A day after White House press secretary Sarah Sanders emphasized that “above all, the President supports victims of domestic violence,” dismissed aide Rob Porter’s two ex-wives tell CNN that they have not heard from or had any contact with a single person at the White House.
Republicans Have Forgotten They Hate Deficits
New York Times: “In a year of controlling power in Washington, President Trump and Republicans in Congress have run up federal spending, approved deficit-swelling tax cuts and presided over a marked increase in ‘policy uncertainty’ in the economy. They still talk about the importance of fiscal discipline, but they have yet to enforce it.”
“The $4.4 trillion budget Mr. Trump released on Monday spends as much over 10 years as any budget offered by President Obama, whose policies Republicans blamed for ballooning the size of the federal government and hobbling the economy. It does not attempt to achieve balance at the end of that time, despite optimistic economic growth projections that far exceed what most economists say is possible.”
“Instead, it projects that deficits will grow $7 trillion over the next decade as the United States continues borrowing huge sums of money — a number that could double if the administration turns out to be overestimating economic growth and if the $3 trillion in spending cuts the White House has floated do not materialize in Congress.”
Top U.S. Spy Issues Dire Warning to Congress
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told Congress that this year’s midterm elections are a “potential target” for Russian influence operations, Bloomberg reports.
Said Coats: “We assess that the Russian intelligence services will continue their efforts to disseminate false information via Russian state-controlled media and covert online personas about U.S. activities to encourage anti-U.S. political views.”
[alert type=”general” dismiss=”no”]Just days after President Trump signed a $300 billion budget hike, Coats also warned that the national debt is “unsustainable” and a “dire threat” to national security.[/alert]
Four Supreme Court Justices Seek Consensus
Bloomberg: “Kagan and Roberts are part of a quartet of relatively centrist justices, along with Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer, who at times can turn their chemistry into a consensus and avert a sharp divide.”
“The group will be tested during what could be a divisive stretch starting next week, when the court reconvenes after a month-long recess. Between now and the end of June, the court will rule on partisan gerrymandering, voter-database purges, mandatory union fees, Trump’s travel ban and possibly his effort to rescind a deferred-deportation program.”
“The four justices are hardly ideological soulmates… But as a group they stand in contrast to their five less compromising colleagues — Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor on the left and Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch on the right.”
America First Doesn’t Apply to Trump Businesses
A Vox analysis of hiring records for seasonal workers at three Trump properties in New York and Florida revealed that only one out of 144 jobs went to a US worker from 2016 to the end of 2017.
Foreign guest workers with H-2B visas got the rest.
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Quote of the Day
“I probably could’ve made it balance. But you all would’ve rightly absolutely excoriated us for using funny numbers to do it.”
— Budget director Mick Mulvaney, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, on the Trump administration’s budget proposal.
The End of the Two-Party System?
David Brooks: “All of this would be survivable if the mentality was going away in a few years. But it is not going away. The underlying conditions of scarcity are only going to get worse. Moreover, the warrior mentality builds on itself. As the right pulverizes the left, the left feels the need to pulverize back, and on and on. This is a generational challenge. Trump will be succeeded by some other warrior.”
“Eventually, conservatives will realize: If we want to preserve conservatism, we can’t be in the same party as the clan warriors. Liberals will realize: If we want to preserve liberalism, we can’t be in the same party as the clan warriors.”
“Eventually, those who cherish the democratic way of life will realize they have to make a much more radical break than any they ever imagined. When this realization dawns the realignment begins. Even with all the structural barriers, we could end up with a European-style multiparty system.”
Federal Prosecutors Hit the Campaign Trail
Wall Street Journal: “After watching President Trump fire former FBI Director James Comey, belittle Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and pardon Sheriff Joe Arpaio, among other events, Chris Hunter said he decided to leave his job as a prosecutor in Tampa in December and run for Congress.”
“Mr. Hunter is now one of five former federal prosecutors who are running for House seats as Democrats this year, compared with zero in 2016. The Wall Street Journal couldn’t identify any similar Republican candidates.”
Ex-Wife of Former Trump Speechwriter Details Abuse
Jessica Corbet, the ex-wife of former White House speechwriter David Sorensen, told NBC News: “He has thrown me into a wall. He has put a cigarette out on my hand. Made me drive around for hours wondering where I would go. With no money, to beg people for cash so I could come home.”
Corbett added that she only spoke out after the FBI came to her last fall: “I wasn’t out to get him. I was not trying to get him denied this job by telling the truth. I do very much believe that he is one of the best and most capable people at what he does professionally.”
