Top Stories

  • More than a third of the funds President Donald Trump wants to redirect from other programs to build his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is likely to be unavailable from the sources his administration has identified because they’ve already been spent. That could make it difficult for Trump to circumvent Congress to fund the border barrier, even if lawmakers do not enact a resolution disapproving his national emergency declaration. (Roll Call)
  • The United States will leave 200 American troops in Syria as peacekeepers after an American pullout, according to the White House. Trump, who announced a withdrawal of 2,000 troops in December, has been under pressure from advisers to change his policy to ensure the protection of Kurdish forces, who supported the fight against Islamic State. (Reuters)
  • A federal judge in Washington broadened her gag order against longtime Trump associate Roger Stone after he posted a threatening message about her on social media, warning that additional missteps could lead to him being jailed or placed under house arrest. Stone – who’s facing charges from special counsel Robert Mueller including lying to Congress and witness tampering – is banned from making public comments, social media posts or speaking through surrogates about his case. (Politico)

Chart Review

Events Calendar (All Times Local)

02/22/2019
National Governors Association Winter Meeting
New Hampshire, Oregon governors participate in Axios event 8:30 am
Politico hosts State Solutions Conference 8:30 am
CSIS holds event on prospects for the second Trump-Kim summit 10:00 am
Council on Foreign Relations holds event on Saudi Arabia 12:45 pm
02/23/2019
National Governors Association Winter Meeting
02/24/2019
National Governors Association Winter Meeting
02/25/2019
National Governors Association Winter Meeting
Center for American Progress holds event on the second Trump-Kim summit 12:30 pm
Bernie Sanders participates in CNN “town hall” 8:00 pm
02/26/2019
Rep. Houlahan, Rep. Chris Smith participate in Axios event 5:00 pm
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats participates in Georgetown event 6:30 pm
02/27/2019
Conservative Political Action Conference
02/28/2019
Conservative Political Action Conference
03/01/2019
Conservative Political Action Conference
View full calendar

The State of the Democratic Primary

On a daily basis, Morning Consult is surveying over 5,000 registered voters across the United States on the 2020 presidential election. Each week, we’ll update this page with the latest survey data, offering an in-depth guide to how the race for the Democratic nomination is shaping up.

General

IRS analyst charged in leak of Michael Cohen’s bank records
Kara Scannell, CNN

An analyst with the Internal Revenue Service was charged with disclosing confidential reports about Michael Cohen’s bank records that revealed the President’s former lawyer sought to profit from his proximity to the White House. The analyst was charged by the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California with the unauthorized disclosure of a suspicious activity report, or SAR.

Manafort’s Virginia sentencing set for March 8
Darren Samuelsohn, Politico

A federal judge on Thursday scheduled Paul Manafort to be sentenced March 8 for financial malfeasance in Virginia. It’s one of two court hearings coming up next month that could send the former Trump campaign chairman to prison for the rest of his life.

A Woman Who Left The US As A Teen To Join ISIS Is Suing Trump To Come Home
Claudia Koerner, BuzzFeed News

The family of a woman who left the US to join ISIS is now suing President Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Attorney General William Barr to prove that she is an American citizen and has the right to return home. Hoda Muthana secretly traveled from her home in Alabama to Syria when she was 19, and BuzzFeed News exclusively profiled her journey to radicalism in 2015.

Judge decides that twin son of binational gay couple entitled to birthright U.S. citizenship
Alene Tchekmedyian, Los Angeles Times

A federal judge decided Thursday that a twin son of a binational gay couple, who was denied U.S. citizenship because he does not share a blood relationship with his American father, has been a U.S. citizen since birth. In an 11-page order, Los Angeles federal Judge John F. Walter concluded that U.S. law does not require a child to show a biological relationship with both of their parents if their parents were married at the time of their birth.

White House & Administration

Trump to Meet With China’s Trade Chief Liu He on Friday
Jenny Leonard and Jennifer Jacobs, Bloomberg

President Donald Trump will meet with China’s top trade negotiator Friday afternoon in Washington as the U.S. tries to forge a preliminary deal with its biggest economic rival before tariffs on some Chinese imports more than double next month. The meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He was listed on the White House’s daily schedule for 2:30 p.m. and would cap the latest round of talks in Washington.

Trump Inaugural Committee Challenged Vendor Requests and Budgeting, Documents Show
Rebecca Davis O’Brien and Rebecca Ballhaus, The Wall Street Journal

In the weeks before his inauguration, top officials on President Trump’s inaugural committee repeatedly sounded alarms about the budgets submitted by several vendors, according to correspondence, committee records and draft budgets reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Some of the materials, which haven’t previously been reported, have been shared with federal prosecutors in New York, according to people familiar with the investigation.

