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May 3, 2021
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  • The United States and Iran are engaged in active talks over the release of prisoners, according to a source familiar with the discussions. Both countries have repeatedly discussed the exchange of detainees, but the latest talks carry an extra level of significance since they come amid negotiations in Vienna to revive the 2015 international nuclear accord. (The Associated Press)
  • The Biden administration will reunite four migrant families in the United States this week that were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border by the Trump administration in what Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called “just the beginning” of a broader reunification effort.  (NPR News)
  • President Joe Biden is reportedly set to announce his nominee to be ambassador to Israel as soon as this week. Tom Nides, a former Clinton and Obama administration official, has emerged as the front-runner, but former Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) is also reportedly on the president’s short list. (The Forward)
 

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What Else You Need To Know

White House & Administration
 

Biden, Republicans Set Talks Over Competing Infrastructure Plans
Kristina Peterson and Eliza Collins, The Wall Street Journal

Lawmakers and administration officials signaled on Sunday that they expected negotiations over an infrastructure package to ramp up this week, as Republicans and President Biden work to see if a bipartisan agreement is within reach.

 

Feds rethink vaccination strategy as slowing demand reveals stark divide
Dan Goldberg and Adam Cancryn, Politico

As more cities and counties with robust Covid vaccination rates start to experience stirrings of pre-pandemic life, some communities just a short drive away are seeing the opposite: paltry demand for shots accompanied by new hot spots of disease — and the Biden administration is redoubling its efforts to reach the stragglers.

 

Biden faces GOP handcuffs and Dem skeptics on Iran deal 2.0
Andrew Desiderio, Politico

Joe Biden’s nascent bid to revive the Iran nuclear deal for a “longer, stronger” diplomatic agreement is already facing deep skepticism and potential hurdles in Congress — including from the president’s own party.

 

Biden Showers Cash on Ex-CIA Contractor to Transfer Migrants
Felipe De La Hoz and William Bredderman, The Daily Beast

Joe Biden once pledged to “undo the moral and national shame” of the Trump administration’s border policies—and even voiced remorse over some actions taken under President Barack Obama. But The Daily Beast has found that his administration is redoubling the federal government’s dealings with a notorious contractor accused of abusing immigrants and its own employees.

 

U.S. general: Afghan forces could face ‘bad possible outcomes’
Robert Burns, The Associated Press

Afghan government forces face an uncertain future and, in a worst-case scenario, some “bad possible outcomes” against Taliban insurgents as the withdrawal of American and coalition troops accelerates in the coming weeks, the top U.S. military officer said Sunday.

 

Justice Dept. probes of local police prompt hopes for reform, fears of delays
David Nakamura, The Washington Post

By launching federal investigations into police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville, Attorney General Merrick Garland has sent a clear message to local law enforcement agencies that their relative impunity during the Trump administration is over.

 

How the A.T.F., Key to Biden’s Gun Plan, Became an N.R.A. ‘Whipping Boy’
Glenn Thrush et al., The New York Times

If there was one moment that summed up the current state of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, it was when the floor at the agency’s gun-tracing center caved in a couple of years ago under the weight of paper.

 

North Korea warns US of ‘very grave situation’ over Biden speech
Hyung-Jin Kim, The Associated Press

North Korea on Sunday warned that the United States will face “a very grave situation” and alleged that President Joe Biden “made a big blunder” in his recent speech by calling the North a security threat.

 
Congress
 

Biden’s Expansive Infrastructure Plan Hits Close to Home for McConnell
Campbell Robertson and Nicholas Fandos, The New York Times

Early one November morning last year, a tractor-trailer hauling potassium hydroxide crashed into another truck that had jackknifed on the Brent Spence Bridge, igniting an enormous fire over the Ohio River that shut down the antiquated span connecting Cincinnati and northern Kentucky for six weeks.

 

Tim Scott optimistic about Congress’ progress on police reform
Myah Ward, Politico

Sen. Tim Scott on Sunday had an optimistic tone about Washington’s progress on police reform discussions, emphasizing why he’s the right person to lead the charge on his side of the aisle.

 

Senate Dems agonize over voting rights strategy
Burgess Everett and Marianne Levine, Politico

Senate Democrats made a major commitment to muscle through Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s ethics and voting reform bill. Yet many say they have no idea how to pass it and wonder what exactly the end game is for a signature Democratic priority.

 

Utah GOP vote to censure Mitt Romney fails while senator is booed at convention
Maeve Reston and Aaron Pellish, CNN

A resolution to censure GOP Sen. Mitt Romney for his two votes to convict former President Donald Trump failed Saturday at the Utah Republican Party organizing convention, where the senator had been booed earlier in the day – a reflection of the anger that persists among the party’s core activists about Trump’s impeachment and Romney’s frequent criticisms of him throughout his presidency.

 

GOP frustration with Liz Cheney ‘at a boiling point’
Scott Wong, The Hill

Liz Cheney said that Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell — not Donald Trump — are the leaders of the Republican party. At a GOP gathering focused on policy, she said she’s not ruling out a future bid for the White House.

 

Elizabeth Warren Grapples With Presidential Loss in New Book
Lisa Lerer, The New York Times

The question came at a campaign cattle call in April 2019, just a few months after Elizabeth Warren announced her presidential bid: How would she address “the urge to flee to the safety of a white male candidate?”

 
General
 

Reaching ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Unlikely in the U.S., Experts Now Believe
Apoorva Mandavilli, The New York Times

Early in the pandemic, when vaccines for the coronavirus were still just a glimmer on the horizon, the term “herd immunity” came to signify the endgame: the point when enough Americans would be protected from the virus so we could be rid of the pathogen and reclaim our lives.

