Today’s notice: The Senate gets out of Dodge. Big questions on the future of Trump’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. A brave new world for Texas Democrats. And: Trump’s political machine rakes in the big bucks.
THE LATEST
The politics of punting: The Senate skipped town for recess moody and without a deal on President Donald Trump’s nominations, but with his blessing for Republicans to go home and tell Americans “what bad people the Democrats are.”
Chuck Schumer is happy, for now: “Trump caved and got nothing,” the Senate minority leader said after the big punt.
Is it a Pyrrhic victory or a real one? Senate Republicans have signaled they’ll return and change the rules on nominations, surgically slicing off another piece of filibuster power. This remains Washington’s most glass-half-full vs. -empty conversation.
For now, the fight has been delayed until September. Will Schumer strike a deal on nominations? On appropriations? Will we see the Schumer of the last continuing resolution or the Schumer of last week?
What the base wants: The latest AP-NORC poll in July found Democrats feeling very critical of their party. Thirty-five percent ascribed a negative attribute to their party, with many seeing it as weak or tepid.
What the Senate did do: Jeanine Pirro was among the handful of nominees that got confirmed Saturday. She’s officially U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Sen. Susan Collins may be happy, too: The Senate shepherded through a couple of appropriations bills with huge bipartisan support.
Open Tabs: Senate passes funding package (Politico); Ghislaine Maxwell transferred to Texas (AP); Medicare, Medicaid consider weight loss drug coverage (WaPo); FBI Redacted Trump’s Name in Epstein Files (Bloomberg); White House has no plan to mandate IVF care (WaPo)
From the White House
A big question for Republicans was summarized nicely by retiring Sen. Thom Tillis hours after Trump fired the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ commissioner, Erika McEntarfer, on Friday following a lackluster July jobs report with major downward revisions for May and June.
“If they found something that is flawed in a report that the world relies on, then clearly that’s a cause of death,” he told NOTUS’ Em Luetkemeyer. “If they fired her just because they don’t like the numbers, they need to grow up.”
On “Meet the Press” Sunday, the director of the White House National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett, was pressed repeatedly to show evidence that McEntarfer “rigged” the numbers as Trump claimed she did. “The revisions are hard evidence,” Hassett said.
There’s really no confusion on this. The numbers BLS released were supported by both private data and McEntarfer’s Trump-appointed predecessor. What’s fuzzy is how all this affects the next jobs report and if the congressional majority will want to know more.
Down in Texas
Texas Democrats move as one: Dozens of Democrats in the state Legislature reportedly fled the Lone Star State yesterday to deny the quorum required to vote new legislative districts into law.
“Your right to representation in your government is under attack, and Texas Democrats will protect your rights through any means necessary,” Kendall Scudder, chair of the Texas Democratic Party, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, House Democrats from Texas turn on each other: “I think if this map ends up going through, Lloyd [Doggett] will taint his legacy by running against someone like Greg Casar,” a Democratic member of Congress told NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz of two incumbent lawmakers who might face off under new Texas district maps under consideration in the Legislature.
The proposed redrawn maps are on their way to a floor vote this week.
THE BIG ONE
Is the era of eating food on a stick in Iowa over? You’d think nascent 2028 campaigns would be asking this question. Yet, possible contenders are announcing travel schedules that look pretty much the same as they would have in… 2015.
“People still get all warm and fuzzy when they hear ‘Iowa,’” one Democratic presidential strategist told NOTUS’ Alex Roarty. The Iowa State Fair kicks off this week, and Sen. Ruben Gallego is scheduled to be there.
Is that a mistake? “If I had a client who was running for president, and they wanted to go to Iowa, I would jump ship,” Rebecca Pearcey, the political director of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s 2020 campaign, told Alex.
Iowa and New Hampshire’s status is unclear. The DNC could begin considering the running order of states as early as this year, a party spokesperson told Alex. Until then, the likely 2028 hopefuls are wandering around, hoping they’re in the right place at the right time.
NEW ON NOTUS
MAGA, Inc. donors: The president’s super PAC raised nearly $177 million in the first six months of the year. Major contributors include Elon Musk — who donated $5 million after he publicly turned against the president — crypto players and other billionaires, NOTUS’ Violet Jira reports.
Immigration fee hike: “It’s yet another barrier to justice, another impediment to having your full day in court,” recently fired immigration judge Jennifer Peyton told NOTUS’ Jose Pagliery about huge increases in legal fees associated with applying for legal residency, claiming asylum and challenging deportation. The DOJ has increased the cost of appealing an immigration judge’s ruling from $110 to $1,010.
More: Some Republicans Want to Take the Wheel on D.C. Traffic Laws, by Emily Kennard; Agencies Fight Over DCA Crash Investigation, by Torrence Banks
NOT US
- In Trump’s Washington, Palantir is winning big, by Elizabeth Dwoskin, Hannah Natanson and Jacob Bogage for The Washington Post
- A war is brewing over the future of the Republican Party. It’s getting messy. By Jacob Wendler for Politico
- A Fight Over a West Point Job Reveals Two Visions of America Under Trump, by Greg Jaffe for The New York Times
WEEK AHEAD
The House and Senate are in recess.
The USDA is hosting the Great American Farmers Market on the National Mall through Friday.
Early this week: The Texas Legislature is expected to vote on new proposed congressional district maps.
New trade tariffs imposed by the president are expected to take effect Thursday and Friday.
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