Principals

1. Biden rebellion grows
2. NATO’s Ukraine support
3. Top EU pol talks Trump
4. Congressional stock trading ban
5. Ron Klain speaks
6. Jason Palmer’s advice for Dems

PDB: Steve Scalise’s GOP convention speaking role

Biden meets with Zelenskyy … Biden solo press conference set for 5:30pm … Key inflation gauge to bolster case for rate cut

Anti-Biden forces grow

The Democratic rebellion against Biden gained momentum on Wednesday after Nancy Pelosi cast doubt on his nomination. In doing so, she filled a vacuum left by her successor, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who has carefully avoided pressuring members in either direction on the topic while reiterating his general support for Biden. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who Axios reports has privately told donors he’s open to a new ticket, has taken a similar approach, giving a terse “I’m with Joe” answer to related questions while letting his colleagues speak for themselves.

As Semafor’s Congress team notes, the lack of clear direction has given Biden critics more room to operate, and they appear to be meeting little resistance as they more openly challenge the president. Ahead of Biden’s press conference today, Reps. Pat Ryan of New York and Earl Blumenauer of Oregon became the eighth and ninth members to call for him to step down on Wednesday, while Vermont’s Pete Welch became the first senator to do so. At the same time, Democrat after Democrat has echoed Pelosi by pointedly refusing to accept Biden’s decision to keep running as final. In good news for Biden, he did pick up a reaffirmation of support from the AFL-CIO.

NATO offers ‘irreversible path’ for Ukraine

NATO officially declared that Ukraine is on an “irreversible path” to NATO membership, as part of the communique released by the alliance on the second day of the Washington summit. The document doesn’t offer a timeline for Ukraine’s membership, but the language should be enough to avoid a Vilnius-style blowup. The US, Denmark, and Netherlands also announced that the first F-16 fighter jets will be flying in Ukraine’s air force later this summer, offering a significant boost to Kyiv’s air power. The communique also takes a swing at China for building a strategic partnership with Russia, calling the pact a “cause for profound concern,” and characterizes Beijing as a “decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine.” NATO also inked plans to ramp up its defense industry, Semafor’s Mathias Hammer reports.

EU’s Charles Michel talks Trump, Orbán

European Council President Charles Michel carefully voiced concerns about a potential Donald Trump presidency in an interview with Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant. “I think Joe Biden understands very well that the EU integration, a strong and stable EU, a strong and prosperous EU, a strong and secure EU, this is good for the world,” he said. Michael said he isn’t certain Trump “has the same conviction.” While he said he hasn’t been reaching out to Trumpworld, other European officials down on Biden have, per Bloomberg. He also rebuked Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for his recent trip to Moscow, calling it a “political mistake” and a “blatant violation of the principle of loyal cooperation among the European institutions.” Orbán will reportedly meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago following the NATO summit.

Will Congress bar colleagues’ stock trades?

Congress took a step toward imposing hefty fines on members of Congress and their families who trade individual stocks. A bipartisan group comprised of Sens. Gary Peters , Jeff Merkley, Josh Hawley, and Jon Ossoff introduced legislation that seeks to bar members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children from buying and selling stocks. The idea is popular but similar proposals have faced hurdles in the past. Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi wouldn’t bring a bill to the floor in 2022. “Members of Congress get very twitchy and when you say your family will be covered too, they have concerns,” Merkley told NPR. Under the bill, offending lawmakers would face fines equal to their monthly salary or 10% of the value of each improper investment. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will consider the legislation on July 24.

Ron Klain: Harris would be great if a meteor ‘squished’ Biden

Biden confidant and former chief of staff Ron Klain conceded in an interview with the New Republic’s Greg Sargent that President Biden needs to do more to lay out his “vision for a second term” and that the performative aspects of politics aren’t his “strong suit.” But Klain insisted that Biden still has the best chance of defeating Donald Trump. He also had this to say about Vice President Harris when presented with the hypothetical of Biden not running: “I think if a meteor came down and hit Joe Biden in the Rose Garden and squished him…she would do a great job as President,” Klain said. “But I think, with no disrespect to the vice president and all her skills and talents, President Biden is the person who’s beaten Trump.”

Jason Palmer has some ideas for Democrats

The only person to beat Joe Biden in a primary this election cycle has some advice for the president’s team, and he wants to plan a trip to Wilmington to deliver it. Jason Palmer, the no-name Democrat who won the Democratic caucus in American Samoa before dropping out, wants Biden to step aside and for the party to settle on a new, winning ticket. “I work with a lot of companies where we’ve had to change the CEO of the organization,” Palmer told Semafor’s David Weigel. “The best thing, when you’re doing a CEO switch, is to have the CEO 100% bought in. Let them help interview and select their replacement. Let them lead the transition. There really is an art to doing this.”

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Some Democrats worry the number of lawmakers calling on President Biden to abandon his reelection effort could become a “flood” after the NATO summit is over today.

Playbook: George Clooney reached out to Barack Obama to give him a heads up about his op-ed yesterday calling on Biden to leave the presidential race. Obama didn’t encourage Clooney, but also didn’t object to the decision.

WaPo: The liberal group Demand Justice will spend $2 million to target mothers in battleground states, in an attempt to keep the Supreme Court atop their minds ahead of November.

Axios: The stakes are high for Biden’s press conference this evening: Biden will get a shot at redemption, while the Washington press corps will get their first real chance to grill him since his debate performance. “The dogs are loose,” a Biden adviser said.

White House

• President Biden will sit down with NBC’s Lester Holt on Monday — his second network interview since the debate debacle.
• Vice President Harris spoke to the historically Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha in Dallas.
• Harris is campaigning in North Carolina today.