 

As the U.S. departs Afghanistan, will the old Taliban reemerge?
Missy Ryan and Susannah George, The Washington Post

After the Taliban’s hard-line government collapsed in 2001, American leaders dismissed some senior militants’ attempts to join the new Afghan political order, shunning a group that had isolated itself from the outside world, harbored al-Qaeda and relegated women out of sight.

 

Clinton warns of potential ‘huge consequences’ from Afghanistan withdrawal
Tamar Lapin, New York Post

Hillary Clinton on Sunday warned that the US could face “huge consequences” from President Biden’s decision to pull all US troops out of Afghanistan.

 

Trump’s Secret Rules for Drone Strikes Outside War Zones Are Disclosed
Charlie Savage, The New York Times

The Biden administration has disclosed a set of rules secretly issued by President Donald J. Trump in 2017 for counterterrorism “direct action” operations — like drone strikes and commando raids outside conventional war zones — which the White House has suspended as it weighs whether and how to tighten the guidelines.

 

Liberals Admire Justice Breyer. Now They Want Him To Retire
Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR News

President Bill Clinton had his eye on the future when he nominated Stephen Breyer to the Supreme Court in 1994.

 

Justice Clarence Thomas, Long Silent, Has Turned Talkative
Adam Liptak, The New York Times

Justice Clarence Thomas, who once went a decade without asking a question from the Supreme Court bench, is about to complete a term in which he was an active participant in every single argument.

 
Campaigns
 

Democrats face growing list of swing-district retirements, dimming midterm prospects
Michael Scherer, The Washington Post

A growing list of House Democrats from competitive districts is headed for the exits, adding yet another concern for a party facing an uphill fight to maintain control of Congress next year.

 

‘There’s a lot of crazy going on’: Pro-Trump lawyer blows up key GOP race
Marc Caputo, Politico

Lin Wood played a starring role in Georgia’s GOP civil war after the 2020 elections. Now the pro-Trump lawyer is taking his roadshow to South Carolina, where he’s campaigning as a “chaos” candidate to lead the state Republican Party.

 

Why Kristi Noem Is Rising Quickly as a Republican Prospect for 2024
Jonathan Martin, The New York Times

With Republicans hungry to cultivate their next generation of national leaders, it is not a Capitol Hill comer or a veteran battleground-state politician who is stirring interest by fusing Trumpism with a down-home conservatism spin.

 

With 2022 election already looming, Alex Padilla burnishes progressive credentials
Jennifer Haberkorn, Los Angeles Times

Since the moment he entered the Senate, everything in front of Sen. Alex Padilla has appeared to be a crisis.

 

In South Texas, Hispanic Republicans Try to Cement the Party’s Gains
Jennifer Medina, The New York Times

The front door of the Hidalgo County Republican Party’s office is covered with photographs of high-profile politicians in the party: Gov. Greg Abbott, Senator John Cornyn and former President Donald J. Trump. Nearly all of them are white men.

 
States
 

25 States Mount Legal Fight To Block Sackler Bid For Opioid Immunity
Brian Mann, NPR News

For months members of the Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma, the maker of Oxycontin, have portrayed their bid for immunity from future opioid lawsuits as a kind of fait accompli, a take-it-or-leave it fix to a legal morass.

 

New York Faces Likely Congressional Redistricting Fight After Latest U.S. Census
Jimmy Vielkind, The Wall Street Journal

New York politicians are preparing for a contentious redistricting process after the U.S. Census Bureau said last week that the state’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives will decrease by a seat.

 

Andrew Cuomo’s Loudest Supporters: ‘Women for Governor Cuomo’
Khadeeja Safdar and Katie Honan, The Wall Street Journal

When New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo began facing calls to resign over allegations of sexual harassment, billboard messages, rallies and social-media posts suddenly appeared in support of him.

 

Idaho’s Transgender Sports Ban Faces A Major Legal Hurdle
Melissa Block, NPR News

Do transgender women and girls have a constitutional right to play on women’s sports teams? That question will be argued before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday.

 

Oregon Lawmaker Who Let Protesters Into State Capitol Is Charged in Breach
Maria Cramer, The New York Times

A Republican state legislator from Oregon who was captured on surveillance video allowing demonstrators to enter the State Capitol in December was charged on Friday in connection with the breach of the building, which led to a conflict between officers and protesters.

 
Advocacy
 

Democrats’ ESG Drive Fuels Lobbying Bonanza in Washington
Andrew Ramonas, Bloomberg Law

Environmental, social, and governance lobbying has more than doubled in the past year, as newly-in-charge Democrats push for companies to be more transparent and accountable on issues such as climate change, diversity efforts, and political activities.

 
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
 

Slashing Child Poverty Requires Reimagining the Mission of the IRS
David Newville (Senior Program Director for GetYourRefund, Code for America), Morning Consult

Starting in July, millions of Americans with children will start receiving periodic payments from the Internal Revenue Service in one of the biggest anti-poverty experiments in decades. This expansion of the Child Tax Credit is a landmark program — and if implemented thoughtfully by the IRS, one that could cut child poverty nearly in half. Yet, achieving this goal requires us to rethink and reimagine the core mission of the IRS.

 

Going big and bold is smart policy and smart politics for Democrats
Harry Reid, Las Vegas Sun

President Joe Biden is a unifier, not a rogue. He wants to bring Democrats, Republicans and independents together to work on solving problems that all Americans face.

 

Where Are the Filibusters?
Bill Scher, Washington Monthly

During the course of Joe Biden’s first 100 days as president, the Senate was repeatedly described as “broken.” Also, during the course of Joe Biden’s first 100 days as president, the Senate passed 13 bills and filibustered zero. 10 of the 13 bills have been signed into law by President Biden, and the remaining three should soon follow suit.

 
Morning Consult