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Yomiuri Shimbun
a day ago
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Why It's Been Such a Slow Congressional Retirement Season
The odd-year summer break from legislative action on Capitol Hill can be a tense waiting period to see how incumbents feel back home. These lawmakers, particularly those who run every two years in battleground House districts, get extended time in front of their constituents to gauge how their party's agenda is faring with voters. Plus, perhaps more important, they get a long stretch of time to determine whether they want to continue the breakneck pace for the next 16 months, with the reward being another two-year term for a job that can be quite frustrating. The question now is whether this summer and fall will play out like 2017, when a flood of Republican retirements set in motion a Democratic takeover during President Donald Trump's first midterm in 2018. Or it could play out more like 2024, when many retirees came from politically safe seats in both parties – and those so-called open seats had little impact in determining the House majority, which the Republicans maintained with the narrowest edge in almost 100 years. One new wrinkle is all the states discussing drawing new congressional districts to give their side a better chance at the majority come November 2026. That could freeze the decision-making process for several more months. Some safe incumbents want to know whether they are getting moved into politically untenable new districts, in which case they might head for the exits rather than run hard when defeat is certain. For now, eight Democrats and 11 Republicans are retiring from the House at the end of their terms next year, but 15 of them are actually running for higher office. Another, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D), will retire at the end of this year if she wins the New Jersey governor's race in November. Just three of those 20 come from battleground districts: Reps. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska), Angie Craig (D-Minnesota) and John James (R-Michigan). But Craig and James are running next year for senator and governor, respectively, in their states. So far Bacon, from a district that favored Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the last two elections, is retiring from elective politics entirely and vacating a true swing seat. After the 2024 elections left the House in a near tie – 220 Republicans, 215 Democrats – some longtime political analysts question whether it matters if an incumbent is on the ballot at all, because the deciding voters tend to have low information about politics and, if they vote, side with the party out of power. 'This country is evenly divided, which often leads to an evenly split House. Additionally, House races have become increasingly close to being parliamentary – who the candidates are is of less importance than the party they represent,' Charlie Cook, founder of the Cook Political Report With Amy Walter, wrote in late July. 'Among the tiny slice of voters in the middle, when they do vote, they are far more likely to vote against a candidate than for someone.' Regardless of such assessments, the operatives inside the two caucus's political arms – Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and its counterpart, National Republican Congressional Committee – always believe it's best to have their battle-tested incumbents running for reelection, as they are familiar to voters and comfortable raising the extreme amounts of money needed in today's politics. And there also tend to be domino effects among lawmakers who see longtime friends deciding to leave, prompting them to consider retiring rather than running for another term. Trump's first midterm election cycle provided a great example of this, as the return from August recess started with a retirement bang. Within five days in early September 2017, Reps. Dave Reichert (R-Washington), Charlie Dent (R-Pennsylvania) and Dave Trott (R-Michigan) announced they would vacate their suburban swing districts. Reichert and Dent had won seven terms, and Trott two. All three won in 2016 by wide double-digit margins. In his announcement, Dent cited a political climate dominated by 'disruptive outside influences that profit from increased polarization and ideological rigidity that leads to dysfunction.' Democrats won all three of those seats the following year. That set the tone for the remainder of the midterm elections, as seasoned GOP members bowed out, including two veteran California Republicans, Reps. Darrell Issa and Edward R. Royce, who announced two days apart in early January 2018 that they would not run for reelection. Democrats won both of those seats also, en route to an election in which they won 13 seats previously held by Republicans that had been left open by retirements, and one where the GOP incumbent lost his primary. Democrats won a net gain of more than 40 seats in 2018 and held the majority for four years. All told, 52 House members retired that election season, including the speaker, Paul D. Ryan (R-Wisconsin), the largest number in the past 30 years, according