The Hill’s Morning Report – Crunch time for 2020 Democrats in Detroit debate

 

 

 

Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. Happy Tuesday! Our newsletter gets you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Co-creators are Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver (CLICK HERE to subscribe!). On Twitter, find us at @asimendinger and @alweaver22.

Crunch time has arrived for the 2020 Democratic presidential field as the second series of debates kicks off tonight in Detroit and candidates look to give their bids a shot in the arm as they push to qualify for the September debates. 

 

While he won’t partake in tonight’s affairs, the attention is squarely on former Vice President Joe Biden as he looks to rebound from a shaky performance just over a month ago in Miami and reestablish himself as the unquestioned front-runner for the Democratic nod to take on Trump next year. 

 

While Biden has made a point to fully embrace the work undertaken by the Obama administration, that philosophy is showing some cracks ahead of the debate as he is expected to take shots on a number of fronts stemming from actions while he served as former President Obama’s top deputy. Among them are the administration’s record of deportations and treatment of immigrants at the border and his full embrace of the Affordable Care Act as some of his rivals embrace a version of “Medicare for All.” 

 

As Jonathan Easley and Amie Parnes write, Biden has wrapped himself in the 44th president, from using the same campaign songs to his telling of folksy stories on the campaign trail about their enduring friendship. When Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) questioned the former vice president’s record on race and criminal justice, the former vice president shot back that the nation’s first black president would not have tapped him as vice president if there were questions lingering on those issues.

 

However, Biden has seemingly adopted a go-it-alone game plan. He said last week during a fundraiser that he won’t use Obama as a “crutch” in his campaign and that his bid is not a “continuation” of the Obama-Biden administration because there are “new problems” on the scene that did not exist at that time. He is making it a point to look to the future as he endures criticisms that he is a candidate of the past and a bygone era. 

 

As Biden readies for his turn on stage on Wednesday night, he is buoyed by multiple polls that continue to show him in the lead. According to a new Quinnipiac University poll, Biden leads nationally by 19 points, taking 34 percent support. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who will find herself taking center stage tonight, sits second with 15 percent (The Hill). 

 

While much of the attention is on this round of debates, some campaigns are looking ahead to September with the goal of reaching the increased threshold for inclusion at the next debate in Houston. 

 

Having already met the polling prerequisites, Booker announced Monday that his team reached the 130,000 donors needed to put him on the stage. Andrew Yang also announced that he qualified after earning 2 percent in the Quinnipiac poll. He had already met the donor requirements, making him and Booker the seventh and eighth candidates to qualify (CNN).

 

Heading into this evening, 2020 campaigns released a number of policy proposals on all kinds of topics. Warren stayed true to her claim that she has “a plan for that” Monday, announcing her plan to rewrite how trade deals are negotiated (CNBC). Looking for a boost, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper announced his plan to strengthen rural communities, including an expansion of broadband access (The Hill). 

 

As for Harris, she released her own “Medicare for All” plan, drawing attacks from Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) (The Hill). 

 

Along with Warren, those taking part tonight are Sanders, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Hickenlooper, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), former Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.), Marianne Williamson and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, who will be making his inaugural debate appearance. 

 

The debates are scheduled for 8 p.m. CNN will host this go-around, with Jake Tapper, Dana Bash and Don Lemon serving as moderators.

 

Politico: Warren and Bernie’s awkward truce faces its biggest test yet. 

 

The New York Times: Why Joe Biden’s age worries some Democratic allies and voters.

 

George F. Will: Some questions for the Democratic candidates.

 

NBC News: What 2020 Democrats learned from their first debate and how some are sharpening their attacks for the second. 

 

McClatchy: CNN’s Jeff Zucker once feted Kamala Harris. Will that help or hurt in 2020?

 

The New York Times: Ahead of debates, Pennsylvania Democrats lean more pragmatic than progressive.

 

 

 

LEADING THE DAY

CONGRESS: With the president’s selection of Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) to replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligence, attention now turns to the Senate, where there are questions over a relatively unknown lawmaker.

 

When asked about Ratcliffe’s expected nomination on Monday, many Senate Republicans chose to say little. 

 

“I don’t know him. I haven’t looked at his background,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah). “I’ll be looking forward to doing a review of his qualifications and experience, but not having known him before now, I really can’t comment on his nomination.”

 

“I don’t know John. I’ve met him a couple of times, seen him on TV,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), adding that he still has to examine his background. 

 

One senator who spoke highly of Ratcliffe is Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who noted that he has gotten to know the Texas congressman on a personal level, though he doesn’t know a ton about his record either. 

 

“Everywhere he’s ever been he’s done a good job and is a smart guy, professional,” Rubio said when one reporter inquired if Ratcliffe was too partisan for the job. “I don’t know how my colleagues feel, obviously. We’ll have some work to do,” he added.

 

As The New York Times notes, Trump and Senate Republicans have little margin for error if Ratcliffe is nominated. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is unlikely to support any nominee for the post, meaning they can lose only two GOP votes if Democrats oppose him unanimously.

