Iran said that it thinks a revival of the nuclear deal with the U.S. is close to happening, Bloomberg reports.
Why Liz Cheney Can’t Rely On Democrats To Save Her
FiveThirtyEight: “The math just doesn’t work for Cheney if she’s looking for substantial help from non-Republicans in Wyoming’s GOP primary without winning a healthy share of Republicans first. The vast majority (70 percent) of voters in the state are registered Republicans.”
“And in midterm years (like 2022), an even larger share of the state’s primary voters have cast ballots in GOP nomination battles, as the table below shows — meaning they’re very likely reliably Republican-leaning Wyomingites. And of course, in a state as red as Wyoming — Trump garnered 70 percent of the vote there in 2020 — winning the GOP primary is tantamount to winning the election in November.”
Know Your Audience
“Donald Trump had some fun trolling one of the 10 GOP impeachers he’s trying to oust, Peter Meijer — specifically how you pronounce his last name — in Washington Township, Mich., on Saturday night,” Politico reports.
“What he didn’t realize? While jokes about pronunciation may have tickled him, everyone in that area knows how to say ‘Meijer,’ which is one of the most popular grocery store chains in the Midwest, and which also happens to be owned by the congressman’s family. It’s like knowing how to say Walmart or KMart.”
Eric Adams Demands ‘Discipline of Message’
Every single communication from a city agency, down to notices about cherry blossoms in bloom, must be approved by City Hall, Mayor Eric Adams has instructed administration staff — warning that anyone violating his “discipline of message” would be fired, Politico reports.
Replacing Devin Nunes
The Los Angeles Times previews the special election this week to replace former Devin Nunes (R-CA), which features four Republicans and two Democrats running for a district that will be redrawn in just a few months.
Fetterman Skipped First Debate in Pennsylvania
“The empty podium at stage right took a lot of hits on Sunday,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
“From the opening moments of Pennsylvania’s first Democratic Senate debate, U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb and State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta lobbed attacks at their missing primary opponent: the front-runner, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.”
“In 90 minutes of jabs and jokes, both men — especially Lamb — argued that Fetterman’s decision to skip the debate was an insult to voters and a red flag for his candidacy in a critical Senate contest.”
Democrats Ready to Meet Manchin Where He Is
“Senate Democrats are preparing to make one last push for a deal with Joe Manchin on a huge party-line tax and spending bill. And they say they’ll do it differently this time,” Politico reports.
“With their 50-member majority poised to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court by the end of the week, Democrats say they will quickly turn to trying to rebuild the bill once known as Build Back Better. But rather than a redux of the slow-motion collapse of that $1.7 trillion plan, they say they’ll swiftly meet Manchin where he is.”
Playbook: “Manchin recently was saying July Fourth and before August recess, but other Dems want to move faster.”
How the Supreme Court Will Play in the Midterms
Playbook: “Saddled by Biden’s low poll numbers and a stalled social change agenda, Democratic strategists are eager to point to Jackson’s confirmation as a bona fide achievement heading into the election.”
However: “The Supreme Court hasn’t been a big motivator for Democratic voters in recent election cycles. But Democratic officials are hopeful a number of things will change that: Donald Trump’s engineering of a 6-3 conservative majority, the ensuing threat to abortion rights and, after this week, base enthusiasm about the first Black woman joining the court.”
Biden Weighs Tougher Sanctions on Russia
Washington Post: “Biden administration officials have discussed intensifying their sanctions campaign against Russia as evidence emerges of the apparent execution of civilians in a suburb near Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.”
“The scope of the potential U.S. retaliatory measures was not exactly clear, but senior Biden officials have previously discussed potentially devastating ‘secondary sanctions’ that would target countries that continue to trade with Russia…”
“The Biden administration could also impose sanctions on sectors of the Russian economy that it has not hit so far, including mining, transportation and additional areas of the Russian financial sector. The world continues to buy billions of dollars worth of Russian oil and gas, giving the Kremlin a direct financial lifeline. Officials stressed that planning was preliminary and no decisions had been made about potential responses.”
