A new NBC News/Marist poll in Arizona finds Kyrsten Sinema (D) leading Martha McSally (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 49% to 38%.
Sinema also leads Kelli Ward, 48% to 38%, and tops Joe Arpaio (R), 57% to 32%.
Brown Holds Big Lead In Ohio
A new NBC News/Marist poll in Ohio finds Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) leading challenger Jim Renacci (R) by 13 points, 51% to 38%.
CBO Warns of Ballooning U.S. Debt
A new CBO reports says the national debt “is on track to nearly double as a share of the economy over the next 30 years,” NBC News reports.
“Federal debt is currently equivalent to 78 percent of the country’s annual Gross Domestic Product, with the report estimating it will rise to 100 percent of GDP by 2030 and 152 percent by 2048. The share of debt would surpass records set in the World War II era.”
17 States Sue Trump Over Migrant Family Separation
“Seventeen states, including Washington, New York, California and Illinois, sued President Trump’s administration Tuesday in an effort to force officials to reunite migrant families who have been separated at the U.S.-Mexico border,” the AP reports.
“The states, all of which are led by Democratic attorneys general, joined Washington, D.C., in filing the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Seattle. It’s the first legal challenge by states over the practice.”
Bloomberg Mulls Presidential Bid
“Michael Bloomberg is revving up to run for president in 2020, making him both the oldest and richest person to seek the job,” CBS News reports.
“Bloomberg considered running in 2016 as an Independent, but sources tell CBS that if he runs in 2020, he would run as a Democrat.”
“Political consultants point out the 76-year-old is making a number of key moves, including spending $80 million to help Democrats win Congressional races and collecting a lot of political IOUs in the process.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“It makes me feel guilty about not wanting to run for president. But it doesn’t make me want to. I’m not looking to live in the White House, I’ve seen it up close.”
— Former Vice President Joe Biden, quoted by the Washington Post, on President Trump’s hostile behavior to U.S. allies.
Did Justice Kennedy Just Signal His Retirement?
Rick Hasen: “Rumors about Justice Kennedy’s retirement from the Supreme Court have circulated for well over a year, with the common one being that he was prepared to retire last year and some force—maybe norm-bashing President Donald Trump—stopped him. But something feels different this term…”
“On the key issues of the day, the feeling from Kennedy is that he’s done. It appears that this will be the first term since he’s become a swing justice where he did not side with the liberals in one significant 5–4 case. He’s returned to his conservative roots and has given up decisively bucking his own party. The separate concurrence in the travel ban case felt to me like a Kennedy mic drop. He’s done all that he can do to fix the problems in American society. Now it’s up to those in power, and those who put them there.”
Kaine Holds Wide Lead In Re-Election Bid
A new Quinnipiac poll in Virginia finds Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) leading challenger Corey Stewart (R) by a wide margin, 54% to 36%.
Also interesting: “Only 32% of Virginia voters have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party, while 59% have an unfavorable opinion. The Democratic Party gets a divided 46% to 45% favorability rating.”
Said pollster Peter Brown: “Virginia, which was once a solidly red state, has made the full transition to a blue bastion. Voters in the Old Dominion are happy with the way things are going in their state and they give their statewide Democratic office-holders good approval ratings.”
Trump and Putin May Meet In Helsinki
“The White House is blocking off three days on the back end of President Trump’s upcoming mid-July trip to the United Kingdom and Brussels, leaving room for a potential summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Politico reports.
“Plans for a potential sitdown are still being finalized… But the current frontrunner venue under consideration for the meeting is now Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The location would offer Putin his desired neutral ground in a country close enough to Russia that he could return to Moscow in time for the final World Cup match on July 15.”
For members: A Perfect Photo Op for Democrats
McConnell Rubs It In
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), within minutes of the Supreme Court upholding President Trump’s travel ban, tweeted a photo of him shaking hands with Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who provided the fifth vote upholding the ban.