to the Brookings Institution. Almost three dozen more lost either in their primary or general elections, a massive turnover of more than 20 percent of the 435-member House. Sometimes the retirement wave does not start after the August recess and instead comes later in the odd year, around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season. That's also the point at which veteran incumbents and their campaign operatives have a bit more political data about where the district stands, how it approves or disapproves of the president, and whether the lawmaker can win in the upcoming midterm. In mid-December 2009, Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tennessee), a 13-term veteran, joined a growing number of Democrats who saw a brutal 2010 taking shape and decided to depart. In Gordon's case, he had coasted to reelection every two years, not even facing a Republican opponent in 2008, but that year his voters had given John McCain a more than 20-point margin in the district over Barack Obama. He hit a reflective point in life and decided it was time to bolt. 'Turning 60 has led me to do some thinking about what's next,' Gordon said in a statement at the time. 'I have an 8-year-old daughter and a wonderful wife who has a very demanding job.' Gordon was one of four Democrats, with more than 60 years of combined experience, to announce retirement plans in the week of Thanksgiving or the two weeks following it. Obama had become deeply unpopular in the South. In spring 2010, just 42 percent of Tennesseans approved of his job performance. As a result, Republicans won Gordon's seat with 67 percent of the vote, and they have held it since without too much effort. Republicans won the three other seats as well, part of a 63-seat wave in terms of House seats gained. Today's swing-seat incumbents are dominated by a large number of relative newcomers, the type of people who are in quite different political circumstances than Gordon in 2010 or Reichert in 2018. Of the 18 House races that the Cook report rates as pure toss-ups, just three incumbents started serving before Trump ran for president in 2016: Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania) and David Schweikert (R-Arizona). Expanding out to include the next 22 most competitive races, only three incumbents began their House service before Trump entered politics. By and large, these incumbents have generational profiles like Reps. Michael Lawler (R-New York) and Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Ohio). Lawler, 38, defeated a Democratic incumbent in 2022, helping Republicans reclaim the House majority, and won again in 2024 even as Harris won his district over Trump. Sykes, 39, won a close race in 2022 and, in a presidential year in which Harris and Trump effectively tied in her district, she won by more than 2 percentage points. At this point, especially after Lawler decided against a bid for governor, both are running hard for reelection with no intent to retire. Yet each of their states gets mentioned when it comes to redistricting, with Republicans having full control of the Ohio state legislature and Democrats in charge of the New York legislature. If those states start redrawing the House districts, their seats would be prime targets for partisans to move the lines around to make easy pickups for the other party. Any massive revamping of these districts could prompt a flurry of new retirement announcements.
The Hill
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Here are the top House Democrats at risk from GOP redistricting
House Democrats in red states across the country are at risk as the redistricting arms race heats up. Texas Republicans' proposed redraw, a President Trump-backed plan that could net the party five more House seats, has l ed to other red states moving forward with their own redistricting plans. Florida, Indiana and Missouri are among the Republican-led states now weighing whether to redo their congressional maps — putting a number of Democratic incumbents at risk. Here are the House Democrats most likely to be targeted across the country: Greg Casar, Texas 35th Republicans already control 25 of the 38 congressional seats in Texas, but the proposed changes could give them a 30-8 edge by slashing Democratic-controlled seats in Houston, Dallas and Austin-San Antonio. One of the biggest proposed changes affects Rep. Greg Casar's (D-Texas) 35th Congressional District, which went to former Vice President Harris by 33 points in November. The map would create a new +10 Trump district outside of San Antonio, according to analysis from Cook Political Report. Casar has called the would-be destruction of his district 'illegal voter suppression of Black and Latino Central Texans.' Lloyd Doggett, Texas 37th The Austin base of Casar's current district would be pushed into the 37th Congressional District, now held by Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas). The changes could set up a potential primary matchup between Casar and Doggett, who has accused Trump of 'taking a hatchet to chop up Austin and our state with the sole objective of maintaining his one-man rule.' Julie Johnson, Texas 32nd The Texas