A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds that 55% of voters say they haven’t noticed an increase in their paychecks as a result of the new tax law.
White House Prepares to Defend Jackson Nomination
The White House is preparing a “full-throated defense” of embattled Veterans Affairs nominee Ronny Jackson and will be asking the Senate to reschedule a confirmation hearing that lawmakers had postponed amid concerns about his performance as the president’s physician, the Wall Street Journal reports.
An administration official described President Trump as “bewildered” by the response to Dr. Jackson’s nomination.
Chafee May Challenge Whitehouse In Primary
Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (D) says he is “very likely” to enter the Democratic primary against the man who defeated him for the same seat 12 years ago, Sheldon Whitehouse (D), WPRI reports.
Pruitt Plans to Blame Staff for Ethical Lapses
“As Scott Pruitt, the embattled head of the Environmental Protection Agency, prepares to testify before Congress on Thursday amid a series of spending and ethics investigations, an internal E.P.A. document indicates that he may blame his staff for many of the decisions that have put a cloud over his tenure at the agency,” the New York Times reports.
“The document, which The New York Times has reviewed and the veracity of which the E.P.A. did not dispute, seemed to be a work in progress.”
“His testimony coincides with rising calls from both Democrats and Republicans for Mr. Pruitt to step aside. He has been criticized for spending more than $3 million on security in his first year in office, a figure that includes salary and overtime for his security detail of more than 20 people, some of whom have been dispatched to protect Mr. Pruitt on private trips to Disneyland, professional basketball games and the 2018 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.”
Carson Proposes Rent Hikes for Low-Income Households
HUD Secretary Ben Carson “will propose to increase the amount low-income households are expected to pay for rent as well as require those receiving housing subsidies to work,” according to the administration’s legislative proposal obtained by the Washington Post.
“The move to overhaul how low-income rental subsidies are calculated would affect more than 4.5 million families relying on federal housing assistance.”
News Organizations Seek Release of Mueller Info
“A coalition of news organizations… asked a federal court on Tuesday to unseal materials used by special counsel Robert Mueller to obtain search warrants in his investigation of President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and others indicted in the probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election,” the Washington Post reports.
“The news organizations are seeking to compel disclosure of affidavits, records of seizures and the warrants themselves that Mueller filed… They argue that the material, which has been shielded under a court order, could contain newsworthy information about the shape and direction of Mueller’s investigation. It could indicate, for example, details of criminal activity suspected by Mueller and the basis for FBI searches.”
Heller Barely Ahead In Nevada
A new Nevada Independent/Mellman poll in Nevada shows Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) barely ahead of challenger Jacky Rosen (D), 40% to 39%.
Key finding: “Rosen, who had never held office before her congressional race, lagged Heller significantly in name recognition among poll respondents, with 34% saying they had never heard of her compared to only 8% unfamiliar with him.”
Bredesen Holds Small Lead In Tennessee
A new Mason-Dixon poll in Tennessee finds Phil Bredesen (D) leading Marsha Blackburn (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 46% to 43%, with 11% still undecided.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I had 12 hours of surgery on my face, broke all the bones in my face. What did he say? Did he send me a note of sympathy? He said, words to the effect ‘hope Reid tries another accident, gets hurt again.’ How about that? He is not a nice man and that’s an understatement.”
— Former Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), in an interview with NBC News, on President Trump.
How Trump Wins by Bashing the News Media
Jay Rosen: “There is a risk that one third of the electorate will be isolated in an information loop of its own, where Trump becomes the major source of information about Trump, because independent sources are rejected on principle. That has already happened. An authoritarian system is up and running for a portion of the polity. Another way to say this is that before journalists log on in the morning, one third of their potential public is already gone.”
“There is a risk that journalists could do their job brilliantly, and it won’t really matter, because Trump supporters categorically reject it, Trump opponents already believed it, and the neither-nors aren’t paying close enough attention.”
Blankenship Questions McConnell’s Marriage
West Virginia U.S. Senate candidate Don Blankenship (R) questioned Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) marriage to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, suggesting the Senate leader faced a conflict of interest in foreign relations since Chao’s father is “a wealthy Chinaperson,” the New York Times reports.
He added that “there’s a lot of connections to some of the brass, if you will, in China.”
Said Blankenship: “I read in books that people think he’s soft on China.”
Trump Has Taken Corruption to a New Level
Jonathan Chait: “People in government might have always given their donors more influence over their decisions, but they at least pretended that was not the case in public. The Trump administration is not even bothering to put up a facade.”
“The levels of corruption in this administration are simply staggering, and they range from open self-enrichment to openly selling policy to the highest bidder. The completely accurate sense that Trump and his party are out to get themselves and their friends rich is the administration’s gaping vulnerability. What’s especially odd is that nobody in the administration seems to have taken even cursory steps to address or paper over this weakness. They’re all just grabbing as much cash for themselves and their allies as they can, while they can.”
Lesko Will Join Freedom Caucus
Rep.-elect Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), who narrowly won a special election in Arizona Tuesday night, is expected to join the House Freedom Caucus after she is sworn in, the conservative group’s leader, Chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) told The Hill.
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Trump’s Election Nightmare
Jonathan Swan: “Top Republicans have conceded for months that they’re likely lose the House in November’s midterms. But some well-wired operatives now tell Axios that President Trump may face his real nightmare: losing the Senate, giving Democrats both ends of the Capitol, and one-third of the government.”
“It’s not just that Democratic dominance at the Capitol would speed impeachment proceedings and trap the White House in a thicket of oversight probes and hearings. Twin losses would be a massive repudiation of Trump and his brand of Republicanism, just as he embarks on his reelection.”
Said a Republican lobbyist: “Everyone just universally assumed it would be status quo or Republicans would win a seat or two. And now it feels like Republicans are at a risk of losing one, which would be a 50-50 Senate or two, which would be a Democratic Senate.”
GOP Has Fared Worse In Every Special Election
“Democratic energy has been on vivid display in a series of special elections since President Trump’s inauguration, including in strongly conservative areas where Republicans usually win elections easily,” the New York Times reports.
Axios: “To take the House, Democrats have to beat the partisan leans calculated by Cook Political Report in each district by an average of 4 points, analyst Dave Wasserman says. Even if the Alabama Senate race — in which Jones beat expectations by 15 points — is discounted as a special case given Roy Moore’s troubles, Democrats have over-performed by 6% to 12% in recent special elections.”
Quote of the Day
“We had a hierarchy in my office in Congress. If you’re a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn’t talk to you. If you’re a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you.”
— White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, quoted by the New York Times.
Arizona Special Election Is Another Wake Up Call for GOP
Debbie Lasko (R) won a special election to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) by 53% to 48%, in a district won by President Trump by 21 points in 2016.
Nate Silver: “The outcome represented a 20-point swing toward Democrats relative to the district’s FiveThirtyEight partisan lean, which is derived from how the it voted for president in 2016 and 2012 relative to the country… If Republicans are winning by only 5 points in this sort of extremely red district in November, dozens of more competitive seats will flop to Democrats — more than enough for them to take the House.”
David Wasserman: “There are 147 GOP-held House seats less Republican than #AZ08. It’s time to start rethinking how many of those are truly safe in November.”