 

As for Democrats, they didn’t waste any time. Speaking on the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) labeled Ratcliffe a “partisan shill,” adding that it would be a “grave mistake for the Senate to elevate this partisan warrior” to serve as director. 

 

As Morgan Chalfant and Olivia Beavers write, Ratcliffe grew from being an unknown back-bencher to a prominent House Republican over the course of two years, in large part because of his staunch defense of the president during the GOP-led investigation into FBI and Justice Department decision-making during the 2016 election, headlined by his questioning of former special counsel Robert Mueller last week. 

 

The Associated Press: Doubts emerge about Trump pick for U.S. intelligence chief.

 

ABC News: Trump’s pick for intelligence director misrepresented role in anti-terror case. 

 

 

 

 

> DCCC chaos: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) was beset by turmoil Monday after a series of internal meetings led to the exodus of six senior staffers amid complaints from House Democrats about the lack of staff diversity and DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos’s (D-Ill.) inability to keep promises to various factions of the House Democratic Caucus. 

 

After a series of stories, Politico reported late Monday that after Allison Jaslow resigned as executive director, five additional senior staffers followed suit after a lengthy meeting at party headquarters. Bustos attended the session after flying back to Washington. 

 

The episode underscores the level of discontent with Bustos throughout the House Democratic ranks. According to one House Democrat, Bustos made promises to lawmakers of all stripes in her bid to take over the reigns from Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a main reason for the fallout she and the committee are experiencing only seven months after she took over as chair. 

 

“It’s the Monday Night Massacre at DCCC,” one lawmaker said. “Cheri campaigned as all things to all people, Telling blue dogs one thing, telling progressives another. So inevitably once in office she would disappoint them.”

 

Among some, the committee’s day of meetings was a source of mockery, especially after a largely drama-free cycle under Luján, the No. 4 House Democrat, who ultimately landed the plane last cycle en route to taking back the House.

 

More than anything, Democrats believe the party’s campaign apparatus needs an infusion of know-how at the highest levels. As one external source put it: “They need some adults in there.”

 

The committee released a statement late Monday announcing that Jacqueline Newman would take over as executive director on an interim basis and that the committee’s executive council will conduct a search for a new permanent executive director. According to one senior aide, Bustos has empowered the senior staffers on the council “to offer recommendations,” adding that she “followed their recommendations in this restructure” (The Hill). 

 

> Saudi Arabia: The Senate failed on Monday to override vetoes by the president that would have blocked his arms deal with Saudi Arabia, dealing another setback to lawmakers trying to target Riyadh. 

 

Senators voted 45-40, 45-39 and 46-41 on the override attempts, falling well short of the two-thirds majority needed to nix Trump’s veto, marking the third, fourth and fifth time Congress has tried (and failed) to override a Trump veto this year.    

 

The arms deal, which Trump announced publicly in June, is estimated to be worth more than $8 billion. Trump used an “emergency” provision in the Arms Export Control Act to bypass the 30-day congressional notification requirement to make the deal (The Hill).

 

The Hill: Sen. Patty Murray’s (D-Wash.) move raises impeachment pressure on Schumer. 

 

Politico: Judge seeks compromise in fight over Trump’s state tax returns.

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

WHITE HOUSE: Trump extended a weekend of Twitter bashing aimed at Baltimore and a powerful African American committee chairman, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), by lashing out at the Rev. Al Sharpton on Monday, accusing him of hating “Whites & Cops” and of being a “con man.” Sharpton fired back from Baltimore hours after Trump’s tweet, saying the president has a “particular venom for blacks and people of color” (The Hill).

 

The Hill: Trump says he’ll meet with “inner-city pastors” amid the racial controversies he stirred.

 

The Hill: House Freedom Caucus leader Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) insists neither Trump nor colleague Cummings is a racist.

 

Niall Stanage: With Trump constantly dialing up the rhetoric on race, just how inflammatory could the atmosphere become, and how dangerous is it for the nation?

 

The Atlantic: What Elijah Cummings once told Trump in private.

 

The Associated Press: After Trump’s attacks against Cummings, the president asked advisers on Monday how the tweets played on television.

 

The Associated Press: Suburban female voters recoil as Trump dives into racial politics.

 

The president’s critics continued this week to point to his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as a Baltimore rental property owner with a less-than-sterling reputation (“The Beleaguered Tenants of ‘Kushnerville,’” ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine, May 2017). 

 

> Clemency: Trump on Monday commuted the prison sentence of Ronen Nahmani, a non violent, first-time offender, citing “extenuating circumstances” involving his family. He was convicted in 2015 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring to distribute a synthetic drug known as spice. Trump, who commuted the sentence of another inmate and pardoned five others on Monday, cited Nahmani’s bipartisan advocates in Congress and in the legal community, who recommended his release (The Hill).

The Morning Report is created by journalists Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver. We want to hear from you! Email: asimendinger@digital-release.thehill.com and aweaver@digital-release.thehill.com. We invite you to share The Hill’s reporting and newsletters, and encourage others to SUBSCRIBE!

