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McConnell Will Force Health Care Vote Next Week

June 19, 2017 at 8:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Swan: “Sources close to Mitch McConnell tell me the Majority Leader is dead serious about forcing a Senate vote on the Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill before the July 4 holiday.”

“Some senators want to delay the vote but McConnell views that as delaying the inevitable. There are no mysteries about what the toughest disagreements are over — Medicaid funding and insurance market regulations.”

“This week is crucial: the Senate won’t vote without a CBO score, which means they need to finalize negotiations this week.”

GOP May Cancel August Recess

June 19, 2017 at 7:44 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Alarmed by the stalemate on healthcare reform, lack of progress on tax reform and appropriations bills that are far behind schedule, Republican lawmakers across Congress are increasingly willing to consider cancelling the month-long August recess,” The Hill reports.

“Senate Republican negotiators reported that they are not close to a deal on healthcare reform and that scheduling a vote by July 4, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has pushed, is likely unrealistic. That impasse has held up work on a budget resolution, which is necessary to move tax reform and the annual appropriations bills.”

“Once Republicans vote on a budget resolution for 2018, it will wipe out the special vehicle they plan to use to pass healthcare reform with a simple majority vote — a vehicle that was set up by the budget resolution for 2017.”

Democrats Make Final Push In Georgia’s 6th

June 19, 2017 at 7:18 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Democrats are closer than they ever could have imagined to winning a House seat in the Republican suburbs of Atlanta, and dealing a resounding blow to Donald Trump. But they’re also gripped by anxiety about what happens if they fall short Tuesday. A loss in Georgia’s special election here could leave the party demoralized, with little to show for all the furious organizing, fundraising and spending in a handful of congressional special elections in the early months of the Trump administration.”

“As a result, Democrats are now straining to throw everything they have at Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District to push Jon Ossoff over the top against Republican Karen Handel, aiming to prove they can win the suburban districts that may pave the way to a House majority in 2018.”

Stu Rothenberg: “Democratic strategists may hate the idea that they must win the June 20 special election in Georgia’s 6th District, but that doesn’t make it any less true.”

Kushner Mulls Reshuffling Legal Team

June 19, 2017 at 7:14 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Representatives of Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, have quietly contacted high-powered criminal lawyers about potentially representing him in the wide-ranging investigation into Russia’s influence on the 2016 election.”

“Some of Mr. Kushner’s allies have raised questions about the link between his current lawyer, Jamie S. Gorelick, and Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel appointed to investigate the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, according to one of the people who spoke on condition of anonymity.”

Trump Demands Face Time with Cabinet Heads

June 19, 2017 at 7:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Every president has regular contact with key Cabinet members, but Trump, who remains deeply mistrustful of career agency officials, has turned the White House into a hangout for his chosen department heads. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has met with the president at least 34 times since he was confirmed in February,” Politico reports.

“Senior aides say Trump demands facetime with his appointees in part because he doesn’t trust bureaucrats who do the day-to-day work of the federal government. The president shuns them as tools of what he often refers to as the ‘deep state,’ and blames them for the frequent, unflattering news stories coming from his White House, according to two White House aides. But for Trump’s Cabinet members, proximity is a plus. Being physically present at the White House ensures that they have a say in policymaking — and serves as an indication of status with the president.”

It Took a Long time to Get Rid of Nixon

June 19, 2017 at 6:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Rauch: “Nixon’s second-term approval started strong, in the high sixties, but plummeted as Watergate revelations emerged. By the time the Senate Watergate hearings began, in May of 1973, his ratings were under 50 percent. By the time of the Saturday Night Massacre, in October of 1973, his approval was mired in the mid-twenties, never to recover.”

“Still, Nixon held onto office for more than 17 months after his ratings sank below 50 percent, and for more than nine months after they sank into the twenties. Being loathed by the American public, and being widely and correctly perceived to be a criminal, did not do him in for a long time.”

“The reason was that the critical variable was not overall approval but Republican approval. Removal either by impeachment or under the 25th Amendment, the two mechanisms available, requires a 67-vote Senate supermajority (unless a president is too incapacitated to serve). As a result, even though Democrats controlled Congress in 1974, Nixon could not be removed without Republican legislators’ support.”

Nasty Ad Links Ossoff to Congressional Shooting

June 18, 2017 at 7:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jon Ossoff (D) and Karen Handel (R) strongly condemned an attack ad that surfaced accusing the “unhinged left” of endorsing violence against Republicans days before the nationally-watched race to represent Georgia’s 6th District is decided, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

“The ad, funded by a little-known group called the Principled PAC, opens with sounds of gunshots and footage of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) being wheeled away on a stretcher after he and other members of the Republican congressional baseball team were ambushed by a lone gunman while practicing in a Washington suburb.”

Memo Shows Nixon White House Plotted Violence

June 18, 2017 at 7:49 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Watergate prosecutors had evidence that operatives for then-President Richard Nixon planned an assault on anti-war demonstrators in 1972, including potentially physically attacking Vietnam whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg,” according to a never-before-published memo obtained by NBC News.

