Today’s notice: Exclusive midterm news from the Club for Growth. Democrats look to make noise about Medicaid cuts. Midterms and the Latino vote. Lots on the reconciliation package. But first: that plane.
Who Cares About the Plane?
News that Donald Trump would accept a gifted Boeing 747 from a foreign government to use while in office — and park at his presidential library after he leaves the White House — raised eyebrows in a Republican-controlled Washington that doesn’t do that much anymore, NOTUS’ Hill team reported. The White House comms office and Trump himself took turns defending the idea Monday.
Still, no one really knows what swing voters are going to think of it, in part because Trump is not like any other politician when it comes to just about anything, and in part because this is not a scenario political operatives generally plan for. “The possibility of doing something this brazen is so outrageous that we would never have thought to poll on the subject,” GOP pollster Whit Ayres told me.
There is a group of operatives and academics who have been thinking about political corruption, and how to message on it, for a while now. They gave us some insights from their research, and offered Trump’s opposition a path forward.
The top line from those findings, shared with NOTUS this week, is that corruption really does bother swing voters. But they have become quite cynical about it.
“They’re a little more fed up with the system that they feel like has needed to change for decades … it’s not working for them,” said Tiffany Muller, the president of End Citizens United. “They really are not convinced that anyone is going to do anything about it.”
How’s It Going Over There?
We have two stories of sausage-makery from Capitol Hill:
The first is about the House reconciliation bill, whose text arrived Monday with a lot of justified And they said it couldn’t be done! energy. The bill has a lot of Trumpian promises in it, from eliminating the tax on tips to ending electric car subsidies. It also tip-toes its way through complex issues that Republicans disagree on, like SALT and Medicaid cuts. On the latter, NOTUS’ Katherine Swartz and Riley Rogerson report, conservative House members openly complained that the cuts were too small. Worse for those who want to get this bill process moving quickly, “early indications were that, rather than not going far enough, the House’s Medicaid cuts had gone too far for senators,” the NOTUS team writes.
NOTUS’ Taylor Giorno also reports that Republicans have found a new way to target undocumented immigrants: taxing the outbound transfers that many of them use to send money to their families in other countries. They included a 5% tax on these remittances in their House tax bill text, and Taylor reports that it’s setting up a lobbying battle for industry players who service those transactions. Even Rep. Chip Roy, one of the most vocal critics of the bill (“and tax increases in general,” Taylor points out) is supportive of the remittance tax.
—Evan McMorris-Santoro | Read about the proposed Medicaid cuts. | Read about the remittance tax.
Not Us
We know NOTUS reporters can’t cover it all. Here’s some other great hits by… not us.
- How Big Tech is trying to shut down California’s AI rules, by Brendan Bordelon and Chase Difeliciantonio for Politico
- Is Jeff Bezos Selling Out the Washington Post?, by Clare Malone for The New Yorker
- Texas lawmakers propose abortion pill bill that can’t be challenged in state courts, by Eleanor Klibanoff for The Texas Tribune
Exclusive: Club for Growth’s New Scores
The latest Club for Growth scorecard gave 31 Republicans in the House and six in the Senate perfect scores, NOTUS’ Reese Gorman scoops. The fiscally conservative group has had a sometimes “tumultuous relationship” with MAGA in the past. Even so, many MAGA allies are among those with 100% scores.
The Republicans whose supporters are sweating these scores are incumbents with primary opponents who could use a less-than-perfect number to cast them as ideological apostates. The new score card offers less-than-stellar numbers for Sens. Thom Tillis (65%), Bill Cassidy (62%) and John Cornyn (62%), all facing angry voters to their right.
Newsom’s Next Move on Homeless Encampments
Some of the most salient criticisms conservatives have against California Democrats revolve around the homeless populations in places Democrats oversee. On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose presidential ambitions have not been subtle, took a step to try to address it, by pushing local governments to adopt a more aggressive approach to clearing up homeless encampments. In the process, he’s drawing criticism from housing advocates.
GOP Promises Big Midterm Play for Latino Voters
The NRCC is targeting seats held by Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar in Texas and Nellie Pou in New Jersey in large part because they have significant Hispanic populations, NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz and Alex Roarty report. Republicans say they can capitalize on the Latino support Trump picked up in 2024. Democrats say they still know how to win heavily Latino districts, pointing to their own 2024 wins as proof. Either way, Daniella and Alex report on the broad agreement that this demographic will prove crucial in the midterms. “They will literally determine who controls both chambers of Congress,” Dem strategist Chuck Rocha said.
Exclusive: Spending on Medicaid Messaging
Many Democratic-aligned strategists think the cuts to Medicaid in the draft GOP reconciliation bill will rally voters. Care Can’t Wait Action is launching a six-figure TV ad buy in districts held by Republican Reps. Rob Bresnahan, Juan Ciscomani and John James today. The spots feature an 8-year-old boy who receives Medicaid and his mother: “When we see Republicans planning huge cuts in Medicaid, I feel terrified,” she tells viewers.
Every Republican in Alabama Is Waiting for Coach to Call a Play
A run for governor by Sen. Tommy Tuberville would set off a mad scramble in Alabama politics, with Republicans eager to take advantage of a rare opening, NOTUS’ Torrence Banks reports. But they need Tuberville, who tells Torrence he hasn’t made a decision about whether to run, to make an announcement first.
“That’s a race that would be very, very attractive to me and to a number of other people in our state,” John Merrill, Alabama’s former secretary of state, told Torrence of Tuberville’s current job. Many other Republicans told him the same thing.
Front Page
- Democrats Are Split on How to Respond to Trump’s Prescription Drug Plan: It’s either an opportunity to work with Republicans or a promise without substance.
- DNC Moves Forward With Vote to Void Vice Chair Elections: The call is from a complaint unrelated to David Hogg’s effort to primary incumbents, but the vote will determine his future at the DNC.
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