plan would reshape the 32nd Congressional District, currently based in Dallas and held by Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Texas). By stretching the district into East Texas, it would become a +18 Trump seat, according to the Cook Political Report. Johnson has been among the voices heralding Texas state House Democrats for fleeing the state to break quorum and stall 'a rigged map.' Marc Veasey, Texas 33rd Rep. Marc Veasey's would see his 33rd Congressional District likely remain blue, but the longtime lawmaker would probably lose his hometown and political base in the redrawing. This could create a primary between Veasey and Johnson as the latter's seat is reshaped, analysis from the Texas Tribune suggests, if they both decide to try and stay in the House. Henry Cuellar, Texas 28th Rep. Henry Cuellar's (D-Texas) seat in Texas's 28th Congressional District would shift rightward, from a +7 Trump district to a +10 post. The Cook Political Report says that Cuellar could 'conceivably survive' the midterms, though he's currently grappling with an ongoing criminal case that could complicate any reelection prospects. Cuellar and his wife were indicted by a federal grand jury in Houston last year on charges of participating in a bribery scheme. Vicente Gonzalez, Texas 34th Like Cuellar, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) would see his 34th Congressional District seat get even redder, according to the Cook Political Report. Gonzalez won reelection by just three points last year, so even a slight move toward the right could imperil reelection prospects. In a statement after the map's release, however, Gonzalez pointed to Trump's approval rating as he promised 'we will win again.' Al Green, Texas 9th Rep. Al Green's (D) seat in Texas's 9th Congressional District would merge with the empty blue seat vacated by the late Rep. Sylvester Turner (D), yielding a more conservative 9th district in the suburbs of east Houston. Al Green 'almost certainly wouldn't run' in the new 9th, the Cook Political Report forecasts, but he could run for the vacant 18th seat. Meanwhile, a special election is ongoing to fill the vacancy for Turner's former seat. Marcy Kaptur, Ohio 9th Ohio is the one state that's required to redistrict this year, after its 2022 maps failed to receive bipartisan support. Republicans boast a 10-5 majority in the current congressional delegation, and redistricting could mean a handful of Democrats see their districts get tougher. Rep. Mary Kaptur (D) in Ohio's 9th Congressional District is considered among the most vulnerable after winning a highly competitive race in 2024. Her district went to Trump by roughly 7 points last year, according to The Downballot. Emilia Sykes, Ohio 13th Like Kaptur, Rep. Emilia Sykes (D) in Ohio's 13th Congressional District won a tight race in 2024 and has been targeted by the GOP as a potential pickup opportunity. The district was effectively tied between Trump and Harris in November. 'It's no surprise that special interests in Washington and Columbus want to ignore the voters and rig the game,' Sykes campaign spokesman Justin Barasky told The Hill last month. Rep. Greg Landsman (D) in the 1st Congressional District around Cincinnati could also be impacted, according to the Columbus Dispatch, though anti-gerrymandering rules approved by voters in 2018 prevents redistricting from breaking up the city. Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri 5th Missouri's Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe has indicated he'll look at the possibility of redistricting in the state, where Republicans control six of eight districts. The Kansas City Star reported last month that Trump's political team had expressed interest in trying to gain another Show Me State seat, which would likely be Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver's 5th Congressional District in Kansas City. Cleaver, who has been in the seat for two decades, won reelection with 60 percent of the vote last fall, after line changes in 2022. He told St. Louis Public Radio that the push for mid-decade redistricting is 'very dangerous.' Frank Mrvan, Indiana 1st Republicans appear to be eyeing Indiana, where Democrats hold just two House seats, as another opening. Amid redistricting chatter, Vice President Vance met on Thursday with Gov. Mike Braun (R), who would need to call a special session of the state General Assembly to initiate redrawing. If Indiana were to redistrict, changes would likely squeeze the 1st Congressional District in the northwest, where Rep. Frank Mrvan (D) has already been named as a national GOP target for 2026. 