Why Omarosa Was Fired from the White House
Politico reports that White House chief of staff dismissed Omarosa Manigault “for using the White House car service — known as ‘CARPET’ — as an office pick-up and drop-off service, something strictly forbidden by the federal government.”
“After Kelly dismissed her, Manigault tried to storm the White House residence to appeal to Trump, according to one of the officials, accidentally tripping an electronic Secret Service wire that monitors entry and egress from the residence.”
GOP Candidate’s Parents Max Out to His Opponent
Just months after Kevin Nicholson (R) announced his bid to run against incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Nicholson’s own parents donated the legal maximum to Baldwin’s primary campaign, CNN reports.
Explained Nicholson: “My parents have a different worldview than I do, and it is not surprising that they would support a candidate like Tammy Baldwin who shares their perspective.”
Who Owes Trump Money?
Forbes has assembled a list of who is currently paying rent to President Trump.
The Trump Organization has ongoing deals with law firms that lobby the federal government, banks controlled by foreign states and big media companies that cover Trump. Taken together – more than 150 tenants and some $175 million a year – they represent the greatest opportunity for conflicts of interest in a presidency full of them.
The Disruptor of the Supreme Court
Rick Hasen: “Scalia disrupted business as usual on the court just like Gingrich disrupted the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1990s and Trump is now disrupting the presidency. Scalia changed the way the Supreme Court writes and analyzes its cases and the tone judges and lawyers use to disagree with each other, evincing a pungent anti-elitist populism that, aside from some criminal procedure cases, mostly served his conservative values. Now the judiciary is being filled at a frenetic pace by Trump and Senate Republicans with Scalian acolytes like Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, who will use Scalia’s tools to further delegitimize their liberal opponents and continue to polarize the federal courts.”
Coming soon from Hasen: The Justice of Contradictions: Antonin Scalia and the Politics of Disruption
Grayson Says He’s Running But Won’t Say Where
Firebrand Alan Grayson (D) “says he wants to return to Congress in 2018, but is not yet saying which seat he’s running for,” Politico reports.
Said Grayson: “Yes, this cycle is what I’m looking at. But Florida law says I can run anywhere.”
“The Orlando Democrat has never stopped accepting online contributions since leaving Congress in 2016 to run for the U.S. Senate… Grayson in recent months has again started actively soliciting online contributions from the same small-dollar base that in the past helped make him a dangerous fundraiser.”
U.S. Strikes Killed Scores of Russian Fighters in Syria
“U.S. forces killed scores of Russian contract soldiers in Syria last week in what may be the deadliest clash between citizens of the former foes since the Cold War,” Bloomberg reports.
“More than 200 mercenaries, mostly Russians fighting on behalf of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, died in a failed attack on a base and refinery held by U.S. and U.S.-backed forces in the oil-rich Deir Ezzor region, two of the Russians said. The U.S. official put the death toll at about 100, with 200 to 300 injured.”
Senate Kicks Off Immigration Debate
Politico: “Senators on Monday kicked off an open-ended immigration debate that promises to test their rusty skills at bipartisan legislating, with no guarantee of success. The Senate voted 97-1 to proceed to a legislative shell bill that’s designed to serve as a vehicle for votes on competing immigration proposals, with Ted Cruz (R-TX) the sole ‘no’ vote.”
“All eyes are now on which — if any — idea can clear a 60-vote hurdle that requires both parties to look across the aisle. But as debate began, Republicans and Democrats alike acknowledged that it’s anyone’s guess as to whether such an immigration plan exists. President Donald Trump’s immigration framework is on track for a Senate floor vote and got endorsed Monday by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), but it’s unlikely to win 60 votes without significant changes.”
For members: A Real Debate Is About to Break Out in the Senate
Kelly Increasingly Isolated as Scandal Rages On
Politico: “While the president often makes a hash of the truth, aides took Kelly’s word at face value until they were confronted with zigzagging accounts of the events leading up to former staff secretary Rob Porter’s resignation—and Kelly’s role in them.”
“In the hours immediately after the Daily Mail published a photograph of Porter’s first ex-wife with a black eye, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders hastily arranged an off-the-record meeting in the West Wing with Porter and four reporters: the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, the Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey, Axios’ Jonathan Swan, and the Wall Street Journal’s Michael Bender. In that meeting, which hasn’t previously been reported, Porter relayed his version of events and fielded questions from the group.”
“The White House declined to comment on Porter’s meeting with reporters, including whether or not Kelly was aware it took place. But two White House officials said the mixed messages are symptomatic of the extent to which the White House has left Kelly to shoulder the blame for the Porter mess.”
