 Beltway NewslettersPunchbowl News: McCarthy’s inner circle “has become convinced” that hardline GOPers want to provoke a shutdown as a way to push him out as speaker, possibly as soon as this week. Playbook: When it comes to the stopgap spending bill and the farthest-right members of his conference, McCarthy’s plan “is simple: Dare them to vote against it.” Early 202: One key question in the fate of the House GOP’s bill is whether moderates — who face the greatest political risk in supporting its cuts — will get behind it. (At this point, most of them look like they’ll be on board.) Axios: Trump is attempting to use his mug shot and criminal charges as a way to connect with Black voters over the unfairness of the criminal justice system, pitching what amounts to an “I-am-a-victim-just-like-you” message. White House- President Biden raised campaign cash at an event with Black business leaders in New York before his appearance at the U.N. During one of the events, he acknowledged that people are “focused on my age” but insisted he was running for reelection because “democracy is at stake.”
- Not everyone is in New York: Vice President Harris is visiting a community college in Reading, Pa. today for National Voter Registration Day. It’s part of a broader college tour she’s doing to focus on issues affecting young Americans.
- The IRS is revamping how it examines returns from lower-earners who claim the Earned Income Tax Credit as part of an effort to fix the fact that Black Americans are much more likely to be audited than whites. The agency is trying to focus more of its enforcement efforts on the wealthy.
Congress- Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the House’s embattled temporary funding proposal a “hard-right screed” and said it would never pass the Senate, citing — among other features — its lack of aid for Ukraine. “The proposal is an insult to Ukraine and a gift to Putin,” he said.
- McCarthy plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when he comes to the Capitol on Thursday.
- House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio is seeking an Oct. 11 interview with special counsel David Weiss, as well as other documents related to the Justice Department’s Hunter Biden investigation. — The Hill
- “My Top Three Issues are Water, Water, and Water!” Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. wrote to her constituents on Monday amid a vaping/groping/selfie scandal. The policy-dense email update began by saying that “while many Members of Congress were on break for six weeks, I certainly was not.”
Economy- The national housing crunch is hitting Wisconsin especially hard, which could be a drag on Biden’s re-election in some crucial counties, Bloomberg’s Mark Niquette reports.
- American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten plans to join the picket line at the Stellantis plant later this morning.
PollsThe top traits voters associate with Biden, per a YouGov/CBSNews poll: “Calm,” “predictable,” and “tolerant.” As for Trump: “Provocative,” “tough,” and “energetic.” 2024- As Democrats worry about their grip on the Latino vote, donors are getting behind a massive early campaign to boost Biden’s standing in key swing states. Future Forward USA Action, run by top 2020 Biden aides Pili Tobar and Cristóbal Alex, is already the third-biggest spender in the presidential race. —Washington Post
- Ron DeSantis ripped Democrats for changing the Senate dress code to allow Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. to vote in his trademark hoodie and shorts. “We need to be lifting up our standards in this country, not dumbing down our standards in this country,” DeSantis said in Florida. Fetterman responded on X: “I dress like he campaigns.”
National Security- The Pentagon’s Ely Ratner will accuse China of attempting to “bully and intimidate Taiwan and its neighbors” and will lay out the U.S. efforts to prevent conflict in the Taiwan Strait during testimony before the House Armed Services Committee later this morning, according to a copy of his prepared remarks. Ratner will say that the Pentagon and State Department are trying to accelerate foreign military sales to Taiwan by “cutting red tape and supporting increased defense industrial base production capacity.”
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that authorities are pursuing “credible allegations” linking India’s government to the killing of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. Both countries expelled diplomats over the accusation.
- Ukraine accused Russia of launching a deadly missile attack on civilians this month, but a New York Times investigation “strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defense missile.”
Big ReadWhere did Trump’s proposal for a 10% global tariff come from? New York Magazine’s Eric Levitz traces it to Oren Cass at American Compass, one of several Trump-era think tanks and publications trying to steer conservatism toward more populist economic interventions. While they’ve attracted attention from a few Republican senators, their real-world influence still remains limited, Levitz writes: “If Cass wins over the rising generations of Republicans, and intellectual bankruptcy starts costing the GOP elections, perhaps conservatism will head in a pro-worker direction. But for now, the American right’s compass points toward a more protectionist, authoritarian, and nativistic variant of Reaganism.” BlindspotStories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, according to data from our partners at Ground News. What the Left isn’t reading: McCarthy indicated House Republicans would subpoena Hunter Biden, but not until after lawmakers get ahold of bank statements and other information. What the Right isn’t reading: Comedian Bill Maher is pushing back the return of his HBO talk show due to the writers strike. |