'It is no surprise that some believe redistricting is the only option to cling to power when they know the American people are rejecting the damage done by the House Republican Majority,' Mrvan said in a statement. A redraw could also affect Mrvan's fellow Democrat, Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.), though the 7th Congressional District around Indianapolis may be somewhat safer, since breaking up blue voters in the area could make other Republican House districts more vulnerable. Republicans hold the other seven House seats in Indiana. Florida Democrats Florida's state House Speaker this week announced he'll form a redistricting committee after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signaled the Sunshine State could follow Texas's lead. There are just 8 House Democrats to 20 Republicans in Florida, and multiple blue seats could be endangered if a redraw moves forward. Republicans are hoping to gain at least three seats in the Sunshine State, Punchbowl News reported this week. One of the potential South Florida targets is Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who won reelection in November by five points in a district that went to Harris by just two points. Fellow South Florida Reps. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Lois Frankel could also be vulnerable, along with South Florida. Rep. Kathy Castor (D) in the Tampa area and Rep. Darren Soto (D) outside of Orlando. All five of these Democrats won their 2024 races with less than 60 percent of the vote. Moskowitz and Soto are already on the GOP campaign arm's target list. 'It's called corruption when the only reason to redraw the maps is to hold onto power cause y'all are going to lose in '26,' Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said on X. Other lawmakers Amid the Texas drama, chatter is percolating about redistricting possibilities in still more states. An analysis from Sabato's Crystal Ball forecasts there could be room for changes in North Carolina, where a new 2024 map netted the GOP three new seats, and in Kansas, which has just one blue seat — though it's all but guaranteed that Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) wouldn't call a special session to initiate talks. Republican Rep. Ralph Norman in South Carolina has suggested a redraw that could target longtime Rep. Jim Clyburn, the state's lone Democratic congressman, but the move is seen as unlikely given the already favorable 6-1 delegation split. With the exception of Ohio, it remains unclear which states will ultimately go through with redistricting, as Texas Democrats' dramatic quorum break stalls progress even in the Lone Star State. And even for those who do, it's not a guarantee that change could clear in time take effect before next fall's high-stakes midterms. Meanwhile, Democrats are looking to counter would-be GOP gains by weighing redistricting in blue strongholds, including California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has said he's moving forward with a plan to put redistricting before voters this fall, which would be triggered by what happens in Texas.
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Why it's been such a slow congressional retirement season
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up One new wrinkle is all the states discussing drawing new congressional districts to give their side a better chance at the majority come November 2026. That could freeze the decision-making process for several more months. Some safe incumbents want to know whether they are getting moved into politically untenable new districts, in which case they might head for the exits rather than run hard when defeat is certain. Advertisement For now, eight Democrats and 11 Republicans are retiring from the House at the end of their terms next year, but 15 of them are actually running for higher office. Another, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D), will retire at the end of this year if she wins the New Jersey governor's race in November. Advertisement Just three of those 20 come from battleground districts: Reps. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska), Angie Craig (D-Minnesota) and John James (R-Michigan). But Craig and James are running next year for senator and governor, respectively, in their states. So far Bacon, from a district that favored Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the last two elections, is retiring from elective politics entirely and vacating a true swing seat. After the 2024 elections left the House in a near tie — 220 Republicans, 215 Democrats — some longtime political analysts question whether it matters if an incumbent is on the ballot at all, because the deciding voters tend to have low information about politics and, if they vote, side with the party out of power. 'This country is evenly divided, which often leads to an evenly split House. Additionally, House races have become increasingly close to being parliamentary — who the candidates are is of less importance than the party they represent,' Charlie Cook, founder of the Cook Political Report With Amy Walter, wrote in late July. 'Among the tiny slice of voters in the middle, when they do vote, they are far more likely to vote against a candidate than for someone.' Rep. John James (R-Michigan), who serves in a battleground district, is running for governor of Michigan. