General
Air Force says it sent crews to Trump’s Scottish resort up to 40 times
Bryan Bender and Natasha Bertrand, Politico
The U.S. Air Force has lodged crews at President Donald Trump’s Scotland resort up to 40 times since 2015, a figure that is far higher than previously known. The tally represents the preliminary results of an Air Force review launched after POLITICO reported last week that an Air National Guard crew stayed at Turnberry in March.
A nonprofit paid to rent Trump’s D.C. hotel ballrooms. Its headliners: Pence and Pompeo
David A. Fahrenthold, The Washington Post
Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were scheduled to speak this week at President Trump’s hotel in Washington — lending their names to events put on by a paying customer of Trump’s private business. The planned speeches suggest that Trump and his Cabinet are not shying away from events that drive revenue to the president’s company, even after multiple stories have brought new scrutiny to the blurring of lines between Trump’s business and presidency.
Is the Supreme Court too deferential to Trump — or worried some judges are overstepping their power?
Robert Barnes, The Washington Post
Has the Supreme Court become a soft touch for the Trump administration? Or are the justices sending a message to lower courts not to become a part of the “resistance” to the president’s legitimate powers?
White House & Administration
Trump mocks Democrats, vows new tax cut on trip to Baltimore
Kevin Freking and Juana Summers, The Associated Press
President Donald Trump sought to boost the spirits of Republican lawmakers, mocking Democrats and promising a new tax cut package, as he returned to the city he recently disparaged as a “rat and rodent infested mess.” Trump spoke on Thursday to House Republicans attending an annual retreat in a hotel on Baltimore’s waterfront.
Trump says he won’t also name Pompeo national security adviser
Caitlin Oprysko, Politico
President Donald Trump on Thursday shot down rumors that he might name Mike Pompeo national security adviser while keeping him as secretary of State. “No, I wouldn’t” give Pompeo a second title, Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a congressional GOP retreat.
State IG Set to Recommend Discipline for Trump’s Top Iran Hand
Erin Banco, The Daily Beast
The State Department is preparing to recommend that the Trump administration’s top representative for Iran policy receive disciplinary action for his role in politically motivated firings of employees at the department, according to two government sources. The department’s inspector general has been investigating Brian Hook and other State Department officials for their involvement in layoffs and other personnel decisions that impacted individuals who were thought to have perceived loyalty to the Obama administration.
The Trump Administration’s Latest Experiment on the Border: Tent Courts
Manny Fernandez et al., The New York Times
The immigration court judge stared at his long docket list on Thursday morning and told the officer he was ready to hear the next case. No one inside the small courtroom made a move.
Trump Administration Turns Over Official’s Name Amid Dispute Over Saudi Role in 9/11 Attacks
Sadie Gurman and Aruna Viswanatha, The Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration turned over a key piece of new information to lawyers for 9/11 victims’ families, a move that could cast light on long-disputed reports of Saudi government involvement in the terrorist attacks. The Federal Bureau of Investigation provided the name of a Saudi official contained in a 2012 report that the bureau has long sought to shield from full public view.
While battling opioid crisis, U.S. government weighed using fentanyl for executions
Jonathan Allen, Reuters
The U.S. Department of Justice examined using fentanyl in lethal injections as it prepared last year to resume executing condemned prisoners, a then untested use of the powerful, addictive opioid that has helped fuel a national crisis of overdose deaths. The department revealed it had contemplated using the drug in a court filing last month, which has not been previously reported.
Senate
Conservatives offer stark warning to Trump, GOP on background checks
Alexander Bolton, The Hill
Senate conservatives are warning President Trump and their own leaders to tread carefully in the gun-control debate and caution they risk a political backlash by striking a deal with Democrats to expand background checks for firearms sales. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Thursday said if Republicans strike a deal with Democrats to require all firearms sales over the Internet or at gun shows to go through background checks, they would demoralize their conservative base ahead of next year’s presidential election.