OPINION

Trump’s intelligence shake-up could be his most dangerous move yet, by David Ignatius, foreign affairs columnist, The Washington Post. https://wapo.st/2YeLSdi 

 

Climate policy is expensive, but so is climate change, by Shahir Masri, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/2Ysn4tt

WHERE AND WHEN

Hill.TV’s “Rising” at 9 a.m. ET features Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson; Briahna Gray, national press secretary for the Sanders presidential campaign; Emma Vigeland, correspondent with “The Young Turks,” who previews the Detroit debates this week; New Hampshire political reporter Paul Steinhauser, who expands on his recent Concord Monitor interview with Warren; and Elizabeth Spiers, founder of The Insurrection, who has written about House Democrats and impeachment deliberations. Find Hill.TV programming at http://digital-release.thehill.com/hilltv or on YouTube at 10 a.m.

 

The House is in recess through August and will return to Washington on Sept. 9.

 

The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. The Senate Armed Services Committee holds a 10 a.m. hearing on the nomination of U.S. Air Force Gen. John E. Hyten to be vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Hyten has been accused of sexual assault by Army Col. Kathryn Spletstoser (The Hill). …The Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee meets at 10 a.m. for a hearing about “Regulatory Frameworks for Digital Currencies and Blockchain.” …The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hears testimony at 10 a.m. from Mark Morgan, the acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, about “Unprecedented Migration at the U.S. Southern Border: What Is Required to Improve Conditions?”  

 

The president will speak this morning in Jamestown, Va., to mark the 400th anniversary of the first representative legislative assembly. Trump will sign legislation titled the “Let Everyone Get Involved in Opportunities for National Service (LEGION) Act” at 4 p.m.

 

Vice President Pence heads to Lancaster, Ohio, to deliver remarks this morning at Magna Seating, a mobility technology company that supplies the automotive industry and expects to create 300 jobs. Pence returns to Washington today.

 

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, along with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, is in Shanghai through Wednesday for trade negotiations with Vice Premier Liu He of China. The president and his top advisers have tempered public expectations about the outcome (CNBC).

 

The Federal Reserve begins a two-day meeting, which will wrap up on Wednesday afternoon with a policy statement and press conference with Chairman Jerome Powell. Many on Wall Street anticipate the central bank could vote to cut the federal funds rate by a quarter-point (CNBC). And while we’re at it, read this smart New York Times article: “A recession is coming (eventually). Here’s where you’ll see it first.”

 

Economic indicator: The Bureau of Economic Analysis at 8:30 a.m. releases a report on U.S. personal income and outlays in June.

ELSEWHERE

➔ Medicaid politics: Advocates for the expansion of Medicaid to provide health coverage to more low-income recipients are taking their arguments straight to the voters, a strategy that achieved some success last year in several Republican-led states. Campaigns in Oklahoma, Florida, Missouri and South Dakota are in the early stages of securing spots on ballots next year (The Hill).

 

➔ Moscow: Alexei Navalny, 43, a Russian opposition leader and critic of President Vladimir Putin who is serving a 30-day sentence in jail for organizing an unsanctioned protest, was returned to his cell from a hospital on Monday after developing symptoms his physician said could be reactions to a chemical agent and his lawyer said could be poison. Tensions continue to run high in Russia; on Saturday, baton-wielding police confronted protesters in what some described as the largest unsanctioned protest in the country in a decade (The Associated Press).

 

➔ Cyber security: Capital One announced on Monday that a hacker gained access to 100 million credit card applications, and investigators said thousands of Social Security and bank account numbers were taken. The FBI made one arrest (The Washington Post). …Meanwhile, Tom Bossert, Trump’s former National Security Council homeland security specialist who departed when John Bolton arrived, is now in the private sector, trying, he says, to make malicious hackers feel some pain (WIRED). “If we don’t change the equation to something that actually stops and prevents and imposes costs on the adversary, we’re not going to get in front of the problem,” Bossert said.

 

➔ Bush 43: PBS’s “American Experience” documentary series will look at the “evolution” of former President George W. Bush’s character and how it shaped his time in office during a two-part program titled “W,” to air next spring (The Associated Press). 

 

“When history marches on, there will be a little more objective look about the totality of this administration,” Bush told an interviewer in 2008, his final year in office. “Dealing with liberating 25 million in Afghanistan is part of what I hope people think of when they look at my presidency. Being the first president to propose a two-state solution on Israel and Palestine. …And I’m happy with Iraq. The right—the decision to [re]move Saddam Hussein was right, and this democracy is now taking root. And I’m confident that if America does not become isolationist and allow the terrorists to take back over, Iraq will succeed.”

 

 

 

THE CLOSER

And finally …  The next time astronauts break space-travel barriers, it may be for a manned mission to Mars. The round-trip journey is expected to take up to three years, and astronauts may have to grow some of their own food, making the question of nutrition a challenge. Eyeing a goal of food gardening, NASA plans to grow chiles in space. (For fans of the movie “The Martian,” chiles may be the botanical alternative to cinematic potatoes) (The New York Times).