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Regardless of such assessments, the operatives inside the two caucus's political arms — Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and its counterpart, National Republican Congressional Committee — always believe it's best to have their battle-tested incumbents running for reelection, as they are familiar to voters and comfortable raising the extreme amounts of money needed in today's politics. Advertisement And there also tend to be domino effects among lawmakers who see longtime friends deciding to leave, prompting them to consider retiring rather than running for another term. Trump's first midterm election cycle provided a great example of this, as the return from August recess started with a retirement bang. Within five days in early September 2017, Reps. Dave Reichert (R-Washington), Charlie Dent (R-Pennsylvania) and Dave Trott (R-Michigan) announced they would vacate their suburban swing districts. Reichert and Dent had won seven terms, and Trott two. All three won in 2016 by wide double-digit margins. In his announcement, Dent cited a political climate dominated by 'disruptive outside influences that profit from increased polarization and ideological rigidity that leads to dysfunction.' Democrats won all three of those seats the following year. That set the tone for the remainder of the midterm elections, as seasoned GOP members bowed out, including two veteran California Republicans, Reps. Darrell Issa and Edward R. Royce, who announced two days apart in early January 2018 that they would not run for reelection. Democrats won both of those seats also, en route to an election in which they won 13 seats previously held by Republicans that had been left open by retirements, and one where the GOP incumbent lost his primary. Democrats won a net gain of more than 40 seats in 2018 and held the majority for four years. All told, 52 House members retired that election season, including the speaker, Paul D. Ryan (R-Wisconsin), the largest number in the past 30 years, according to the Brookings Institution. Almost three dozen more lost either in their primary or general elections, a massive turnover of more than 20 percent of the 435-member House. Advertisement Sometimes the retirement wave does not start after the August recess and instead comes later in the odd year, around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season. That's also the point at which veteran incumbents and their campaign operatives have a bit more political data about where the district stands, how it approves or disapproves of the president, and whether the lawmaker can win in the upcoming midterm. In mid-December 2009, Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tennessee), a 13-term veteran, joined a growing number of Democrats who saw a brutal 2010 taking shape and decided to depart. In Gordon's case, he had coasted to reelection every two years, not even facing a Republican opponent in 2008, but that year his voters had given John McCain a more than 20-point margin in the district over Barack Obama. He hit a reflective point in life and decided it was time to bolt. 'Turning 60 has led me to do some thinking about what's next,' Gordon said in a statement at the time. 'I have an 8-year-old daughter and a wonderful wife who has a very demanding job.' Gordon was one of four Democrats, with more than 60 years of combined experience, to announce retirement plans in the week of Thanksgiving or the two weeks following it. Obama had become deeply unpopular in the South. In spring 2010, just 42 percent of Tennesseans approved of his job performance. As a result, Republicans won Gordon's seat with 67 percent of the vote, and they have held it since without too much effort. Republicans won the three other seats as well, part of a 63-seat wave in terms of House seats gained. Advertisement Today's swing-seat incumbents are dominated by a large number of relative newcomers, the type of people who are in quite different political circumstances than Gordon in 2010 or Reichert in 2018. Of the 18 House races that the Cook report rates as pure toss-ups, just three incumbents started serving before Trump ran for president in 2016: Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania) and David Schweikert (R-Arizona). Expanding out to include the next 22 most competitive races, only three incumbents began their House service before Trump entered politics. By and large, these incumbents have generational profiles like Reps. Michael Lawler (R-New York) and Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Ohio). Lawler, 38, defeated a Democratic incumbent in 2022, helping Republicans reclaim the House majority, and won again in 2024 even as Harris won his district over Trump. Sykes, 39, won a close race in 2022 and, in a presidential year in which Harris and Trump effectively tied in her district, she won by more than 2 percentage points. At this point, especially after Lawler decided against a bid for governor, both are running hard for reelection with no intent to retire. Yet each of their states gets mentioned when it comes to redistricting, with Republicans having full control of the Ohio state legislature and Democrats in charge of the New York legislature. If those states start redrawing the House districts, their seats would be prime targets for partisans to move the lines around to make easy pickups for the other party. Any massive revamping of these districts could prompt a flurry of new retirement announcements.
