General
Road ahead: Public impeachment hearings begin
Katherine Tully-McManus and Niels Lesniewski, Roll Call
The public phase of the House impeachment inquiry begins this week, with three witnesses set to air concerns Wednesday and Friday that President Donald Trump attempted to tie Ukrainian military aid to an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden, a potential Democratic rival in 2020. Much of the attention on Capitol Hill will be focused on the House Intelligence Committee as it opens up to televised questioning and testimony an investigation that so far had been conducted in a secure closed-door facility in the basement of the Capitol.
DACA Recipients Look To Supreme Court For Hope
Nina Totenberg, NPR News
The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday in a highly anticipated set of cases that threatens the legal status of some 700,000 young people — often called “dreamers” — who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. It’s a program that President Trump tried to rescind seven months after taking office, only to have the lower courts block his action.
U.S. Drones Appear to Show Turkish-Backed Forces Accosting Civilians in Syria
Dion Nissenbaum and Godron Lubold, The Wall Street Journal
U.S. military officials watched live drone feeds last month that appeared to show Turkish-backed Arab gunmen targeting civilians during their assault on Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria, attacks the Americans reported to their commanders as possible war crimes, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with the incidents. U.S. surveillance videos of two incidents were included in an internal report compiled by State Department officials laying out concerns regarding four credible cases of alleged war crimes by Turkish-backed forces, according to the U.S. officials.
Jimmy Carter admitted to Emory University Hospital
Ernie Suggs, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Carter Center said late Monday that former president Jimmy Carter was admitted to Emory University Hospital Monday for a procedure to “relieve pressure on his brain, caused by bleeding due to his recent falls.” The procedure is scheduled for Tuesday morning, the Carter Center said.
Twitter Will Make Exceptions To Its Political Ad Ban. Here’s One Of Them.
Alex Kantrowitz, BuzzFeed News
Representatives from Twitter met with advertisers last week to discuss the specifics of what might be — and won’t be — included in its ban on political advertising. In those meetings, Twitter staffers suggested that ads that spread awareness about issues of national significance would still be allowed after the ban takes effect.
Google’s ‘Project Nightingale’ Gathers Personal Health Data on Millions of Americans
Rob Copeland, The Wall Street Journal
Google is engaged with one of the U.S.’s largest health-care systems on a project to collect and crunch the detailed personal-health information of millions of people across 21 states. The initiative, code-named “Project Nightingale,” appears to be the biggest effort yet by a Silicon Valley giant to gain a toehold in the health-care industry through the handling of patients’ medical data.
Is the Supreme Court’s Fate in Elena Kagan’s Hands?
Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker
The Supreme Court of the United States performs its duties with a theatrical formalism. Every session opens with the Marshal of the Court, in the role of town crier, calling out “Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!” and “God save the United States and this Honorable Court!”
Nikki Haley’s Book and Media Blitz Have Trump Allies Wondering About Her Political Plans
Andrew Restuccia and Vivian Salama, The Wall Street Journal
As Nikki Haley embarks on a publicity tour for her new book, allies of President Trump are already wondering what she is going to do next. Almost a year after she stepped down as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Ms. Haley remains an object of fascination among Mr. Trump’s associates—and she is one of the rare former administration officials who has been able to criticize the president without inviting his fury.
White House & Administration
US held record number of migrant kids in custody in 2019
Christopher Sherman et al., The Associated Press
The 3-year-old girl traveled for weeks cradled in her father’s arms, as he set out to seek asylum in the United States. Now she won’t even look at him.
Judge tosses Trump suit over New York tax returns, rejects conspiracy claim
Allan Smith, NBC News
A federal judge on Monday dismissed President Donald Trump’s lawsuit to prevent the House Ways and Means Committee from utilizing a recently passed New York law providing the panel an avenue to pursue his state tax returns. Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that his court was not the proper jurisdiction to sue the New York officials named in the lawsuit, leaving open the option that Trump do so in New York.
As impeachment probe starts new phase, Trump promises to release transcript
Patricia Zengerle, Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday could take some control of the impeachment inquiry into his dealings with Ukraine if he follows through on a promise to release a transcript of an April call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Trump said on Saturday he would likely release the transcript on Tuesday, describing it to reporters as “very important.”
