Latest news with #D-N.Y.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Rahm Emanuel flirts with Democratic run for the White House
While Democrats search for a new party leader, one old name keeps coming up in conversation: Rahm Emanuel. The Democrat has been an investment banker, congressman, White House chief of staff, Chicago mayor, and U.S. ambassador to Japan, and now he's been thinking about adding another title to his long resume: president. There's just one problem: 'As well-known as he is, people don't really know him,' said former Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), who is in touch with his former House colleague. Still, Israel and other Democrats familiar with Emanuel, 65, say it would be unwise to count him out. After all, Democrats say there aren't many people on the list of potential candidates who can raise money and organize better than Emanuel, who helped run the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2006 and was credited with flipping the House back to Democrats in that cycle. 'What fascinates me about him is that for him it's all about winning,' Israel said. 'And he knows how to win the most challenging of battles.' Emanuel hasn't made a decision about whether he'll run for president and the Democratic nomination. Sources close to him say he's still making up his mind while consulting with his family (including his brother Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood mega agent) and other key Democratic allies. But he is already leaving breadcrumbs about a potential run, including making an appearance at the all-important stop for any Democrat with big political aspirations: the September fish fry in Iowa. He has also signed a contributor contract with CNN and has hit the speaking circuit. 'I am in training,' Emanuel told the hosts of 'The View' earlier this month, not hiding his intentions. 'I don't know if I'll make the Olympics.' In the meantime, since leaving his post as ambassador to Japan under the Biden administration, he has been making the rounds and offering his blunt assessments of the state of the Democratic Party. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week, he called the Democratic brand 'toxic' and 'weak and woke.' 'I'm tired of sitting in the back seat when somebody's gunning it at 90 miles an hour for a cliff,' Emanuel told the Journal in the interview. 'If you want the country to give you the keys to the car, somebody's got to be articulating an agenda that's fighting for America, not just fighting for [President] Trump.' (Those who have spoken to him in recent months say in typical Emanuel fashion he's even more candid in private about how pathetic the current state of the party is and how rudderless its leadership is.) In regular columns in The Washington Post, he has also been giving Democrats advice on how to reemerge from the so-called wilderness. 'Yes, we should oppose the MAGA agenda at every turn. But given that we control neither the bully pulpit nor any congressional gavel, we need to focus foremost on what's winnable: next year's midterm elections,' Emanuel wrote in a column earlier this month. 'Our task is to help the public understand what the Republicans are doing and how it affects them.' Those who know Emanuel — whom one Democrat described as a 'whip smart bulldog' — say he meets the moment. 'No one — and I mean no one — is feistier than Rahm,' one major Democratic bundler said. 'He can land punches like no other, and he would be Trump's worst enemy. 'He'd know exactly what to say not only to bust his chops but to live in his head,' the bundler said. 'That's exactly what we need right now. There's a huge void there.' The bundler also predicted that few people could raise as much money as Emanuel, something that would give him an automatic advantage in what is expected to be the most crowded presidential field in modern history. 'He would start from a position of strength,' the bundler said. But one Democratic strategist said Emanuel's record — particularly as mayor of Chicago — could be a thorn in his side. 'His record as mayor of Chicago is absolutely something that I would expect to be used against him,' the strategist said. 'He carries a lot of unresolved baggage from that tenure.' And what might hurt him even more is that he's been around the block and Democrats could be wanting to kick the establishment to the curb. 'Less of a commentary on Rahm, it's very likely that the moment is going to call for Democrats to make a clean break with the past and with the status quo,' the strategist said. 'One big hurdle for him is that he is both.' But Israel said Emanuel offers the electorate a broad range of dimensions. 'Trump wins because he organized MAGA, but Rahm always wins because he organizes mega, He puts together progressives and [moderate] Blue Dogs. He knows how to win these coalitions,' Israel said, referencing the caucus of centrist Democrats. The strategist has some doubts. 'This is a guy who used to do that,' the strategist said. 'But we live in a different era.' Amie Parnes covers the White House and presidential politics for The Hill. She is also the co-author of several bestsellers, including the recent 'Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Rahm Emanuel flirts with Democratic run for the White House
While Democrats search for a new party leader, one old name keeps coming up in conversation: Rahm Emanuel. The Democrat has been an investment banker, congressman, White House chief of staff, Chicago mayor, and U.S. ambassador to Japan, and now he's been thinking about adding another title to his long resume: president. There's just one problem: 'As well-known as he is, people don't really know him,' said former Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), who is in touch with his former House colleague. Still, Israel and other Democrats familiar with Emanuel, 65, say it would be unwise to count him out. After all, Democrats say there aren't many people on the list of potential candidates who can raise money and organize better than Emanuel, who helped run the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2006 and was credited with flipping the House back to Democrats in that cycle. 'What fascinates me about him is that for him it's all about winning,' Israel said. 'And he knows how to win the most challenging of battles.' Emanuel hasn't made a decision about whether he'll run for president and the Democratic nomination. Sources close to him say he's still making up his mind while consulting with his family (including his brother Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood mega agent) and other key Democratic allies. But he is already leaving breadcrumbs about a potential run, including making an appearance at the all-important stop for any Democrat with big political aspirations: the September fish fry in Iowa. He has also signed a contributor contract with CNN and has hit the speaking circuit. 'I am in training,' Emanuel told the hosts of 'The View' earlier this month, not hiding his intentions. 