“Gov. Ralph Northam (D) is wielding renewed power as Virginia’s chief executive four months after nearly resigning over a racism scandal that his own party said left him unable to lead,” the Washington Post reports.
“Emboldened by encouraging internal poll numbers and growing support from fellow Democrats — though most never retracted their calls for him to step down — Northam is becoming more assertive.”
“Ken Cuccinelli, the head of a conservative political action committee that has caused headaches for Republican senators, has been tapped as acting director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services,” NBC News reports.
“DHS secretary Kevin McAleenan announced the move in an email to agency staff Monday, though the mechanics of whether it would include an official nomination were not immediately clear.”
“Iran’s foreign minister warned the U.S. on Monday that it ‘cannot expect to stay safe’ after launching what he described as an economic war against Tehran, taking a hard-line stance amid a visit by Germany’s top diplomat seeking to defuse tensions,” the AP reports.
“In a meeting last week in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, Democratic lawmakers gathered to craft a plan — including specific legislative fixes — to respond to the Mueller report,” NBC News reports.
“Pelosi is hoping hearings around legislative fixes will highlight the worst wrongdoing contained in the Mueller report, and possibly broaden public support for impeachment.”
“One likely piece of legislation would be framed as ‘Duty to Report,’ requiring presidential campaign aides and entities to report foreign contacts and influence to law enforcement… Also at the top of the menu is a package of legislation to address election security and obstruction of justice by a sitting president, potentially specifically prohibiting a president from interfering in law enforcement activity.”
“The Mexican foreign minister said Monday that no secret immigration deal existed between his country and the United States, directly contradicting President Trump’s claim on Twitter that a ‘fully signed and documented’ agreement would be revealed soon,” the New York Times reports.
“Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s top diplomat, said at a news conference in Mexico City that there was an understanding that both sides would evaluate the flow of migrants in the coming months. And if the number of migrants crossing the United States border was not significantly reduced, he said, both sides had agreed to renew discussions about more aggressive changes to regional asylum rules that could make a bigger impact.”
“The Justice Department, after weeks of tense negotiations, has agreed to provide Congress with key evidence collected by Robert Mueller that could shed light on possible obstruction of justice and abuse of power by President Trump, the House Judiciary Committee said on Monday,” the New York Times reports.
“They’re dividing it into the A group and the B group… I’m proud to be in the A group.”
— Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), quoted by the New York Times, on the two groups of 2020 candidates: those who consistently break 2 percent in polls and those who don’t.
New York Times: “Liberal activists, hoping for a chance to offset the growing conservative presence in the courts, have identified a pool of potential judicial vacancies that could remain out of Mr. Trump’s reach — scores of seats held by veteran judges appointed by Democrats who may be biding their time, awaiting the outcome of the 2020 presidential race.”
Said Nan Aron, the president of the Alliance for Justice: “It is essential to be ready on Day 1 of a new administration with names to fill every vacancy. This is to start identifying people so the new president won’t waste a minute in addressing this need.”
“The initiative is called Building the Bench, and the Alliance for Justice is being joined in underwriting and supporting it by a number of other liberal advocacy groups and labor unions. A group of more than 30 law professors and lawyers will serve as an advisory board.”
USA Today: “The court’s four liberals have displayed irritation at its new, more conservative majority – including once in the middle of the night. And some of the five conservatives are showing impatience with the incremental pace of change.”
“This term, tempers have frayed on a variety of issues, from workers’ rights to the sanctity of Supreme Court precedents. In April, the court voted 5-4 along ideological lines to block workers from banding together in arbitration disputes. The four liberal justices were so incensed that each wrote a separate dissent. Their feud with [the] majority opinion featured what Scott Nelson of Public Citizen Litigation Group, which represented workers seeking to sue as a class, called ‘pointedness in the punctuation.’”
Associated Press: “Democrats in the state Legislature reached an agreement Sunday afternoon as part of a broader plan to spend $213 billion of state and federal tax money over the next year. The legislature is expected to approve the deal this week. The agreement means low-income adults between the ages of 19 and 25 living in California illegally would be eligible for California’s Medicaid program, the joint state and federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled.
Associated Press: “The hearings will focus on the two main topics of Mueller’s report, obstruction of justice and Russian election interference. The House Judiciary Committee plans to cover the first topic at a Monday hearing on ‘presidential obstruction and other crimes.’ The House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday intends to review the counterintelligence implications of the Russian meddling. Mueller said there was not enough evidence to establish a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, but he said he could not exonerate Trump on obstruction.”
“On Tuesday, the House has scheduled a vote to authorize contempt cases against Attorney General Bill Barr and former White House counsel Donald McGahn for failing to comply with subpoenas from the Democratic-controlled House.”
President Trump told CNBC that he believes China will make a deal with the U.S. “because they’re going to have to.”
Trump defended his threats to slap tariffs on Mexico and China, which he said are putting the U.S. “at a tremendous competitive advantage.”
He added: “Right now, China is getting absolutely decimated by companies that are leaving China, going to other countries, including our own, because they don’t want to pay the tariffs.”
Top Democrats tell Axios they expect Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) may eventually primary one of the two New York senators — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in 2022, or Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2024.
Daily Beast: “Since the end of May, Fox Business Network and Fox News star Lisa ‘Kennedy’ Montgomery and Fox News primetime host Sean Hannity have speculated on-air, on at least four separate occasions, that the current Democratic presidential frontrunner is secretly dealing with health issues, often comparing his condition to illness-related conspiracy theories the network pushed about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election.”
“The Biden rumor-mongering seemingly began May 29, during the broadcast of Fox News’ afternoon gabfest The Five. While assessing Biden’s candidacy, Kennedy claimed to know Democratic operatives engaged in a whisper campaign about Biden’s health.”
“Democrats facing a steep uphill climb to win back the Senate want Beto O’Rourke to reconsider his long-shot bid for president and take another look at running for the Senate in Texas, especially if his White House bid fails to pick up momentum,” The Hill reports.
“They feel the same way about two other White House hopefuls who are polling at around 1 percent or lower: former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock.”
Ben LaBolt: “The Trump campaign launched at the start of 2019 and hasn’t paused for a day. It is using the candidate’s schedule, a staffed-up campaign team, and a sophisticated digital-advertising effort to reach its target voters. The campaign has spent more than $5 million on Facebook ads, with a particular focus on older voters and women, firing up the base by attacking “fake news” and promoting its message on immigration. The advertising team has gone beyond social-media campaigns, sponsoring podcasts and creating a significant paid-media presence on YouTube. In fact, Trump is outspending Democrats six to one on video ads, the primary digital-engagement tool for voters today.”
“Simultaneously, Trump has begun to hold rallies in battleground states across the country, dipping into media markets where he can fire up his base, such as Panama City, Florida, and battleground markets, such as Green Bay, Wisconsin. Many of these visits lead to localized polling bumps that last for weeks.”
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds Americans are more likely to say they would reject a candidate older than 70 than a candidate who is gay.
The poll found that 48% of adults in the United States said they were “much” or “somewhat” less likely to support someone for the White House if the person was older than 70, while 34% were less likely to vote for someone who is gay.
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.