Federal health contract funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump allies
Dan Diamond and Adam Cancryn, Politico
At least eight former White House, presidential transition and campaign officials for President Donald Trump were hired as outside contractors to the federal health department at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, according to documents newly obtained by POLITICO. They were among at least 40 consultants who worked on a one-year, $2.25 million contract directed by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma.
Trump expected to delay auto tariff decision for 6 more months
Ben White and Doug Palmer, Politico
President Donald Trump is expected to announce this week that he is putting off a decision on whether to impose tariffs on European Union autos for another six months, a person familiar with the decision said. That would avoid a new bruising dispute with one of the United States’ biggest trading partners, just as Trump is trying to put out another trade fire by striking an initial deal with China.
Inside Trump’s Gambit To Install Another Acting DHS Secretary
Harrison Cramer and Zach C. Cohen, National Journal
President Trump plans to name yet another temporary head of the Homeland Security Department, pushing the boundaries of his authority to install top officials without Senate approval. Trump as soon as this week will elevate DHS official Chad Wolf to replace outgoing Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan as the president’s initiatives to prevent undocumented border migration remain mired in court challenges.
Trump weighs conditioning foreign aid on religious freedom
Nahal Toosi and Gabby Orr, Politico
Aides to President Donald Trump are drafting plans to condition U.S. aid to other countries on how well they treat their religious minorities, two White House officials said. The proposal is expected to cover U.S. humanitarian assistance, and could also be broadened to include American military aid to other countries.
E.P.A. to Limit Science Used to Write Public Health Rules
Lisa Friedman, The New York Times
The Trump administration is preparing to significantly limit the scientific and medical research that the government can use to determine public health regulations, overriding protests from scientists and physicians who say the new rule would undermine the scientific underpinnings of government policymaking. A new draft of the Environmental Protection Agency proposal, titled Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science, would require that scientists disclose all of their raw data, including confidential medical records, before the agency could consider an academic study’s conclusions.
After boost from Perry, backers got huge gas deal in Ukraine
Desmond Butler et al., The Associated Press
Two political supporters of U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry secured a potentially lucrative oil and gas exploration deal from the Ukrainian government soon after Perry proposed one of the men as an adviser to the country’s new president. Perry’s efforts to influence Ukraine’s energy policy came earlier this year, just as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s new government was seeking military aid from the United States to defend against Russian aggression and allies of President Donald Trump were ramping up efforts to get the Ukrainians to investigate his Democratic rival Joe Biden.
Senate
McConnell: Bevin ‘had a good 4 years,’ but likely lost
Dylan Lovan, The Associated Press
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin “had a good four years,” but he says a review of Bevin’s narrow reelection defeat is unlikely to change the outcome. Bevin trailed Democrat Andy Beshear by about 5,000 votes in the Nov. 5 election.
After Schumer Praised the Retiring Rep. King, Some Democrats Jeered
Jesse McKinley, The New York Times
Maybe he just should have called. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York responded to the announcement on Monday that Representative Peter King, the Long Island Republican, was retiring by publishing a warm tribute to Mr. King on Twitter.
House
’Alarm bells’: What Cooper, Croft and Anderson told impeachment investigators
Andrew Desiderio and Kyle Cheney, Politico
House impeachment investigators released the transcripts of three more depositions on Monday, offering critical new details surrounding President Donald Trump’s order to freeze military aid to Ukraine. Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Russia and Ukraine, told investigators Trump’s abrupt hold on the critical security assistance sent all corners of the administration into a frenzy to get it released — and to understand what motivated Trump’s decision.
House lawmakers urge Trump to rescind Erdoğan’s White House invite
Connor O’Brien, Politico
A bipartisan bloc of 17 House lawmakers is urging President Donald Trump to disinvite Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from a planned White House visit on Wednesday. In a letter led by House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the 15 House Democrats and two Republicans said Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria last month “has had disastrous consequences for U.S. national security, has led to deep divisions in the NATO alliance and caused a humanitarian crisis on the ground.”