Congress

• Senate Democrats will convene for a special caucus lunch today at the DSCC to hear from Biden advisers Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti, and Jen O’Malley Dillon.
• The House passed legislation requiring proof of citizenship to vote; five Democrats joined Republicans to support the bill.
• The House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed three senior Biden aides, demanding they be deposed regarding the president’s health. — Axios
• Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., introduced impeachment articles against Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
• The Senate passed legislation to bolster oversight of the federal prison system.
• Sens. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, led a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for NATO to clarify that Hawaii would receive Article 5 protections under the alliance (the state is technically not covered by NATO’s treaty).
• Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, filed their legislation on screening outbound investment in certain sectors in China and other foreign countries of concern as an amendment to the Senate’s NDAA, according to a Senate aide, reviving a push to pass the bill that faltered last year.

Outside the Beltway

• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order to limit or ban cell phone use in public schools.
• Harvard University has hired a new general counsel who previously worked at Northrop Grumman and the US Defense Department as institutions face calls from some students to cut financial ties with military contractors.
• Iowa state Rep. J.D. Scholten, 44, on Saturday took to the mound with 90 minutes’ notice and pitched 6 2/3 innings for the independent league Sioux City Explorers, allowing two runs and notching the win.

Economy

The Biden administration is imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum shipped from Mexico that was produced elsewhere – an attempt to prevent China from skirting import taxes by routing products through one of the US’ closest trading partners. There will be a 25% tariff on steel not melted or poured in Mexico and a 10% levy on aluminum.

Courts

• The Federal Trade Commission is preparing to take the country’s three largest pharmacy-benefits managers to court over their tactics for negotiating drug prices including insulin. — WSJ
• Former Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen asked the Supreme Court to revive his lawsuit against the former president and some Trump administration officials for allegedly retaliating against him when he sought to be released from federal prison.
• Witness testimony began in the trial of actor Alec Baldwin, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter for the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust” in 2021.
• The judge in Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy case signaled he will dismiss the matter during a contentious hearing Wednesday in which he threatened to cut off the former NYC mayor’s microphone for interjecting. Judge Sean Lane said he will make a final ruling on Friday afternoon.

On the Trail

• Actor and director George Clooney urged President Biden to drop out of the race. “We are not going to win in November with this president,” Clooney, a major fund-raiser for Biden, said in a New York Times op/ed. “On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate.”
• House Majority Leader Steve Scalise will speak at the Republican National Convention next week in Milwaukee, a source familiar with the plans told Semafor’s Kadia Goba. The schedule is fluid, the person said, but Scalise is currently slated to deliver remarks on the “Make America Safe Again” themed night.
• Dana White, chief executive of Ultimate Fighting Championship, will deliver remarks before Donald Trump accepts the nomination at the convention. — WSJ
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who initially wasn’t given a role at the GOP convention, now has a speaking slot after a “change in schedule.” — NBC
• Donald Trump weighed in on the contenders to be his running mate. He told Fox News Radio’s Brian Kilmeade that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum’s signing of strong abortion limits in the state is “a little bit of an issue.” Picking Marco Rubio may force the Florida senator to move and give up his seat to run, or cost the campaign 30 electors. “You do that and it makes it more complicated,” Trump said. As for reports that Trump doesn’t like Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance’s facial hair, the former president said, “It looks good. He looks like a young Abraham Lincoln.”

National Security

Donald Trump is considering cutting back on intelligence sharing with NATO members if he wins the White House again. — Politico

Foreign Policy

• The Biden administration is ending a two-month pause on shipping 500-pound bombs to Israel. — WSJ
• Ukraine is pushing for another peace summit before the US presidential election in November and wants Russia to attend. — Bloomberg

Environment

The Energy Department is putting $1.7 billion towards converting 11 shuttered or near-shuttered auto manufacturing facilities in eight states to manufacturing electric vehicles and parts.

Technology

Elon Musk’s sudden decision to cancel a trip to India earlier this year sparked concern in the country because an anticipated investment by Tesla was seen as a win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Then confusion arose when Musk met with Premier Li Qiang in China, which India sees as a geopolitical rival. Staff close to Musk persuaded him to call off the trip to India because of a golden opportunity in China. During that visit to Beijing, Musk struck an agreement that advanced his goal of bringing full autonomous driving technology to the country. — FT

Media

• CNN chief Mark Thompson announced sweeping changes to the news network, which will result in 100 employees being laid off.
• CBS News President Ingrid Ciprián-Matthews announced her resignation Wednesday, telling staffers in an email that she will stay on as a senior editorial adviser through the election.

Big Read

President Biden’s removal as the Democratic candidate would also cause a reset for Donald Trump’s campaign, The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta writes. Trump campaign advisor Chris LaCivita had thought the former president “was well on his way to a 320-electoral-vote win” this past Sunday. “That’s pre-debate.”

LaCivita and co-campaign manager Susie Wiles had planned on focusing on every stumble by President Biden. One thing could upend the plan: A different Democratic candidate. They claimed their plans would not change, but Alberta says they know that isn’t true. “I was struck by the irony,” Alberta writes. “The two people who had done so much to eliminate the havoc and guesswork that defined Trump’s previous two campaigns for the presidency could now do little but hope that their opponent got his act together.”

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Seven states filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Biden administration’s new transgender nondiscrimination rule that bars healthcare providers from rejecting patients or coverage for gender-affirming care.

What the Right isn’t reading: Attorneys representing Republican officials in Montana urged the state Supreme Court to reverse a landmark climate ruling last year.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Jordan Weissmann, Morgan Chalfant

Reporters: Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Muriel Domenach is France’s ambassador to NATO.

• Biden’s age is burying good economic news for Democrats.
• Families of Ethiopia crash victims slam Boeing’s US plea deal.
• Instagram removes Gaza posts from lefty news org Democracy Now.