Bloomberg
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Roy Cooper's Senate Bid Could Do More Than Flip a Seat
Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper's entry into the US Senate race this week was a rare bit of good news for Democrats in the run-up to the 2026 midterms. Cooper is a well-liked and well-known moderate — a former attorney general and state legislator with a record of competence. He's never lost an election in his nearly four decades of public service. While Cooper has the best political pedigree his party could hope for to replace retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis, the race is still considered a toss-up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Cooper's expected rival, outgoing Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley, is a political insider with less name recognition and no governing experience. But he has something more valuable: the enthusiastic endorsement of President Donald Trump and the fundraising advantage that carries.
The Hill
30-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Redistricting wars upend 2026 midterm elections
THE REDISTRICTING WARS are heating up, with the potential to determine which party controls the House after the 2026 midterm elections. Texas Republicans on Wednesday unveiled a new proposal for the state's congressional districts, which could create five new House seats in districts that President Trump won by double-digits in 2024. Redistricting typically happens at the end of the decade when new census data is released. However, Trump pressured Texas Republicans to remake their map ahead of 2026, as the GOP seeks to buck history and hold on to the House for the remainder of Trump's second term in office. Texas Democrats are accusing Republicans of 'trying to rig the midterms.' Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) is among the lawmaker's whose district is in the Texas GOP's crosshairs. 'By merging our Central Texas districts, Trump wants to commit yet another crime— this time, against Texas voters and against The Voting Rights Act,' Casar posted on X. Dave Wasserman of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report posted on X: 'It's clear what Republicans' strategy is here. Create as many solid Trump seats as possible while *increasing* the number of Hispanic-majority seats by population, even though Hispanic *voters* will be well south of 40% of the electorate in several of them.' State Rep. James Talarico, a moderate Democrat whose star is rising after his interview with Joe Rogan, told Politico he and his colleagues are considering fleeing the state to deny Republicans the quorum needed to implement the maps. 'I'm willing to do that if we get to that point,' Talarico said. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is traveling to Austin on Wednesday to strategize with state Democrats about how to push back. 'House Republicans are a complete and total failure,' Jeffries posted on X. 'That's why they are trying to rig the Texas congressional map. Get lost.' Senate Democrats are accusing Trump of political interference and are pressing the Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether the White House officials violated the Hatch Act in their redistricting push. CALIFORNIA UP NEXT? Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) says he'll follow suit if Texas moves on its mid-decade gerrymander, although California voters passed a law in 2010 creating an independent commission for redistricting that takes the matter out of lawmaker hands. However, California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said he sees a 'legal pathway' to redistricting, telling the Los Angeles Times he believes Newson could call for a special election that allows the public to vote on and approve a new map. Still, the Sacramento Bee reports that state Democrats have not discussed the proposal and are divided on the matter. Republicans are lashing out, saying California's redistricting efforts are already worse than what is being proposed in Texas. 'The gerrymander in California is outrageous,' Vice President Vance posted on X. 'Of their 52 congressional districts, 9 of them are Republican. That means 17 percent of their delegation is Republican when Republicans regularly win 40 percent of the vote in that state. How can this possibly be allowed?' Lawmakers in New York, New Jersey and Florida have also weighed redistricting efforts since Texas moved first. TEMPERS RUN HOT ON CAPITOL HILL The Senate is expected to gavel out on Friday for summer recess but tempers are running hot as lawmakers speed toward the finish. