Herman Cain is expected to withdraw his name from consideration for the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, amid growing pressure from Republican senators on the White House to remove him from consideration, ABC News reports.
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White House Proposed Releasing Detainees In Sanctuary Cities
“White House officials have tried to pressure U.S. immigration authorities to release detainees onto the streets of ‘sanctuary cities’ to retaliate against President Trump’s political adversaries,” the Washington Post reports.
“Trump administration officials have proposed transporting detained immigrants to sanctuary cities at least twice in the past six months — once in November, as a migrant caravan approached the U.S. southern border, and again in February, amid a standoff with Democrats over funding for Trump’s border wall.”
“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s district in San Francisco was among those the White House wanted to target.”
New ICE Chief Said Detention Was ‘Like a Summer Camp’
“The Trump administration has tapped Matthew Albence to lead Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the wake of the sudden resignation of its former leader,” BuzzFeed News reports.
“Albence became better known after his appearance on Capitol Hill on July 31 during which he said that family detention centers were best described as ‘more like a summer camp,’ to the shock of some advocates and politicians.”
Rosenstein Says Barr Isn’t Trying to Mislead
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein defended the Justice Department’s handling of the special counsel’s still-secret report, telling the Wall Street Journal that Attorney General William Barr is “being as forthcoming as he can” about his process for redacting and releasing the roughly 400-page document.
“Mr. Rosenstein beat back suggestions that Mr. Barr is trying to mislead the public by releasing only a four-page summary of Robert Mueller’s investigation.”
Susan Rice Won’t Challenge Collins
Susan Rice, who served as national security adviser under President Obama, won’t be challenging Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in 2020, the AP reports.
Illinois Moves to Require Candidates to Disclose Taxes
“The Democratic-led Illinois Senate voted Thursday to compel President Trump to release five years’ worth of his personal income tax returns or be barred from appearing on the state’s presidential ballot next year,” WBEZ reports.
“The state is joining a movement of other Democratic states that aims to force the president to open up his personal finances by releasing his tax returns, something he stubbornly has refused to do and reiterated again this week.”
Manchin Endorses Collins for Re-Election
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) endorsed Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) for reelection on Thursday, “in a rare rebuff of partisan politics in an increasingly polarized Senate,” Politico reports.
“The moderate West Virginia senator also offered to campaign for the vulnerable Maine incumbent. It’s a boon for Collins, who Democrats likely need to beat if they hope to take the Senate majority in 2020.”
Fourth GOP Senator Comes Out Against Herman Cain
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a close Trump ally, told reporters that “if I had to vote right now, there’s no way I could vote for” Herman Cain for the Federal Reserve Board, The Hill reports.
“Cramer’s opposition makes him the fourth Republican to denounce Cain’s potential nomination, effectively ending Cain’s chance at confirmation. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) all came out against Cain on Wednesday.”
Democrats Already Plotting Super Tuesday Strategies
McClatchy: “Kamala Harris’s top aides are privately meeting with local Democratic leaders from Alabama to Virginia. Bernie Sanders’s team is lining up interviews with potential senior staffers in California and Texas. And Cory Booker is cultivating relationships with officials across the South.”
“While early voting states get a lot of attention, many of the most formidable candidates in the 2020 presidential field are preparing for what comes after that — Super Tuesday, when voters in at least 12 other states are set to cast ballots in the Democratic primary. Super Tuesday 2020 falls on March 3, but early voting will start as early as Feb. 3 in California — the same day as the Iowa Caucuses.”
“They have good reason to get ready now: Nearly 40 percent of all pledged delegates will be up for grabs, more than any other single day on the primary calendar.”
Bernhardt Confirmed as Interior Secretary
“The Senate on Thursday voted to confirm David Bernhardt, a former lobbyist for the oil and agribusiness industries, as secretary of the interior. The confirmation of Mr. Bernhardt to his new post coincided with calls from more than a dozen Democrats and government watchdogs for formal investigations into his past conduct,” the New York Times reports.