Ted Cruz will oppose Trump’s judicial nominee
Burgess Everett et al., Politico
Sen. Ted Cruz will oppose President Donald Trump’s nominee for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Halil Suleyman “Sul” Ozerden, a major setback for the embattled nomination. Cruz (R-Texas) has informed the White House and colleagues this week that he will oppose Ozerden, according to three people familiar with the Judiciary Committee’s internal dynamics.
Senator Ben Sasse, Vocal Trump Critic, Goes Mum After President’s Endorsement
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, The New York Times
Senator Ben Sasse is the rare Republican who has never been shy about criticizing President Trump. An erudite author, professor and former university president with a doctorate in American history from Yale, he once compared Mr. Trump to the white supremacist David Duke.
House
‘My time is growing near’: John Lewis dangles impeachment announcement
Kyle Cheney and Heather Caygle, Politico
Rep. John Lewis has called Donald Trump an illegitimate leader and boycotted his inauguration, but he’s remained conspicuously silent on demands for the president’s impeachment. Despite his silence, advocates for Trump’s removal see the civil rights icon — a man Democrats describe as the conscience of their caucus — as a singularly powerful potential ally, one of the last publicly undecided lawmakers who could change the calculus inside the Democratic caucus.
House to vote again to block Trump’s border emergency
Sarah Ferris, Politico
The House plans to vote again to block Donald Trump’s plan to divert billions of Pentagon dollars to his border wall, forcing Republicans to pick sides in a fight over one of the president’s top priorities. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday the House would vote in the coming weeks on a resolution to condemn Trump’s national emergency declaration — putting House Republicans, once again, on the record on Trump’s contentious border funding scheme.
2020
Peter Thiel, Ann Coulter to star at Kris Kobach Senate fundraiser
Alex Isenstadt, Politico
Venture capitalist Peter Thiel and conservative author Ann Coulter are slated to host a fundraising reception for Kansas Republican Kris Kobach’s Senate campaign next week. The event — to be held on Sept. 18 in New York City, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO — will provide a fundraising boost for Kobach as the former Kansas secretary of state and immigration hard-liner faces strong opposition from the Republican Party establishment.
Dan Baer is the latest Democrat to move aside for John Hickenlooper
Andrew Kenney, The Denver Post
U.S. Senate candidate Dan Baer suspended his campaign Thursday and endorsed rival candidate John Hicknelooper. He’s the third Democrat to drop out of the primary since Hickenlooper, the former governor, entered the race last month.
What a Republican victory in North Carolina means for 2020
The Economist
Up close, political enthusiasm is gloriously strange. At the rally held by President Donald Trump in Fayetteville on the eve of election night in North Carolina’s 9th congressional district, the atmosphere was festive.
GOP group defends ad showing burning image of AOC during Democratic debate
Bridget Bowman, Roll Call
The founder of a new Republican group is defending an ad that aired during Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate that featured a burning image of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The New York Democrat criticized the spot as racist.
States
Jury convicts dad of Alison Lundergan Grimes for giving illegally to Senate campaign
Daniel Desrochers and Bill Estep, Lexington Herald-Leader
A federal jury found two longtime Democratic operatives guilty Thursday of funneling illegal corporate campaign contributions into Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes’ 2014 U.S. Senate campaign, delivering another blow to a significantly weakened Kentucky Democratic Party. The jury convicted former Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Lundergan, the father of Grimes, on 10 counts and Democratic political consultant Dale Emmons on 6 counts after federal prosecutors alleged they had a “concerted scheme” to funnel more than $200,000 into Grimes’ election efforts without seeking reimbursement from the campaign.
Justin Fairfax files defamation lawsuit against CBS News
Patrick Wilson, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax filed a $400 million defamation lawsuit Thursday against CBS Corp. and CBS Broadcasting in New York, alleging the network published false statements by two women who have accused him of sexual assault. The lawsuit includes allegations – which Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney denies – that the mayor was part of a conspiracy to damage Fairfax politically, and puts the sexual assault scandal into public view again.