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said he was 'offended' and 'disappointed' after Trump went on a social media offensive against him over an obscure Senate tradition. Grassley has respected so-called blue-slip objections from Democratic senators on Trump's judicial and prosecutorial nominees. The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports: 'Traditionally, the Senate Judiciary Committee's chairs haven't proceeded on federal district-level judicial and prosecutorial nominees unless both senators representing the state where those districts are located return blue-slip documents signing off on the nominees.' Trump unloaded on Grassley in a social media tirade, calling for term limits and accusing him of being a 'RINO,' short for 'Republican in name only.' 'Chuck Grassley, who I got re-elected to the U.S. Senate when he was down, by a lot, in the Great State of Iowa, could solve the 'Blue Slip' problem we are having with respect to the appointment of Highly Qualified Judges and U.S. Attorneys, with a mere flick of the pen,' Trump posted on Truth Social. Grassley responded: 'I was offended by what the president said, and I'm disappointed it would result in personal insults.' A day earlier, Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) blew up at fellow Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) on the Senate floor, accusing members of his party of being 'complicit' in Trump's agenda. This came after another procedural move, in which Cortez Masto tried to move a package of bills, including grants for police departments around the country, by unanimous consent on the Senate floor. 'Don't be complicit to the president of the United States,' Booker said. 'We are standing at a moment where our president is eviscerating the Constitution of the United States of America, and we're willing to go along with that today.' 💡 Perspectives: • Sacramento Bee: Say no to mid-cycle redistricting in California. • The Hill: Dems are too attached to a 'failing' status quo. • The Liberal Patriot: Why is Democratic favorability so low? • The Free Press: Trump is winning his fight with institutions. • Washington Monthly: Forcing culture war bigotry on private enterprise. • Republican states press Congress to ban abortion shield laws. • Texas GOP's redistricting plan alarms Democrats. • Republicans move to clear final hurdles to funding bill before recess. • Senate confirms Trump nominee to lead CDC. • States sue to stop defunding Planned Parenthood. CATCH UP QUICK Former Vice President Kamala Harris announced Wednesday she will not run for governor of California in 2026. Senate Democrats are turning to an obscure rule in their push to release the Epstein files and keep the Trump administration's handling of them front and center. Steve Ricchetti, a top adviser to former President Biden, said Biden was 'fully capable of exercising his presidential duties' during a voluntary interview with a GOP-led House panel. The Secret Service is conducting a 'personnel investigation' after an agent attempted to smuggle his wife on board a plane headed to Scotland for Trump's recent trip. NEWS THIS AFTERNOON Fed keeps interest rates steady but Powell faces dissent The Federal Reserve kept short-term interest rates steady on Wednesday, but chairman Jerome Powell faced dissent from two members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), as the board faces pressure from President Trump to lower interest rates. Nine members of the FOMC agreed to keep rates where they are. Two Fed Vice Chairs, Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller, both of whom are seen as potential replacements for Powell next year, voted to lower rates. The Hill's Tobias Burns reports: 'It was the first time two members of the Fed board, which usually votes unanimously, dissented in more than 30 years.' Gross domestic product (GDP) rose 3 percent in the second quarter, better than estimates. Trump celebrated the numbers on Truth Social, while swiping at Powell, who he's nicknamed 'Too Late.' '2Q GDP JUST OUT: 3%, WAY BETTER THAN EXPECTED! 'Too Late' MUST NOW LOWER THE RATE. No Inflation! Let people buy, and refinance, their homes!' Trump posted. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said the increase came primarily from a decline in imports, which surged during the first quarter ahead of Trump's tariffs. Imports, which detract from the GDP, fell in the second quarter. 'A 3.0 percent expansion in the second quarter doesn't signal a roaring economy any more than the 0.5 percent contraction in the first quarter pointed to an economic downturn,' wrote Olu Sonola, head of U.S. Economic Research at Fitch Ratings. It's been a mixed week of economic news. U.S. job openings fell last month but U.S. consumer confidence improved in July. This comes as Trump 'stands strong' with his promise to impose new tariffs Friday on countries that haven't reached a new trade deal with the U.S. 'We're now negotiating with various countries and the rest we just send the bill,' Trump said Wednesday. 