“Someone’s gonna leak this speech to the media.”
— President Trump, quoted by CBS News, apparently unaware there were press and cameras in the room covering his speech to a NRCC fundraising dinner.
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House Judiciary Authorizes Subpoena for Mueller Report
House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said that he would give Attorney General Bill Barr “time to change his mind” about providing the full, unredacted report, but that the subpoena would be served if he does not voluntarily comply, Axios reports.
Trump Claims Wind Turbines Cause Cancer
“President Trump has long despised wind power. He has repeatedly blamed wind turbines for killing birds (which they do at a lower rate than other energy sources) and for allegedly causing electrical power to halt when the wind stops blowing (in fact, electricity grids using mixed power sources and battery storage have solved this problem.) In a speech tonight to House Republicans, Trump claimed that wind turbines cause cancer,” New York Magazine reports.
Said Trump: “They say the noise causes cancer.”
“Wind turbines do not cause cancer. Some people blame the noise for causing a variety of other health ailments, but these charges have zero scientific validity. Cancer is not caused by noises of any kind.”
Mueller Testimony Before Congress Is ‘Inevitable’
“House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) said he sees it as a foregone conclusion that Special Counsel Robert Mueller will face questioning by Congress following the release of his report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Schiff: “I think it’s inevitable that Bob Mueller is going to have to testify before Congress.”
He added that his committee has “a statutory requirement that the Intelligence Community, FBI, brief us on any significant counterintelligence or intelligence activity. And it’s hard to imagine something that rises more to that level than this investigation.”
Trump Makes More Big Donors Ambassadors
An NBC News review of those who donated to the Trump inauguration “found at least 14 major contributors to its inaugural fund who were later nominees to become ambassadors, donating an average of slightly over $350,000 apiece. Though the Trump administration says the business acumen of these nominees qualifies them to represent the U.S. abroad, six of the 14 nominations have languished for months in the Republican-controlled Senate. One nomination has stalled for about two years.”
“Since the 1950s, roughly two-thirds of confirmed ambassadors have been career foreign service officials and one-third have been political appointees. Presidents Obama and George W. Bush kept within that range… The Trump administration is different. Of its confirmed appointees, around 50 percent are career foreign service diplomats, and 50 percent are political appointees.”
Democrat Trails In Key Wisconsin Race
“Appeals Judge Brian Hagedorn (R) held a narrow lead early Wednesday in the race for Wisconsin Supreme Court, according to unofficial tallies that were so close both sides were bracing for a recount,” the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.
“Hagedorn led fellow Appeals Judge Lisa Neubauer (D) 50.2% to 49.8% with nearly all of Tuesday’s votes unofficially counted… But the margin was so narrow that the Associated Press had not yet called the race as of 5 a.m. Wednesday.”
Trump Realizes He’s Stuck with Powell
Wall Street Journal: “President Trump is blaming the Federal Reserve for holding back the economy and stock market despite the central bank’s recent decision to do two things he wanted—halt rate increases and stop shrinking its asset portfolio. The president blasted the Fed and Chairman Jerome Powell at three meetings in the past week alone, telling Republican senators, supporters and staffers that if it wasn’t for the central bank’s past rate increases, economic output and stocks would be higher and the U.S. budget deficit would be rising less.”
“Mr. Trump also blamed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for recommending Mr. Powell for the top Fed job.”
“And he recalled a recent phone conversation he had with Mr. Powell, this person said. ‘I guess I’m stuck with you,’ the president recalled telling Mr. Powell.”
The Filibuster Is Next
“The filibuster is in peril. With Republicans expected to change the Senate rules to slash debate time on President Trump’s nominees this week, it will mark the third time the ‘nuclear option’ — changing Senate rules by a simple majority — has been triggered in just six years,” Politico reports.
“Each of those unilateral moves by a Senate majority to weaken the Senate’s age-old precedents centered on nominations, leaving the legislative filibuster and its 60-vote threshold unscathed. But some senators say it’s just a matter of time before even that Senate institution is more or less wiped away by a majority tired of seeing its big ideas blocked.”
Trump Ridicules Biden Touching Claims
“President Trump delivered a free-wheeling, campaign-style speech at the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual spring dinner Tuesday — taking swipes at a potential rival in former Vice President Joe Biden,” ABC News reports.
“In the early stages of his re-election bid, Trump seemed to revel that Biden is being ‘taken care of’ among the teeming field of 2020 presidential competitors.”
