“Democratic freshman lawmakers are posting huge fundraising numbers even though it is the beginning of the 2020 cycle, signaling trouble for Republicans hoping to reclaim the House,” the Washington Examiner reports.
“Democratic presidential candidates are posting some impressive first-quarter fundraising hauls. But it’s the stellar numbers from relatively obscure, freshman House Democrats that have caught the attention of Republican operatives.”
“Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen brought her resignation letter with her when she met President Trump in the White House residence yesterday afternoon,” top sources tell Axios.
“She wasn’t intent on quitting but was prepared to, sources tell us. The meeting went poorly, and Trump didn’t even let her announce her ‘resignation.’ While she was racing to put out the letter (not that different from one she wrote after midterms), Trump tweeted that she ‘will be leaving her position.'”
Said one DHS source: “She was undercut at every turn. She’s done everything she can do. The White House is eating their own.”
Washington Post: Nielsen’s ouster signals even tougher Trump border rhetoric.
“The Trump administration has just days to respond to a request from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal to turn over six years of President Trump’s business and personal tax returns,” CNN reports.
“But, while the deadline is Wednesday, the showdown for the tax returns is expected to last much longer as both sides dig in.”
“What happens next is not immediately clear, though the legal posturing on both sides suggests that a court battle could be on the horizon. Before that, however, expect the team behind the President and the team behind Neal to produce a lot of paperwork supporting why they’re right and the other is wrong.”
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“Nancy Pelosi doesn’t care what you think of her. The only woman to become speaker of the House – not once, but twice – is plowing forward with her agenda, despite demands from her left flank to act more boldly and her right flank to move with caution,” USA Today reports.
“It appears to be working, so far. Pelosi is quick to point out she has never lost a major vote on the House floor. She has gotten unanimous or near-unanimous Democratic support this year on most major House legislation – although the measures are largely messaging vehicles since they stand little chance of passing the GOP-controlled Senate.”
Politico: “By the time he left the state on Sunday, it was also clear that the euphoria that greeted O’Rourke’s entry into the race three weeks earlier has started to subside. The inevitable slog of competing in a packed Democratic primary is underway, and O’Rourke has not yet drawn the wave of national adulation from the left that his Senate run against Ted Cruz last year received.”
Associated Press: “Less than two months into his second White House bid, no other declared candidate in the crowded Democratic field currently has amassed so many advantages: a $28 million war chest, a loyal and enthusiastic voter base and a set of clearly defined policy objectives.”
“That puts Sanders on markedly different footing than during his first White House run, creating new challenges for a candidate whose supporters relish his role as an underdog and an outsider. He now carries the weight of high expectations and will face heightened scrutiny over everything from the cost and feasibility of his government-funded policy proposals to his tax returns, which he has not yet released.”
“President Trump promised a new plan to replace Obamacare. But the four Senate Republicans he tapped for the job aren’t jumping at the opportunity,” Politico reports.
“Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) says any new plan has to come from the White House — and that he had no warning Trump planned to make him part of the health policy group. Mitt Romney (R-UT) won’t say more than he and colleagues are ‘working on health care thoughts.’ John Barrasso (R-WY), when asked about the Republican plan, turned the question back on the opposition, saying, ‘Democrats want to go to the complete government takeover of health care.’ And Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the fourth member of Trump’s team, hasn’t committed to anything more than conversations with colleagues’ about health care affordability.”
“As President Trump roils the capital over illegal immigration, his influential aide Stephen Miller is playing a more aggressive behind-the-scenes role in a wider administration shakeup,” Politico reports.
“Frustrated by the lack of headway on a signature Trump campaign issue, the senior White House adviser has been arguing for personnel changes to bring in more like-minded hardliners, according to three people familiar with the situation — including the ouster of a key immigration official at the Department of Homeland Security, whose secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, announced on Sunday that she is resigning.
Jonathan Swan: “Nancy Pelosi has more power than anybody to decide whether Trump gets Congress’ approval to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement with his renegotiated United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. And the signs Republicans are seeing from the speaker are not filling them with hope.”