The North Korea summit nobody wanted
Eliana Johnson, Politico

President Donald Trump is eagerly anticipating his second summit with Kim Jong Un, touting his “really meaningful” relationship with the North Korean strongman and insisting he’s ready to give up his nuclear arsenal. In Washington, he’s pretty much the only one who feels that way.

Trump administration begins effort to strip work permits for immigrant spouses
Tal Koplan, San Francisco Chronicle

After nearly two years of delays, the Trump administration is moving ahead with its plan to strip work permits for the spouses of many high-skilled visa holders, an effort that could jeopardize tens of thousands of immigrants families in California alone. Rolling back the permits could have sweeping consequences for the Bay Area, where tech companies heavily rely on high-skilled immigrants.

Senate

Michael Cohen to Testify to Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday
Rebecca Ballhaus, The Wall Street Journal

Michael Cohen will testify privately next week before the Senate Intelligence Committee, a person close to him said, one of three congressional appearances next week for the former Trump lawyer who has implicated the president in federal crimes. Mr. Cohen, who has pleaded guilty in two different cases and who begins a three-year prison sentence in May, will testify privately before the Senate panel on Tuesday, a day before he is to speak publicly before the House Oversight Committee.

Scoop: McConnell recommends Kelly Craft to Trump for UN ambassador
Jonathan Swan, Axios

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has spoken to President Trump and recommended U.S. Ambassador to Canada Kelly Craft as the next UN ambassador, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Details: Like McConnell, Craft is from Kentucky, where she and her husband, billionaire coal CEO Joe Craft, rank among the state’s highest-profile Republican donors.

Democrats May Try to Subpoena Mueller Report If It’s Not Public
Terrence Dopp, Bloomberg

Democrats in Congress may seek to subpoena Special Counsel Robert Mueller or the results of his Russia probe if the results — expected to be submitted to the Justice Department as early as next week — aren’t publicly released. “The public will feel rightly that there is a coverup” if details are withheld, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, told CNN Thursday.

Schumer wants to know how many journalists will be fired if hedge fund takes over USA TODAY
Niels Lesniewski, Roll Call

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer wants to know how many journalists a hedge fund intends to lay off if it manages to take control of the publisher of USA TODAY. The attempt by the hedge fund Alden Global Capital to take control of the newspaper publisher Gannett has the attention of the New York senator, who is expressing concern about the ability of the public to have access to local news.

House

Jim Jordan: Michael Cohen’s testimony a ‘charade’ to begin impeaching Trump
Andrew Desiderio, Politico

The top Republican on the House Oversight Committee said Michael Cohen’s appearance before the panel next week will be “Phase One of the Democrats’ coordinated campaign” to impeach President Donald Trump, accusing Democrats of orchestrating a “charade” meant to embarrass the president. “Giving a platform to Mr. Cohen is beneath the dignity of the Congress and I am saddened that Democrats have sunk so low as to promote an admitted liar just to satisfy Tom Steyer and the political forces on the left who will settle for nothing less than impeachment,” Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said in a statement Thursday, referring to the billionaire liberal donor who is pushing House Democrats to start impeachment proceedings.

Steve King: ‘I have nothing to apologize for,’ plans to run for re-election
Tony Leys, Des Moines Register

A defiant Rep. Steve King confirmed Thursday that he will run for a 10th term as an Iowa congressman, despite controversies over his history of caustic remarks, including about race and immigration. The Kiron Republican has been criticized by national and state leaders of his own party, has been stripped of committee assignments in Congress and has drawn three primary challengers for the 2020 race.

2020

Hogan rips RNC for shielding Trump from primary challenge
Alex Isenstadt, Politico

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said Thursday he expects to make a springtime trip to New Hampshire as he weighs a 2020 challenge to Donald Trump — and accused the Republican National Committee of going to extraordinary lengths to shield the president from a potentially draining primary. “Typically they try to be fair arbiters of a process and I’ve never seen anything like it and I’ve been involved in the Republican Party for most of my life. It’s unprecedented. And in my opinion it’s not the way we should be going about our politics,” Hogan, a popular two-term Maryland governor, said in an interview with POLITICO.

Trump Won’t Rule Out Using Stolen Data in 2020 Campaign
Sam Stein et al., The Daily Beast

Nearly three years after hacked materials upended the 2016 presidential campaign, every Democratic candidate running for the White House has pledged not to knowingly use such material should they end up being published during the current election cycle. Only one 2020 campaign declined to make such a commitment: President Donald Trump’s.