GOP outlines theory of impeachment defense in memo to members
Zachary Basu and Jonathan Swan, Axios
Republicans on the three House committees conducting the Trump-Ukraine investigation have settled on “four key pieces of evidence” that they claim will undermine Democrats’ arguments for why the president should be impeached, according to a staff memo circulated to committee members Monday night. Why it matters: The first public hearings of the impeachment inquiry will take place this week.
2020
Big Nurses Union Backs Bernie Sanders and His Push for ‘Medicare for All’
Reid J. Epstein, The New York Times
The country’s largest nurses union will endorse Senator Bernie Sanders for president this week, a significant boost to his campaign from a major ally in the fight for his signature health care proposal. The union, National Nurses United, fervently supported Mr. Sanders’s last bid for the White House in 2016, and its members have been significant players in Democratic politics since then, showing up in red T-shirts to support Mr. Sanders’s progressive allies in intraparty battles.
In Early Voting States, the Economy Is Working in Trump’s Favor
Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou and Reade Pickert, Bloomberg
Factories in Iowa are humming. Employment in New Hampshire is thriving. The giant tourism and hotel industry in Nevada is booming.
GOP seeks to dethrone Collin Peterson, one of the Hill’s few rural Democrats
Liz Crampton, Politico
Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson has a long track record over his 28-year tenure in Congress of defending rural interests. Yet he’s one of the most endangered Democrats in the House because of the Trump effect.
States
Maya Rockeymoore Cummings to seek her husband’s seat in Congress
Ovetta Wiggins and Erin Cox, The Washington Post
Maya Rockeymoore Cummings resigned as chair of the Maryland Democratic Party on Monday night and announced she would seek the congressional seat vacated by the death of her husband, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.). The longtime policy consultant has scheduled a formal announcement at her Baltimore home Tuesday morning.
Advocacy
Trump to Meet With Vaping Industry Representatives as Policy Nears on E-Cigarettes
Thomas M. Burton and Alex Leary, The Wall Street Journal
President Trump said Monday that he would meet with vaping-industry representatives as he nears a decision that could bar sales of sweet, fruit-flavored e-cigarettes aimed at young people, raising concerns among public-health advocates that the measure could be diluted. “Will be meeting with representatives of the Vaping industry, together with medical professionals and individual state representatives, to come up with an acceptable solution to the Vaping and E-cigarette dilemma,” Mr. Trump wrote in a tweet Monday morning.
More companies publicly disclosing what they spend on politics, study finds
Kate Ackley, Roll Call
A rise in shareholder and consumer activism has prompted more companies to publicly disclose what they spend on politics. Bruce Freed, president and co-founder of the Center for Political Accountability, said companies are doing it to insulate themselves from criticism at a time when politics has become more heated.
CEOs’ allergy to geopolitics
Felix Salmon et al., Axios
If CEOs are the new politicians, many of them don’t seem to have thought carefully about foreign policy — particularly about working with autocratic regimes. Why it matters: Corporate America continues to do business with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, who allegedly oversaw the beheading of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and to court business in places like China and Turkey.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
To Break Immigration Impasse, Look to Criminal Justice Reform for Inspiration
Mark Holden, Morning Consult
Americans are convinced that Washington is broken. As someone who was a part of an ideologically diverse coalition that included people like Van Jones and Newt Gingrich, to help enact the First Step Act last year, I’m convinced that bipartisanship can still prevail.
The Enemy Within: Our grasp on what it takes to sustain a democracy is slipping.
James Mattis, The Atlantic
In 1838, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech to the Young Men’s Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois. The subject was citizenship and the preservation of America’s political institutions.
How To Improve The Conversation About Electability
Perry Bacon Jr., FiveThirtyEight
Everyone is talking about electability —and that’s totally understandable, considering how badly Democratic voters want to beat President Trump. But it’s not totally clear from the polls which candidates can win a general election and, perhaps more importantly, which can’t.
Research Reports and Polling
A Framework for Election Vendor Oversight
Lawrence Norden and Gowri Ramachandran, Brennan Center for Justice
More than 80 percent of voting systems in use today are under the purview of three vendors. 1 A successful cyberattack against any of these companies could have devastating consequences for elections in vast swaths of the country.
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