General
Fighting in Kurdish-held Syrian town despite cease-fire
Elena Becatoros, The Associated Press
Fighting continued Friday morning in a northeast Syrian border town at the center of the fight between Turkey and Kurdish forces, despite a U.S.-brokered cease-fire that went into effect overnight. Shelling and gunfire could be heard in and around Ras al-Ayn as smoke billowed from locations near the border with Turkey and the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar.
Mar-a-Lago Again Under Fire for Hosting Group That Promoted Islamophobia
Mihir Zaveri, The New York Times
For the second time in two weeks, the Trump Organization faced calls to cancel a planned event at Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Fla., because the event was being organized by a group that has espoused anti-Muslim views. The group, the Center for Security Policy, is holding a private event at Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 23, according to Fred Fleitz, the group’s president and chief executive.
UAW Officials Vote to Extend Nationwide GM Strike
Nora Naughton and Mike Colias, The Wall Street Journal
The United Auto Workers will continue to picket General Motors Co.’s U.S. factories until workers have approved a new labor deal, prolonging a costly nationwide strike that is already the company’s longest in decades. In a rare step, a council of union-hall leaders meeting in Detroit voted to extend the walkout, in its 32nd day as of Thursday.
China’s GDP growth grinds to near 30-year low as tariffs hit production
Kevin Yao and Gabriel Crossley, Reuters
China’s third-quarter economic growth slowed more than expected and to its weakest pace in almost three decades as the bruising U.S. trade war hit factory production, boosting the case for Beijing to roll out fresh support. Gross domestic product (GDP) rose just 6.0% year-on-year, marking a further loss of momentum for the economy from the second quarter’s 6.2% growth.
White House & Administration
Kushner to visit Israel to meet with potential new government leaders
Michael Wilner, McClatchy DC
Jared Kushner, who is leading the Trump administration’s policymaking process on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, will travel to Israel with his team later this month to assess the nation’s political environment after its latest round of inconclusive elections. Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, will meet with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Benny Gantz, the leader of Israel’s largest opposition party, a source familiar with the matter told McClatchy.
Trump Sent Attorney General Barr to Rome in Search of a Deep State Plot. Italian Intelligence Says There’s Nothing There.
Matthew Cole, The Intercept
The Italian government has determined that its intelligence services had no connection to a Maltese professor who told a Trump campaign adviser in 2016 that the Russian government had thousands of stolen emails that could damage Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, according to two senior Italian intelligence sources with knowledge of the matter. In a series of meetings in Rome over the past two weeks, high-level Italian intelligence officials have repeatedly told cabinet members and a parliamentary oversight committee that the intelligence services did not have a relationship with Joseph Mifsud, a mysterious ex-diplomat who was a professor at a Rome university in 2016, the two sources told The Intercept.
Friends With Benefits: Donald and Rudy’s Long, Strange Bond
Michael Kruse, Politico
Long, long before he was Donald Trump’s personal attorney and devoted defender, Rudy Giuliani wasn’t exactly a fan. The first time, actually, he invoked Trump’s name in a high-profile, high-stakes setting, Giuliani was the prosecutor in a public corruption case.
Senate
Failed Senate vote sets up big fight over border wall, budget
Erica Werner, The Washington Post
The Senate on Thursday failed to block President Trump from redirecting taxpayer money to fund a border wall, laying bare the budget crisis that looms over Washington heading into November. The vote was 53 to 36, as the Senate attempted to override Trump’s veto of legislation nullifying his national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Impeachment Could Mean Most Presidential Candidates Can’t Leave Washington, Or Talk. Sorry, Those Are (Really) The Rules.
Paul McLeod, BuzzFeed News
An impeachment trial in the Senate would be a massive threat to President Trump, but it could also cripple — or boost — the campaigns of a half dozen Democrats vying to beat him. A House vote to impeach the president seems overwhelmingly likely, as his administration refuses to cooperate with the House impeachment inquiry.