💡 Perspectives: • The Nation: Mamdani keeps hope alive. • The Atlantic: The discourse is broken. • BIG: Trump's bizarro new deal. • The Hill: On ultra-processed foods, let's move beyond talk. • These nations don't have trade deals with Trump yet. • US, China to continue talks on tariffs truce. • Trump administration seeks to unleash AI in schools. • Senate confirms Emil Bove to appeals court. • FDA's top vaccine regulator departs amid conservative criticism. IN OTHER NEWS Roundup: Trump faces global cross-pressures President Trump faces a crucial stretch for his foreign policy, as surprising new dynamics emerge in Gaza, Russia and China. Here's the latest… • Trump is facing growing pressure from his MAGA wing to cut Israel loose amid global outrage over the humanitarian and hunger crisis in Gaza. The Hill's Brett Samuels writes: 'Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) and podcast host Theo Von are among those who have expressed alarm in recent days about the situation in Gaza, where Trump acknowledged this week 'real starvation' was happening on the ground.' Trump says the U.S. will assist in getting food to Gaza, although he blames Hamas for disrupting the distribution of food that has led to the hunger crisis. There was a time when no one on the right would cross Israel, but public opinion appears to be shifting against Israel amid the nearly two-year long war on Hamas. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the United Kingdom will follow France in recognizing a Palestinian state if the war does not end soon. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a 'disgusting liar' in an appearance on CNN on Tuesday. 'Israel had a right to defend itself from the terrible Hamas attack,' Sanders said. 'But I think everybody understands that in the last [one] and a half years, they have been waging a brutal, horrific, almost unprecedented type of war, not just against Hamas, but against the Palestinian people.' Still, most GOP lawmakers and even some Democrats, led by Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), remain steadfast allies to Israel, arguing Israel must be allowed to finish the war against Hamas. 'We have to remind the world that despite the amnesia, Hamas is the central cause of [Israel's] war in Gaza,' Torres said Tuesday at the Israel on Campus Coalition 's national leadership summit in Washington. 'The primary responsibility for a war lies with its cause … Hamas is morally responsible, principally responsible for the war in Gaza.' Fetterman on Wednesday called Greene 'crazy pants' for describing Israel's war against Hamas as a 'genocide.' • Trump shortened the deadline for Russia to end the war with Ukraine, giving Russian President Vladimir Putin an Aug. 8 ultimatum. If the war does not end by then, Trump says he'll implement new sanctions and tariffs on Russia's trading partners. On Wednesday, Trump said India, which he described as 'a friend,' would be penalized with a 25 percent tariff on Aug. 1 because of its own economic trade barriers and for buying military equipment and energy from Russia amid the war in Ukraine. 'They have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE — ALL THINGS NOT GOOD! INDIA WILL THEREFORE BE PAYING A TARIFF OF 25%, PLUS A PENALTY FOR THE ABOVE, STARTING ON AUGUST FIRST,' Trump posted on Truth Social. • Trump is facing pushback over his administration's decision to allow Nvidia to sell its H20 chips to China, with critics warning the move will give Beijing strategic advantages in the race to develop artificial intelligence (AI). A group of former national security officials and tech policy advocates called on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to reverse course. '[W]e believe this move represents a strategic misstep that endangers the United States' economic and military edge in artificial intelligence (AI)—an area increasingly seen as decisive in 21st-century global leadership,' the letter reads. The Hill's Julia Shapero explains: 'The Trump administration initially restricted sales of Nvidia's H20 chips to China in May, but the chipmaker announced earlier this month that it was taking steps to sell the chips again after receiving assurances from the government that its licenses would be granted. Lutnick indicated the decision was part of a broader rare earth deal with Beijing, while arguing that they were only receiving Nvidia's 'fourth best' chip.' 💡 Perspectives: • The Hill: The American right is falling out of love with Israel. • Wall Street Journal: Hamas will never surrender. • New York Times: Trump presidency takes a better turn. • The Hill: Trump is causing generational damage to American diplomacy. • Democrats say LA streets, businesses empty due to ICE raids. • Top Senate Dem presses Pentagon over China-based engineers. • US-China race takes center stage as Trump defines AI policy. • Trump faces bipartisan warnings over Gaza.