Biden Was Right: Putin Must Go
Max Boot: “The West must continue to ramp up aid to Ukraine, providing it with the kind of heavy combat systems needed to drive back the Russians in the south and east as they have already done in the north. It is good to see the Biden administration getting ready to transfer tanks to Ukraine.”
“Other weapons, including artillery, fighter aircraft and long-range air defense systems, must follow. The only way to achieve peace at this point is not by negotiating with the Russians but by defeating them.”
Garry Kasparov: “So who in Washington is calling the shots on Ukraine? If the Biden administration wants Ukraine to win, someone in the White House should say it and do what is necessary to make it possible. If the U.S. is offering deals to Mr. Putin or pressuring Ukraine to accept anything less than sovereignty over 100% of its territory, we should know. Tactical ambiguity can be useful, but a lack of strategic and moral unity and consistency leads to catastrophe.”
A Turning Point in History
Ishaan Tharoor: “In Washington, let alone the capitals of Western Europe, there’s a palpable change in atmosphere. The heroism of Ukraine’s defenders and the reported atrocities carried out by Russian forces have fired the imaginations of the Beltway class, which after years of quagmire and stalemate in the Middle East now has a far more morally clear and potentially winnable conflict to get behind.”
“American flags seldom fly in my left-leaning Washington neighborhood, but a brief Sunday stroll turned up myriad iterations of Ukraine’s blue-yellow bars hanging from fences and doorways. European diplomats in the city speak of an unprecedented solidarity among NATO allies and hail the Biden administration’s leadership in rallying support for Ukraine and sweeping sanctions on Russia. The West as a geopolitical entity has rarely been more united as a bloc and more coherent as a political project.”
Zelensky Makes Emotional Grammys Cameo
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Americans in a pre-recorded video from a bunker in Kyiv to “support us in any way you can. Any — but not silence,” Axios reports.
Senate Poised to Put Jackson on Supreme Court
“The Senate is poised to vote this week on whether to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, and she is in good shape to win a lifetime appointment and become the first Black woman on the court,” NBC News reports.
“The Judiciary Committee is set to meet Monday and vote on whether to advance Jackson, 51, a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C. The panel, split evenly between the parties, is expected to deadlock and require Democrats to hold a separate vote to ‘discharge’ the nomination to the full Senate.”
“Democratic leaders hope to hold a final vote on the Senate floor as early as Thursday, but it could slide to Friday if Republicans use the delaying tactics available to the minority party to drag it out.”
Trump Endorses Sarah Palin for House Seat
“Former President Donald Trump on Sunday endorsed Sarah Palin in her bid for Congress, saying he is returning the favor after she endorsed him ‘early’ in his campaign for president,” NBC News reports.
Said Trump: “Sarah shocked many when she endorsed me very early in 2016, and we won big. Now, it’s my turn! Sarah has been a champion for Alaska values, Alaska energy, Alaska jobs, and the great people of Alaska.”
Hong Kong’s Leader Won’t Seek Another Term
Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam announced Monday she won’t seek a second term as chief executive.
How Trump Could Win the Midterms for Democrats
Robert Reich: “I know the conventional wisdom about midterm elections — the party in power loses big — and I’ve lived through enough midterms to know that the conventional wisdom is mostly correct. Does this make Biden and the Democrats toast when it comes to retaining control of the House and Senate? No — especially because of one huge loose cannon aimed at the Republican Party: Donald Trump.”
Outrage Widens Over Russian Attacks
“Haunting images of dead bodies littering the streets of a Kyiv suburb and reports of civilian executions are triggering new international condemnation against Russia, as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded accountability for what he said amounts to ‘genocide,’” the Washington Post reports.
“Ukrainian officials said they have asked the International Criminal Court to visit the mass graves seen in Bucha, a suburb northwest of the capital, so that experts can gather evidence of possible Russian war crimes.”
Biden Called Murdoch the ‘Most Dangerous Man’
In a forthcoming book, a pair of New York Times reporters report that President Biden “assessed” Fox News “as one of the most destructive forces in the United States,” CNN reports.
Biden also told an associate in mid-2021 that Rupert Murdoch was “the most dangerous man in the world.”
Interestingly, Biden has never spoken about Murdoch in public.