Romney denounces Trump’s Syria decision as ‘a bloodstain’ on U.S. history
Felicia Sonmez et al., The Washington Post
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Thursday harshly criticized President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from northern Syria, describing the move as “a bloodstain in the annals of American history.” Romney’s denunciation of Trump’s decision came hours after Senate Republicans blocked a vote on a House-passed resolution condemning the military move.
Senate Advances Another Trump Court Pick Rated ‘Not Qualified’ To Serve
Jennifer Bendery, HuffPost
Senate Republicans voted Thursday to advance another of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees, Justin Walker, who earned a rare and embarrassing “not qualified” rating from the American Bar Association. Every Republican on the Judiciary Committee voted to advance Walker, the president’s pick for a lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote.
House
Cummings’s Death Leaves Void at Helm of Crucial Committee
Catie Edmondson, The New York Times
The death of Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland on Thursday left a gaping void at the helm of a crucial investigative committee leading the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, setting off a quiet but consequential contest among Democrats to succeed him as chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. Democrats said that Representative Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, now the senior Democrat on the panel, would serve as the acting chairwoman, in line with House rules, and that a permanent leader would be elected at a later time.
House Dems move forward with drug pricing bill
Andrew Siddons et al., Roll Call
A House committee on Thursday approved a Democratic bill designed to limit drug prices, a top priority for the party, as another panel’s debate on the measure was poised to last for hours. House leaders produced the 141-page bill after months of deliberations among various party factions, as progressives urged their colleagues to be bold despite GOP criticisms that the measure could hamper research into future cures.
Nunes Tries to Use Steele Dossier to Defend Trump During Closed-Door Hearing
Betsy Swan and Sam Brodey, The Daily Beast
During a closed-door impeachment meeting on Capitol Hill, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) brought up a topic that surprised some attendees: the Steele dossier. The context, according to three sources familiar with the episode, was his effort to explain why President Trump might be “upset” about Ukraine.
2020
Biden’s African American firewall showing cracks
Laura Barrón-López and Alex Thompson, Politico
Joe Biden’s advisers have repeatedly downplayed the need for him to win in predominantly white Iowa and New Hampshire — while boasting of his strength in Southern states where black voters often dominate. And the polls, to date, back up their theory that that’s his path to the nomination.
Andrew Yang Injected Silicon Valley’s Favorite Economic Idea Into The Democratic Debate. Silicon Valley Isn’t So Happy About That.
Alex Kantrowita, BuzzFeed News
During Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential debate, one candidate after another came out in support of Universal Basic Income. Leading off was Andrew Yang, the tech entrepreneur who’s built his campaign on the idea of giving a “freedom dividend” of $12,000 per year — guaranteed income, no strings attached — to every adult American.
Ocasio-Cortez Will Be Very Tough to Beat. Why Are 11 People Trying?
Vivian Wang, The New York Times
It is hard to imagine a scenario where Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez loses her seat next year. She has raised more than $3.4 million, is better known than some presidential candidates and handily won a district that is among the bluest in the nation.
Bollier launches U.S. Senate campaign after 2018 switch from Republican to Democrat
Jonathan Shorman, The Wichita Eagle
A Kansas lawmaker who left the Republican Party last year now hopes to become the first Kansas Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in decades. State Sen. Barbara Bollier launched her campaign for U.S. Senate on Wednesday by promising an independent approach.
Democrats build a financial fortress around their House majority
Ally Mutnick, Politico
Democrats are building a financial bulwark around their House majority that’s going to be tough for Republicans to breach in 2020. Thirty-three of the 44 most vulnerable House Democrats have stashed an impressive $1 million or more in the bank well before the election year even begins.