Said one source: “They may be trying to slow walk this thing to death. The longer this takes, the harder it will be with 2020 Dem primary’s full swing right around the corner.”
“Don McGahn, who has kept his head down since leaving as White House counsel, shared some off-the-record thoughts on Thursday in a lunch with about 40 senior Republican Senate aides,” Axios reports.
Said McGahn: “I spent the last couple of years getting yelled at. And you may soon read about some of the more spirited debates I had with the president.”
“McGahn didn’t explicitly mention Mueller’s report, but sources in the room said they understood him to be referring to it when he said this.”
“Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, left her position on Sunday, ending a tumultuous tenure in charge of the border security agency that had at times made her the target of President Trump’s criticism,” the New York Times reports.
“The move comes just two days after Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly expressed anger at a rise in migrants at the southwestern border, withdrew his nominee to run Immigration and Customs Enforcement because he wanted the agency to go in a ‘tougher’ direction.”
Washington Post: “Two senior administration officials said Nielsen had no intention of quitting when she went to the meeting Sunday with the president and that she was forced to step down. The announcement of her departure came shortly after the meeting.”
“The majority of 2020 Democratic hopefuls are sponsoring or considering plans to dismantle the electoral college. Their pledges follow a growing movement for change at the state level and represent frustration over twice losing to Republican candidates in the past 20 years — Donald Trump in 2016 and George W. Bush in 2000 — despite winning the popular vote,” Axios reports.
“Eight Democratic 2020 candidates support eliminating the electoral college in favor of the popular vote… Four Democrats are open to the idea, and only 3 want to keep it.”
The New York Times interviews Robert Caro about writing his incredible books on Lyndon Johnson:
NYT: Do you have a title for the last book?
CARO: I do.
NYT: Will you tell me what it is?
CARO: No.
If you haven’t yet read the Caro books, you really need to.
“The House Democratic campaign arm is on the verge of open warfare with the party’s rising liberal wing as political operatives close to Speaker Nancy Pelosi try to shut down primary challenges before what is likely to be a hard-fought campaign next year to preserve the party’s shaky majority,” the New York Times reports.
“Progressive Democrats were infuriated last month when Representative Cheri Bustos of Illinois, the chairwoman of the campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, moved to protect centrist incumbents by formally breaking committee business ties with political consultants and pollsters who go to work for primary challengers.”
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) has raised $5.1 million in the two months since he announced his 2020 plans, the Washington Post reports.
“Booker’s haul, while competitive, puts him behind other Democratic White House aspirants, including former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.”
“I can’t believe that somebody who was caught writing hush money checks to adult film actresses is somebody they should be lifting up as the kind of person they want to be leading this nation.”
—Mayor Pete Buttigieg, on Meet the Press, lambasting Trump supporters for their “hypocrisy” on morality.
Washington Post: “Actions by federal regulators and Republicans in Congress over the past two years have paved the way for banks and other financial companies to issue more than $1 trillion in risky corporate loans, sparking fears that Washington and Wall Street are repeating the mistakes made before the financial crisis. The moves undercut policies put in place by banking regulators six years ago that aimed to prevent high-risk lending from once again damaging the economy.”
“Now, regulators and even White House officials are struggling to comprehend the scope and potential dangers of the massive pool of credits, known as leveraged loans, they helped create.”
Associated Press: “Mitch McConnell says the Senate will be in the ‘personnel business’ this year. But the majority leader’s focus on confirming President Donald Trump’s nominees is coming at the expense of any big legislative priorities.”
“Nearly 100 days into the new Congress, the drive to confirm is adding more conservatives to the courts and putting more Trump appointees in government offices. But Trump’s promises to replace the Affordable Care Act, invest in infrastructure or cut middle class taxes have been essentially shelved.”
“The result is that the GOP-controlled Senate is on a very different path heading into the 2020 election than is the House, where the Democratic majority is churning out a long list of bills on ethics, gun violence and other topics that, while unlikely to become law, show voters their priorities.”
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.
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