“Senators voted 56-41, largely along party lines, in favor of Mr. Bernhardt’s confirmation.”
Gregory Craig Indicted for Making False Statements
Washington attorney Gregory Craig, who served as White House counsel for President Barack Obama, was charged Thursday with lying to federal officials who were examining whether he should have registered as a foreign lobbyist for legal work he did for the Ukrainian government in 2012, the Washington Post reports.
Oregon May Join Popular Vote Movement
“The Oregon Senate voted to join a movement designed to award the presidency to the winner of the popular vote,” the Oregonian reports.
“If the bill is approved by the Oregon House and signed into law, Oregon would join 14 other states and the District of Columbia in the National Popular Vote compact. The idea behind the compact is that state legislatures would award their state’s Electoral College votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes nationwide.”
Biden Leads the Pack In Iowa
A new Monmouth poll in Iowa finds Joe Biden leads the Democratic presidential race with 27%, followed by Bernie Sanders at 16%, Pete Buttigieg at 9%, Elizabeth Warren at 7%, Kamala Harris at 7%, Beto O’Rourke at 6%, Amy Klobuchar at 4%, Cory Booker at 3% and Julián Castro at 2%.
Key findings: “Biden does especially well among voters age 65 and older (44%), those earning less than $50,000 a year (38%), and those without a college degree (34%). On the ideological spectrum, Biden’s support comes more from self-described moderates and conservatives (35%) than from liberals (20%), but the same is true for Sanders although to a lesser degree (20% non-liberals, 13% liberals).”
Said pollster Patrick Murray: “If Biden does get into this race, he’ll start out as a clear front-runner in Iowa. Not only does he garner support from crucial demographic groups but he is almost universally well-liked among all Democratic voters.”
McAuliffe Thinks Biden Is ‘Tanking’
Yashar Ali: “I learned this week that not only has McAuliffe been working to marshal support (something he has now confirmed publicly), but he has told friends and supporters that he sees a major weakness in Biden.”
“According to a source familiar with a conversation McAuliffe had with an influential Democratic figure, McAuliffe said he believes that Biden is ‘tanking’ after multiple women said he made them uncomfortable when he touched them without consent.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
Why Ecuador Finally Got Sick of Julian Assange
Daily Beast: “His dramatic expulsion from the embassy follows a year of ratcheting tension between Assange and his Ecuadorian hosts, culminating in Wikileaks publicizing a leak of hundreds of thousands of hacked emails mysteriously stolen from the inboxes of Ecuador’s president and first lady.
“It was this last move that finally set Ecuador’s government firmly against Assange, who was by then already being treated less like a political refugee than an inmate—albeit one who was free to leave at any time.”
Republicans Challenge Trump Amid Controversies
Politico: “In addition to confronting Trump on his purge at the Department of Homeland Security and his threat to deploy auto tariffs and keep existing levies, GOP senators hope they can persuade the president to avoid nominating Ken Cuccinelli or Kris Kobach, another immigration hard-liner, to lead DHS. They also want Trump to drop plans to nominate Herman Cain to the Federal Reserve and are considering whether to challenge Stephen Moore’s nomination to the Fed.”
“It’s an unusual time in Trump’s Washington, with a Senate Republican majority that’s been at odds with the president for months now — and with GOP senators increasingly comfortable in trying to ward off what they see as Trump’s worst impulses. It’s an inflection point, with Senate Republicans weighing how hard to try to contain the president… The tensions between Trump and Senate Republicans have raged continuously for four months, an arc that intersects neatly with when Mick Mulvaney took the reins.”
Trump Still Viewed Negatively In Wisconsin
A new Marquette Law School poll in Wisconsin finds President Trump’s approval rate at 46% to 52%.
“Support for reelecting the president is also little changed since January — 28% say that they would definitely vote to reelect Trump, and 14% would probably vote to reelect him. Another 8% say that they would probably vote for someone else, and 46% would definitely vote for someone else.”