New poll shows majority of Coloradans support impeachment inquiry, Hickenlooper leads Gardner
Blair Miller, Denver 7
New Colorado polling released Thursday shows that John Hickenlooper leads Sen. Cory Gardner in a theoretical Senate matchup next year by 11 percentage points and that a majority of Coloradans support the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. The Keating Research-OnSight Public Affairs-Martin Campaigns (KOM) survey released Thursday afternoon was conducted by the Democratic pollsters Oct. 10-14 and polled 500 active statewide voters who cast ballots in 2016, 2017 or 2018 or signed up to vote since last November.
States
Four Northeastern Governors Team Up on Vaping and Marijuana Standards
Joseph De Avila, The Wall Street Journal
The governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania met to discuss vaping and the legalization of recreational marijuana in hopes of reaching a consensus on regional standards. The governors, all Democrats, committed to working together to establish similar overall tax rates for cannabis products and setting common standards for how potent the drug can be, among other regulatory goals.
Trump Visits Texas, Where the Fallout From a Secret Tape Awaits Him
Dave Montgomery, The New York Times
With President Trump arriving in red-state Texas for a campaign rally in Dallas on Thursday, the Republican Party in the state faces a host of troubles. The Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives is engulfed in scandal.
Billionaire governor’s family farms get subsidy
Anthony Izaguirre, The Associated Press
A farming business owned by the family of West Virginia’s billionaire governor has received $125,000 in soybean and corn subsidies, the maximum allowed from a federal program meant to help American farmers through the U.S. trade war with China. There is no evidence Gov. Jim Justice did anything illegal.
Advocacy
Boeing C.E.O., Already Set for House Hearing, Is Likely to Face Senate, Too
David Gelles, The New York Times
The Senate Commerce Committee is completing preparations for a hearing about Boeing this month, and members expect to use it to interview the company’s chief executive, Dennis A. Muilenburg, about the crashes and grounding of the 737 Max, according to four people familiar with the matter. Mr. Muilenburg is already scheduled to appear before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Oct. 30.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg Rebuffs Calls for Tighter Controls, Saying Free Speech Must Be Preserved
Ryan Tracy, The Wall Street Journal
Mark Zuckerberg has spent the past two years apologizing to a chorus of critics for misinformation, privacy violations and more. On Thursday, the Facebook Inc. chief executive took the offensive, asserting a commitment to free expression as consistent with American values.
Educating K Street: Colleges and universities seek influence in Congress, executive branch
Kate Ackley, Roll Call
Lobbyist Stu Van Scoyoc began working for the University of Alabama system three decades ago, helping the school smooth over a problem the 1986 tax overhaul created for its pension program. It’s still a client.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
Shining a Light on Agency Guidance Practices
James Broughel, Morning Consult
President Donald Trump recently made headlines when he signed two new regulatory reform executive orders. Trump has made cutting burdensome regulations a major priority of his administration, and these new orders build on his other efforts by singling out a particularly nasty kind of red tape: agency guidance.
Our Republic Is Under Attack From the President
William H. McRaven, The New York Times
Last week I attended two memorable events that reminded me why we care so very much about this nation and also why our future may be in peril. The first was a change of command ceremony for a storied Army unit in which one general officer passed authority to another.
Forget Trump’s “Meltdown”—Follow the Testimony
Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker
In a series of tweets in late July, Donald Trump called Elijah Cummings, a Democratic representative from Baltimore and one of his chief congressional critics, a “brutal bully” whose inner-city district was “a disgusting, rat and rodent infected mess.” In September, as facts began spilling out about the President’s pressure campaign on Ukraine to investigate his possible 2020-election rival, the former Vice-President Joe Biden, Cummings endorsed impeachment proceedings against Trump.
Research Reports and Polling
Modest Changes in Views of Impeachment Proceedings Since Early September
Pew Research Center
Most Americans have not changed their views on whether the House should conduct impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump since early September, before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House would conduct an impeachment inquiry of the president. But about one-in-ten adults (9%) who had opposed the House opening impeachment proceedings last month now approve of the decision to conduct an impeachment inquiry, based on an analysis that tracks change in opinion among the same survey respondents over time.
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