Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign laid off 38 staff members in a move to reset the campaign and revive poll numbers.
“Following a top-to-bottom review of our organization, we have taken additional, aggressive steps to streamline operations and put Ron DeSantis in the strongest position to win this primary and defeat Joe Biden. Governor DeSantis is going to lead the Great American Comeback and we’re ready to hit the ground running as we head into an important month of the campaign,” said Generra Peck, DeSantis’s campaign manager.
The layoffs include 10 event-planning positions announced earlier this month. Overall, the campaign has let go of about one-third of its staff in recent weeks.
DeSantis’s campaign has failed to pick up steam thus far. Although he is in second place in national polling, he is still lagging behind former President Trump in the polls by 30 points, The Hill’s Niall Stanage reports. Some Republican voters claim his hardcore stance on culture-war issues has stymied his campaign, while his supporters say these judgments are premature.
The first GOP presidential debate is on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee.
Read more here. |
|
|
Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Emily Martin, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here. |
|
|
-
UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced a tentative collective bargaining agreement, days before their current contract was set to lapse. It includes higher wages for Teamsters workers, air conditioning in trucks and an agreement to hire 30,000 new drivers. The five-year deal is still subject to approval by union members.
President Biden on Tuesday signed a proclamation creating a national monument in honor of Mamie Till Mobley and her son Emmett Till, the 14-year-old whose murder in 1955 in Mississippi helped galvanize the civil rights movement. The monument will be spread over three sites in Illinois and Mississippi.
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and his team were uninjured after they were involved in a car accident en route to a campaign fundraiser in Tennessee on Tuesday. The incident reportedly happened on Interstate 75 South and involved a rear-end collision.
|
|
|
⛔ Federal judge blocks rule limiting asylum
|
A new Biden administration rule limiting access to asylum was blocked Tuesday by a federal judge in California, who issued a decision set to take effect in two weeks, The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch reports. The judge’s decision is a major loss for the Biden administration. The Biden rule imposed new restrictions on asylum seekers, such as requiring them to first seek protections in another country before making their way to the U.S. Additionally, the rule, which was finalized in May, restricts the ability to seek asylum between ports of entry. In blocking the rule, U.S. District Court Judge Jon Tigar wrote that the Biden administration’s policy “undermines the clear intent of Congress in establishing a safe haven for those fleeing persecution and danger,” Beitsch wrote.
“Requiring noncitizens to present at ports of entry effectively [constitutes] a categorical ban on migrants who use a method of entry explicitly authorized by Congress,” Tigar said in the ruling. “Conditioning asylum eligibility on presenting at a port of entry or having been denied protection in transit conflicts with the unambiguous intent of Congress.” The Department of Justice will likely appeal the ruling.
Read more here. |
|
|
🎓 Harvard legacy admissions faces civil rights probe |
The U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into Harvard University’s process of legacy admissions, the group Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston told The Hill.
The group filed a complaint earlier this month on behalf of New England Black and Latino organizations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“Lawyers for Civil Rights welcomes the news we received from the U.S. Department of Education that it has formally opened a federal investigation into our civil rights complaint, which challenges Harvard’s discriminatory practice of giving preferential treatment to children of wealthy donors and children of alumni,” the group said in a statement. “As our complaint outlines, these unfair and undeserved preferences are bestowed overwhelmingly on white applicants and systematically harm applicants of color, in violation of federal anti-discrimination law.” According to Title VI, discrimination on the basis of “race, color, or national origin,” for “any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance,” is prohibited.
The Education Department has confirmed to The New York Times and The Associated Press that an investigation has been opened, but they declined to comment on nature of the probe.
This investigation comes less than a month after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action programs, which allows race to be considered as a factor in admissions at American colleges and universities. Harvard, along with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was one of the two cases that resulted in the decision. |
|
|
🎤 Harris to hold Iowa event opposite GOP gathering
|
Vice President Harris heads to Iowa to address the state’s recent abortion ban Friday, the same day top GOP presidential candidates are slated to speak in the Hawkeye State the same night.
Harris will travel to Des Moines to speak with health care workers, patients, local leaders and reproductive rights advocates to discuss efforts on protecting abortion access across the country, the White House said, as well as highlight the effects of limiting reproductive health access.
Earlier this month, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed legislation effectively banning nearly every abortions after the detection of fetal cardiac activity, which is usually about six weeks into a pregnancy and well before many women know they are even pregnant. The law was temporarily blocked from going into effect by an Iowa state court days after Reynolds signed it.
Also in Iowa on Friday are most of the GOP presidential primary field, all of whom are set to speak at the annual Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines. Attendees include former President Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and others. Read more here. |
|
|
© Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images) |
|
|
Former Marine Trevor Reed injured in Ukraine |
Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine who was held for three years in Russia before being released in a prisoner swap in April 2022, was injured several weeks ago fighting in Ukraine, the State Department said Tuesday. The cause of his injury is unknown, but Reed has been transported to Germany and is receiving medical attention. |
|
|
House Dem introduces resolution to censure Marjorie Taylor Greene |
A resolution to censure Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) over her controversial comments and actions regarding the president’s son Hunter Biden has been brought forward by Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.). The resolution introduced Tuesday has about 40 specific points of grievance against Greene.
|
|
|
Biden family’s dog bit officers 10 times in four months: records
|
Commander, the first family’s German shepherd, has reportedly been involved in several biting incidents involving members of the Secret Service. Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group, released emails Tuesday it said it obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request detailing 10 alleged attacks by the nearly 2-year-old dog from October 2022 through January.
|
|
|
Join The Hill’s clean energy permitting reform event in DC
|
National Press Club and streaming online nationally |
|
|
Join The Hill as we convene lawmakers, clean energy experts and executives to discuss renewable energy infrastructure deployment, reaching clean energy goals and the outlook for greater reforms. Guests include: Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), member of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee;
Maria Robinson, director, Grid Deployment Office, U.S. Department of Energy; Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), vice chair of the Energy, Climate & Grid Security Subcommittee and vice chair of the Federal Lands Subcommittee; Xan Fishman, director of energy policy & carbon management at the Bipartisan Policy Center; Shannon Baker-Branstetter, senior director, domestic climate & energy policy, Center for American Progress; Heather Reams, president of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES); and Jesse Simons, co-founder & chief commercial officer at SOLARCYCLE. REGISTER NOW
|
|
|
“Biden should take a cognitive test — and release the results,” — Merrill Matthews of the Institute for Policy Innovation. (Read more.) “UFOs are not the only potential threat in American skies,” writes Marek N. Posard, Ashley Gromis and Mary Lee of the RAND Corporation. (Read more.) |
|
|
469 days until the presidential election. |
|
|
-
House Judiciary Committee meets Thursday at 2 p.m. to consider recommending Congress hold Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in contempt.
- President Biden travels to Maine on Friday to tout his “Bidenomics” agenda.
-
Vice President Harris travels to Boston on Saturday to deliver remarks at the NAACP Annual Convention.
|
|
|
|