Gorsuch became a justice only after McConnell made an unprecedented power grab in early 2016 and refused to fill the absence on the bench with President Obama’s appointment of Merrick Garland.
GOP Incumbent Trails In Key Virginia District
A new Monmouth poll in Virginia’s 10th congressional district finds Jennifer Wexton (D) with a big lead over incumbent Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA), 49% to 39%, among all potential voters – that is voters who have participated in an election since 2010 or have newly registered to vote.
“The race does not look significantly different using two different likely voter models. A historical midterm model gives Wexton a 50% to 41% lead, while a model that includes a turnout surge in areas where Pres. Donald Trump is unpopular gives Wexton a 51% to 40% lead.”
Supreme Court Upholds Trump’s Travel Ban
The Supreme Court ruled that President Trump “acted lawfully in imposing limits on travel from several predominantly Muslim nations,” the New York Times reports.
“The vote was 5 to 4, with the court’s conservatives in the majority.”
“The court’s decision, a major statement on presidential power, marked the conclusion of a long-running dispute over Mr. Trump’s authority to make good on his campaign promises to secure the nation’s borders.”
Court Strikes Down Law On Anti-Abortion Centers
The U.S. Supreme Court “struck down a California law requiring clinics that counsel women against abortion to notify clients of the availability of abortions paid for by the state, ruling it violated the free speech rights of these Christian-based facilities,” Reuters reports.
The ruling represented a significant victory for abortion opponents who operate crisis pregnancy centers around the country.
Americans Losing Confidence In Democracy
A new Democracy Project poll — sponsored by the George W. Bush Institute, the University of Pennsylvania’s Biden Center and Freedom House — finds that half of Americans think the United States is in “real danger of becoming a nondemocratic, authoritarian country.”
Key findings: 55% see democracy as “weak” and 68% believe it is “getting weaker.”
Furthermore, eight in 10 Americans say they are either “very” or “somewhat” concerned about the condition of democracy here.
Trump Threatens Harley-Davidson
President Trump “threatened the iconic motorcycle company Harley-Davidson with severe taxes and a public revolt that would eventually put the 115-year-old firm out of business, blasting the Wisconsin firm for a plan to move some operations outside the U.S. as a way to avoid getting caught in the middle of an escalating trade war,” the Washington Post reports.
“Trump also accused Harley, without providing any evidence, of intentionally misleading Americans by saying the firm was moving some operations out of the U.S. in response to new tariffs imposed by the European Union.”
How Should Democrats Confront Trump?
New York Times: “For more than two years, Democrats have struggled with how aggressively to confront Donald J. Trump, a political opponent unlike any other: Should they attack him over his hard-line policies; his inflammatory, norm-breaking conduct; or some combination of both?”
“In recent days, as institutional Democrats wring their hands, those deliberations have started to give way to furious liberal activists and citizens who have taken matters into their own hands beyond the corridors of power.”
Sean Spicer Is Developing a TV Show
“Sean Spicer, arguably the world’s most famous White House press secretary, is developing a talk show with the tentative title of ‘Sean Spicer’s Common Ground,’ in which the former spokesman for President Trump interviews notable people in an informal setting,” the New York Times reports.
“A pitch sheet for the show’s pilot, obtained by The New York Times, describes Mr. Spicer hosting ‘some of the most interesting and thoughtful public figures for a drink and some lite conversation at a local pub or cafe.'”
Republicans Really Oppose All Immigration Now
Ron Brownstein: “The firestorm over the separation of children from their undocumented parents at the border has almost completely overshadowed another milestone in the long-running national immigration debate: Opposition to legal, as well as illegal, migration is hardening into a bedrock principle of the Republican Party.”
“The vast majority of congressional Republicans this year have now voted for Trump-backed legislation that would not only crack down on undocumented immigration but also severely constrict legal entry into the country, including for millions of those who, as Trump put it, have been ‘waiting on line for years’ to enter legally.”