Here’s What Beto Could Unleash on Trump
Sasha Issenberg, Politico

With rain hammering outside, Zack Malitz stood in a warehouse space lit by strands of bistro lights and began to reveal the campaign strategy of Beto O’Rourke in exacting detail. Malitz, who was the field director of O’Rourke’s Senate campaign, is a tall 30-year-old with thick glasses and a haircut that over the course of an election season can drift inexorably toward mopheadedness.

‘He is not going to be the nominee’: Dems slam Sanders over Maduro stance
Marc Caputo, Politico

Florida Democrats are denouncing Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders for refusing to call Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro a dictator — a politically explosive issue in the nation’s biggest swing state. Sanders also would not say whether he considered Venezuela’s assembly leader, Juan Guaidó, as the nation’s interim president, which is the position of the United States and a majority of Latin American countries European countries.

2020 Democrats Embrace Race-Conscious Policies, Including Reparations
Astead W. Herndon, The New York Times

From the very first day of the 2020 presidential race, when Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts blamed “generations of discrimination” for black families earning far less than white households, Democratic hopefuls have broadly emphasized racial justice and closing the wealth gap in their policy platforms. But in recent weeks, some candidates have started embracing specific goals and overtly race-conscious legislation that even the most left-wing elected officials stayed away from in recent years.

States

Virginia House speaker: Democrats resisting proposal for panel to investigate Fairfax
Laura Vozzella and Gregory S. Schneider, The Washington Post

Republican House Speaker Kirk Cox said Thursday that he has been quietly laying the groundwork for a bipartisan investigation of sexual assault allegations against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax but Democrats have refused to cooperate. For the past several days, Cox (Colonial Heights) has pressed Democrats to work with him on forming a 10-person investigative committee — with five Republicans, five Democrats and limited subpoena power — to look into claims by two women that Fairfax (D) sexually assaulted them years ago.

Gov. Bill Lee pictured in Auburn yearbook wearing Confederate army uniform
Natalie Allison, The Tennessean

Days after Gov. Bill Lee’s staff members said they were unaware of any photos of the Tennessee governor wearing a Confederate uniform, his office confirmed he is pictured doing so in a 1980 Auburn University yearbook. The photo, included on a page in the Kappa Alpha section of the yearbook, shows Lee and another man smiling while wearing a Confederate army style uniform and posing with two women in period costumes.

California GOP’s next leader needs to raise money — fast
Christine Mai-Duc, Los Angeles Times

There’s at least one thing California Republicans can still agree on: To recover from brutal midterm election losses, they need to raise a lot more money. But when delegates vote to elect the party’s next chair this weekend, they’ll weigh pitches from two front-running candidates with very different views about just how to put Republicans on the offensive again in a blue state that’s a reliable cash machine for Democrats.

Advocacy

Russian-backed US energy company hires lobbying firm with connections to Trump to help with China deal
Brian Schwartz, CNBC

A lobbying firm run by former advisors to President Donald Trump is representing American Ethane Company, an energy producer funded by Russian billionaires that is involved with a Chinese aluminum company. Turnberry Solutions, a lobbying group run by former Trump campaign advisor Jason Osborne, has signed American Ethane as a client, according to a new lobbying disclosure form.

Google Takes New Policy Approach Amid Growing Global Threats
Ben Brody, Bloomberg

Alphabet Inc.’s Google is reorganizing its approach to global policy, including the addition of resources to emerging markets, according to a person familiar with the moves, which come as the internet giant faces new threats and regulations around the world. In an internal email, the company’s new global policy chief, Karan Bhatia, described the reorganization as a reaction to policy makers who are increasingly empowered to regulate the company’s core businesses, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing personnel decisions.

Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives

An open letter to my Republican colleagues
Adam Schiff, The Washington Post

This is a moment of great peril for our democracy. Our country is deeply divided.

The Lawyers Who Did Not Break
David Brooks, The New York Times

A crucial question of the Trump years has always been: Will our institutions hold? Will the legal, political and social institutions of American life be able to withstand the norm-destroying corruption of King Chaos?

Research Reports and Polling

Better State Budget, Policy Decisions Can Improve Health
Jennifer Sullivan, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

States’ and localities’ decisions significantly affect their residents’ health. While this includes their decisions about Medicaid and the other important health care programs they administer, it also includes a wide array of budget and policy decisions that affect the “social determinants of health” — the conditions in which people live, work, learn, and play.

Morning Consult