Said Trump: “We’re going into the war with some socialist. It looks like the only non, sort of, heavy socialist is being taken care of pretty well by the socialists, they got to him, our former vice president. I was going to call him, I don’t know him well, I was going to say ‘Welcome to the world Joe, you having a good time?’”
What Paul Ryan Is Up To
Janesville Gazette: “Ryan said he is working at … the offices of a foundation he is establishing to work on the ideas in two laws he pushed through Congress to address poverty. His longtime chief of staff, Andy Speth, is running the American Idea Foundation, he said. The focus is to make sure the laws are ‘properly implemented.'”
Most Don’t Trust Republicans on Health Care
Asked how much trust they placed in President Trump or congressional Republicans to protect or improve the health care system, 58% of voters said “not much” or “none at all,” according to the latest Politico/Morning Consult poll.
By contrast, a 53% majority of the electorate said they had “a lot” or “some” trust in Democrats on the same question.
Jeffries Suddenly Has a Clearer Shot at Being Speaker
“Ben Ray Luján just gave Hakeem Jeffries a big gift: A clearer path to the speaker’s chair,” Politico reports.
“Luján’s decision to jump into the New Mexico Senate race — waiving the chance to move up in House leadership — removes a potential rival for Jeffries (D-NY).”
“Luján, Jeffries and Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL) are widely considered the leaders of the next generation of House Democrats. They’re the ones who will pick up the mantle from Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) when the septuagenarian triumvirate eventually moves on.”
Trump’s Takeover of the GOP Is Nearly Complete
New York Times: “As Mr. Trump has prepared to embark on a difficult fight for re-election, a small but ferocious operation within his campaign has helped install loyal allies atop the most significant state parties and urged them to speak up loudly to discourage conservative criticism of Mr. Trump. The campaign has dispatched aides to state party conclaves, Republican executive committee meetings and fund-raising dinners, all with the aim of ensuring the delegates at next year’s convention in Charlotte, N.C., are utterly committed to Mr. Trump.”
“For Mr. Trump, who prevailed in 2016 as an outsider with little connection to his party’s electoral apparatus, the ability to control the levers of Republican politics at the state level could make the difference in a close election or a contested primary. It also leaves other Republicans with precious little room to oppose Mr. Trump on his policy preferences or administrative whims — on matters from health care to the Mexican border — for fear of retribution from within the party.”
Biden’s Tactile Politics Threaten His Return
New York Times: “Joseph Biden came up in politics as an old-school backslapper whose greatest strength was his ability to connect. He doled out handshakes and hugs to friends and strangers alike, and his tendency to lavish his affections on women and girls was so central to his persona that it became fodder for late-night television jokes.”
“But the political ground has shifted under Mr. Biden, and his tactile style of retail politicking is no longer a laughing matter in the era of #MeToo. Now, as he considers a run for president, Mr. Biden is struggling to prevent a strength from turning into a crippling liability; on Tuesday alone, two more women told The New York Times that the former vice president’s touches made them uncomfortable.”
Wall Street Journal: ““If Joe Biden enters the presidential race, he’s betting he can appeal to a silent majority in the party now being overlooked by a vocal, liberal base demanding generational change in leadership.”
Trump Warns GOP to Be ‘Paranoid’ About Vote Counts
“President Trump — who has previously issued baseless claims about ballot-counting and voter fraud — warned House Republicans on Tuesday night to be ‘more paranoid’ about vote tallies,” CNN reports.
Said Trump: “I don’t like the way the votes are being tallied. I don’t like it, and you don’t like it either. You just don’t want to say it because you’re afraid of the press. You’re afraid of the press.”
Lightfoot Wins Chicago Mayoral Race
Lori Lightfoot was elected the next mayor of Chicago, making her the city’s first African-American female mayor, the AP reports.
Proposal to Nix Electoral College Picks Up Steam
“Calls to eliminate the Electoral College are gaining traction within the Senate Democratic Conference, but the push is revealing a divide between White House hopefuls and senators from rural states,” The Hill reports.
“A group of Democratic senators introduced a constitutional amendment on Tuesday that would replace the Electoral College with a system that would directly elect the president through the popular vote, marking the second proposal to come out of the chamber in a matter of days.”
Embattled Fed Pick Has No Plans to Step Aside
“Stephen Moore, President Trump’s presumptive nominee for a seat on the Federal Reserve board, said on Tuesday that he had no plans to withdraw from contention for the job despite ethical and financial problems that have surfaced in recent days,” the New York Times reports.
Said Moore: “It’s full speed ahead.”
