot,” Axios reports.
“Swalwell’s attorneys claim in a court filing that Brooks is avoiding being served the suit, with their calls and emails going unanswered.”
Judge Rejects Noem’s Bid for Mt. Rushmore Fireworks
“A federal judge on Wednesday rebuffed South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s (R) efforts to force the National Park Service to grant the state permission to shoot fireworks from Mount Rushmore National Memorial to celebrate Independence Day this year,” the Associated Press reports.
“Noem sued the U.S. Department of Interior in an effort to reverse the decision to deny the state’s permit for the pyrotechnic display. The Republican governor successfully pushed last year for a return of the event after a decade-long hiatus. But the National Park Service denied it this year, citing safety concerns and objections from local Native American tribes.”
Speed of Recovery May Depend on Consumer Spending
“Households in wealthy countries have amassed an unprecedented pile of savings to spend as parts of the global economy thaw after a year in suspended animation,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“But it isn’t clear whether consumers will seize that opportunity with enthusiasm. If they hold back, the recovery will be less rapid than it could be.”
Maybe Biden Just Doesn’t Have the Votes
Rich Lowry: “That the White House has been so willing to try to negotiate with Senate Republicans on infrastructure is probably a sign that it doesn’t have 50 votes for the current Biden proposal, either…”
“A couple of months from now, it could be obvious that the highly touted Biden revolution is sputtering to a stop before it even gets started.”
“If so, the fault won’t be Manchin’s or Sinema’s, or in our stars, but in the simple fact that Biden doesn’t have enough votes in Congress—never did and never will.”
What Does Biden’s Approval Rate Tell Us?
Jonathan Bernstein: “After four-plus months of Joe Biden’s presidency, we can finally say something about his polling numbers with a fair degree of confidence: His initially high disapproval numbers, second only to Donald Trump during the polling era, were likely an artifact of partisanship and had little to do with Biden himself.”
“We can say that because Biden’s huge lead in disapproval (over, again, everyone but Trump) is disappearing. At the 134-day mark, Biden is no longer second-worst. He’s now passed Bill Clinton and Gerald Ford, both of whom he has also passed in approval ratings.”
“What’s more, Biden has gained ground on almost all of his 12 predecessors. He began his presidency with a whopping 36% disapproval rating, and now has reached 40.1%. Rounding off, Trump gained 12 percentage points of disapproval through 134 days. Barack Obama gained 20 percentage points. George W. Bush gained 19, Clinton 32, George H.W. Bush seven, Ronald Reagan eight, Jimmy Carter 11, Ford 40, Richard Nixon nine, Lyndon Johnson 10 and John Kennedy five. If we go all the way back to Dwight Eisenhower, we finally get someone who had the same 4.1 percentage-point gain in disapproval.”
Mayoral Debate Interrupted by Flying Sex Toy
A New Mexico sheriff who is running for mayor of Albuquerque was interrupted while on stage at a campaign event by a flying drone with a sex toy attached to it and a man who punched him, the AP reports.
The incident was partially captured on video.
Katie Hill Ordered to Pay Tabloid’s Legal Fees
Former Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA) has been ordered to pay about $220,000 in attorneys’ fees to a British tabloid and two conservative journalists she sued in her unsuccessful revenge porn lawsuit, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Luntz and McCarthy Mixed Friendship and Business
Washington Post: “When GOP pollster Frank Luntz in mid-March assembled a group of Trump voters to find out why they were hesitant to take a coronavirus vaccine, he invited several Republican politicians to join him in the discussion. One was House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — at the time also Luntz’s guest in Luntz’s 7,000-square-foot penthouse apartment in the Clara Barton building in Penn Quarter.”
“Luntz did not mention during the Zoom call that McCarthy was in a separate room in the same apartment.”
Probe Looks Into Whether Matt Gaetz Obstructed Justice
Politico: “Federal prosecutors are examining whether Rep. Matt Gaetz obstructed justice during a phone call he had with a witness in the sex-crimes investigation of the Florida congressman.”
“The obstruction inquiry stems from a phone call the witness had with Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend. At some point during the conversation, the ex-girlfriend patched Gaetz into the call, sources said. While it’s unknown exactly what was said, the discussion on that call is central to whether prosecutors can charge Gaetz with obstructing justice, which makes it illegal to suggest that a witness in a criminal case lie or give misleading testimony.”
What Biden Told Republicans He Wants on Infrastructure
Playbook: “Per three people familiar, Biden wants $1 trillion in new spending and is sticking to his guns on corporate tax hikes being part of the pay-fors. (A fourth person familiar tells us that the new money Biden wants would be atop a baseline of $400 billion over five years, if you want to get uber technical. Point is: New money.)”
“Republicans weren’t happy, to say the least. Biden, they have said publicly, told them just a few weeks ago in an Oval Office meeting that baseline spending — i.e., money that would be spent under current policy — could be included in the total. In their latest $928 billion infrastructure proposal, they had put forward only $257 billion in new spending, while the White House’s last number was $1.7 trillion.”
“The GOP is considering another counteroffer that could come as soon as Friday, when Capito will be talking to Biden again, this time likely by phone. It’s unclear what that would look like — or even whether Republicans will make a new proposal.”
Time Running Out on Infrastructure Deal
“The White House is making it increasingly clear that time is running out to craft a bipartisan agreement on rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure, taking a sharper tone that could soon clear Democrats to act on their own to achieve President Biden’s jobs ambitions but deny him the deal with Republicans he has actively sought for weeks,” the Washington Post reports.
“The urgent tone reflects the political choices confronting Biden, a would-be dealmaker, as liberals grow increasingly restless about delayed action on the president’s sweeping jobs plan that is a centerpiece of the Democratic agenda.”