White House moving forward to strip California of vehicle authority: sources
David Shepardson, Reuters
The Trump administration is moving forward with a plan to revoke California’s authority to set its own vehicle greenhouse gas standards and declare that states are pre-empted from setting their own vehicle rules, three people briefed on the matter said on Thursday. President Donald Trump met with senior officials on Thursday at the White House to discuss the administration’s plan to divide its August 2018 proposal to rollback Obama era standards through 2025 and revoke California’s waiver under the Clean Air Act to set state requirements for vehicles, the people said.
Texas Republican lawmaker to Beto O’Rourke: “My AR is ready for you”
Brandon Formby, The Texas Tribune
Republican state Rep. Briscoe Cain drew fierce ire Thursday night for a gun-related tweet that many considered to be a death threat against Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke. Twitter took the comment down within hours because it violated a rule forbidding threats of violence and O’Rourke’s campaign planned to report the tweet to the FBI, according to CNN.
Advocacy
Juul Debates Pushing Back on E-Cigarette Ban
Jennifer Maloney, The Wall Street Journal
Juul Labs Inc. is debating internally whether to embrace or push back on part of the Trump administration’s plan to pull most e-cigarettes from the market, according to people familiar with the matter. The policy—affecting sweet and fruity vaping products along with mint and menthol—would be a crippling hit to the startup, which generates more than 80% of its sales from flavors that would be banned.
Inside the gun lobby’s push to sway Trump
Anita Kumar, Politico
President Donald Trump talked about expanding background checks, then wavered. He was considering a “red flag” bill to let authorities take guns away from dangerous people, but has now “cooled” on the prospect, according to three people involved in the discussions.
K Street’s CGCN Group picks up big names from Definers
Kate Ackley, Roll Call
The CGCN Group, a K Street shop known for its deep Republican connections, is scooping up Matt Rhoades and Antonia Ferrier from the communications and opposition research firm Definers Public Affairs. Rhoades, who managed the 2012 Mitt Romney presidential campaign, will serve as co-CEO, along with GOP lobbyist Sam Geduldig, of CGCN.
United Auto Workers Official Charged in Widening Federal Probe
Nora Naughton, The Wall Street Journal
A high-ranking official at the United Auto Workers union was charged with embezzlement of union money on Thursday, as a federal corruption investigation into the union gains momentum just as contract talks with Detroit auto makers come to a head. Vance Pearson, director of the UAW’s Region 5 office in Missouri, was charged with conspiring with other union officials to embezzle hundreds of thousands of dollars in union money, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
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Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
The Suburban Vote Isn’t as Blue as It Looks
Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report
My colleague, David Wasserman wrote a (typically) insightful analysis on GOP state Sen. Dan Bishop’s narrow win in Thursday’s special election in North Carolina’s 9th district. His main conclusion was that the special election continued a trend we’ve seen since 2016 of suburbs voting more Democratic, while small town and rural areas are turning an even deeper shade of red.
Buy, Sell, Hold (September Edition)
Sean Trende, RealClearPolitics
On the occasion of the third Democratic presidential debate, which will feature all of the top 10 contenders on stage for the first time, it is worth re-assessing the state of the race. I will use my usual “buy/sell/hold” take, which asks whether I think the polling and conventional wisdom overstate or understate the likelihood that the candidate becomes the Democratic nominee.
Here Are The 2020 Democrats, Ranked By What They’re Doing For The Rest Of The Party
Sean McElwee and Aaron Kleinman, BuzzFeed News
It was April and we were furious. Democrats had been favored to flip an elected Wisconsin Supreme Court seat, only to be shocked on election night as a right-wing ideologue eked out a narrow win. Across the country, liberals had been glued to their screens, trying to figure out how to best take on Donald Trump in a year and a half — but they had mostly ignored an important election happening that very spring.
Research Reports and Polling
Taxing the Rich: Issues and Options
Lily L. Batchelder and David Kamin, New York University
The U.S. economy exhibits high inequality and low economic mobility across generations relative to other high-income countries. The U.S. will need to raise more revenues in order to reduce these disparities, finance much-needed new services and investments, and address the nation’s long-term fiscal needs.
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