“The document, an 18-page 1973 investigative memorandum from the Watergate Special Prosecution Force, sheds new light on how prosecutors were investigating attempts at domestic political violence by Nixon aides, an extremely serious charge… A plot to physically attack Ellsberg is notable because the former Pentagon official has long alleged that Nixon operatives did more than steal his medical files, the most well-known effort to discredit him.”

Ryan Insists GOP Agenda Is On Track

June 18, 2017 at 5:19 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “Speaker Paul Ryan spent the weekend at the Homestead in Virginia for his annual ‘Team Ryan’ summer outing. His message to K Streeters and donors: the Republican agenda is on track. The Wisconsin Republican laid out his preferred timeline for Obamacare repeal bill, saying that it will be done by mid-summer and tax reform will be completed by the end of the year. Ryan said that he expected the Senate to pass their health care bill before the July 4 recess and that would give House Republicans the rest of July to take action.”

“Ryan said he has been talking to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell daily. Ryan also was bullish on infrastructure, telling the group that a series of infrastructure bills will be passed by the end of the year.”

Senate Secrecy on Health Care Is Not Normal

June 18, 2017 at 5:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Los Angeles Times: “Don Ritchie, historian emeritus of the Senate, said not since the years before World War I has the Senate taken such a partisan, closed-door approach to major legislation.”

“A century ago, Senate Democrats, at the urging of President Woodrow Wilson, drew up major tariff reforms while shutting out Republicans. But when Democratic leaders tried that again when they had large majorities during the Great Depression, rank-and-file senators revolted. It hasn’t happened since, he said.”

Trump Aides Already Looking to Cash In?

June 18, 2017 at 4:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Swan: “A well-known book agent tells me Kellyanne and other top officials could expect ‘high seven figures’ if they publish the first ‘insider’ book on life inside the Trump campaign or White House. The agent told me he’s heard from a number of officials currently inside the White House who want to know how much money they could expect to make from writing books when they leave.”

“Corey Lewandowski is reportedly one step ahead of them. CNN’s Oliver Darcy reports that the sacked campaign manager is shopping a book through his agent. I’m told he can expect more than $1 million if he goes through with it.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

June 18, 2017 at 10:17 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“It’s not just symbolic — we really can’t afford to lose any seats at this point.”

— Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL), quoted by the New York Times, on the high stakes for Republicans in Georgia’s 6th congressional district special election.

Trump’s Lawyer Insists He’s Not Under Investigation

June 18, 2017 at 9:43 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

An attorney for President Trump was adamant that the president is not under investigation, despite the president’s tweets this week referring to one as a “witch hunt,” the NBC News reports.

Said Jay Sekulow: “Let me be clear here. The president is not and has not been under investigation for obstruction.”

The 5 Types of Trump Voters

June 18, 2017 at 9:36 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

A new study from the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group looked at polling data to discover there is really no such thing as “one kind of Trump voter” who voted for him for one single reason. Many voted with enthusiasm for Trump while others were primarily voting against Hillary Clinton.

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Will Ground Game Make the Difference for Ossoff?

June 18, 2017 at 8:40 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

CNN: “More than 140,000 voters had cast their ballots by the time early voting in Georgia closed Friday — another indication of sky-high turnout in the closely watched runoff for a House seat between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel.”

Politico: “While television advertising still dominated most candidates’ campaign budgets, Ossoff is pouring millions into an unprecedented ground game to turn out new voters and those who haven’t voted in non-presidential elections previously.”

“That scrambles the calculus for pollsters, who usually rely on past performance to determine whom they call and who comprises their surveys. In a typical special election, pollsters can rely on data from past midterm and off-year races to establish a likely electorate.”

New Ad Targets 5 GOP Senators on Health Care

June 18, 2017 at 8:35 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“An organization that opposes the Republican effort to repeal and replace key parts of the Affordable Care Act is pressuring five GOP senators not to vote for the emerging legislation in a new $1.5 million ad campaign that begins Monday,” the Washington Post reports.

The ad is targeting Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Susan Collins (R-ME), Dean Heller (R-NV) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) with television and radio ads urging them to vote no.

Macron’s Party Set for Parliamentary Landslide in France

June 18, 2017 at 12:08 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The centrist party of French President Emmanuel Macron looks set to win a landslide victory in the second round of parliamentary elections on Sunday,” the BBC reports.

“A party needs 289 seats to control the 577-seat National Assembly. LREM is predicted to win more than 400. Mr Macron won the presidential election last month and he is now hoping to secure a solid majority to help push through his planned reforms for the country.”

“He formed his party just over a year ago, and half of its candidates have little or no political experience.”

Washington Post: “Macron rose from relative obscurity to score a landslide victory in the presidential election in May, becoming the first winning candidate in decades to come from neither the traditional center-right nor center-left parties. But now, something even more momentous is happening: Macron is leading a total overhaul of an ossified political system.”

Quote of the Day

June 18, 2017 at 12:02 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The state the nation is today will not be sustained by the American people. We are better than this.”

— Former Vice President Joe Biden, quoted by the Miami Herald.