'I don't know if I'll make the Olympics.' In the meantime, since leaving his post as ambassador to Japan under the Biden administration, he has been making the rounds and offering his blunt assessments of the state of the Democratic Party. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week, he called the Democratic brand 'toxic' and 'weak and woke.' 'I'm tired of sitting in the back seat when somebody's gunning it at 90 miles an hour for a cliff,' Emanuel told the Journal in the interview. 'If you want the country to give you the keys to the car, somebody's got to be articulating an agenda that's fighting for America, not just fighting for [President] Trump.' (Those who have spoken to him in recent months say in typical Emanuel fashion he's even more candid in private about how pathetic the current state of the party is and how rudderless its leadership is.) In regular columns in The Washington Post, he has also been giving Democrats advice on how to reemerge from the so-called wilderness. 'Yes, we should oppose the MAGA agenda at every turn. But given that we control neither the bully pulpit nor any congressional gavel, we need to focus foremost on what's winnable: next year's midterm elections,' Emanuel wrote in a column earlier this month. 'Our task is to help the public understand what the Republicans are doing and how it affects them.' Those who know Emanuel — whom one Democrat described as a 'whip smart bulldog' — say he meets the moment. 'No one — and I mean no one — is feistier than Rahm,' one major Democratic bundler said. 'He can land punches like no other, and he would be Trump's worst enemy. 'He'd know exactly what to say not only to bust his chops but to live in his head,' the bundler said. 'That's exactly what we need right now. There's a huge void there.' The bundler also predicted that few people could raise as much money as Emanuel, something that would give him an automatic advantage in what is expected to be the most crowded presidential field in modern history. 'He would start from a position of strength,' the bundler said. But one Democratic strategist said Emanuel's record — particularly as mayor of Chicago — could be a thorn in his side. 'His record as mayor of Chicago is absolutely something that I would expect to be used against him,' the strategist said. 'He carries a lot of unresolved baggage from that tenure.' And what might hurt him even more is that he's been around the block and Democrats could be wanting to kick the establishment to the curb. 'Less of a commentary on Rahm, it's very likely that the moment is going to call for Democrats to make a clean break with the past and with the status quo,' the strategist said. 'One big hurdle for him is that he is both.' But Israel said Emanuel offers the electorate a broad range of dimensions. 'Trump wins because he organized MAGA, but Rahm always wins because he organizes mega, He puts together progressives and [moderate] Blue Dogs. He knows how to win these coalitions,' Israel said, referencing the caucus of centrist Democrats. The strategist has some doubts. 'This is a guy who used to do that,' the strategist said. 'But we live in a different era.' Amie Parnes covers the White House and presidential politics for The Hill. She is also the co-author of several bestsellers, including the recent 'Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Taps His Own Criminal Defense Attorney For Lifetime Federal Judgeship
WASHINGTON — In a pathetic act of cowardice last year, a handful of Democrats tanked one of President Joe Biden's judicial nominees, Adeel Mangi. Mangi, who was a veteran civil litigator in New Jersey, was an objectively impressive and qualified pick. He also happened to be Muslim, so Republicans subjected him to adisgustingmonthslongsmearcampaign aimed at baselessly casting him as an antisemitic terrorist sympathizer. Despite his horrific treatment, Mangi hung in there, racking up endorsements from major Jewish organizations, and could have been confirmed if Democrats stuck together. But wary of their own reelection bids, a handful of senators chickened out and said they'd vote no. Then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) sealed his fate by cutting a deal with Republicans to expedite votes on a batch of judicial nominees — but not Mangi. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday whom he plans to nominate to this seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit: his personal criminal defense attorney, Emil Bove, who is currently known as Trump's hatchet manat the Justice Department. 'Emil is SMART, TOUGH, and respected by everyone,' Trump said on social media. 'He will end the Weaponization of Justice, restore the Rule of Law, and do anything else that is necessary to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Emil Bove will never let you down!' Bove, 44, was a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York before leaving for a private law firm in New Jersey. Todd Blanche, who is Trump's deputy U.S. attorney general, recruited Bove to help him defend Trump in his 2024 criminal indictment trial. Bove now serves as principal associate deputy attorney general under Blanche. In his short time at the Justice Department, Bove has been abusing his role to punish people whom Trump considers his political enemies or to push out people who could stand in the way of Trump doing whatever he wants, laws be damned. Among other things, Bove forced the transfer of top career officials who were seen as a firewall against political inference at the department, which otherwise operates independently from presidential administrations in enforcing laws. He ordered the firings of federal prosecutors involved in the cases against more than 1,500 people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Bove also demanded the FBI turn over the names of its agents assigned to Jan. 6 cases, which led to a lawsuit and attorneys for the FBI agents saying they couldn't trust that the Justice Department wouldn't give their names to Trump purely so he could retaliate against them. Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond and a federal judicial nominations expert, said Bove's actions at the Justice Department alone 'should disqualify him for life tenure on the federal bench.' Tobias also brought up Bove's role in the Justice Department's effort to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Adams was indicted on federal charges of bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations, but Bove pressured federal prosecutors to drop all charges in what appeared to be a brazen quid pro quo, with the administration dropping the case in exchange for Adams cooperating with Trump's immigration policies. Several career attorneys resigned from the Justice Department rather than comply with Bove's demands, including Danielle Sassoon, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, who wrote in her resignation letter that it was her constitutional duty to 'prosecute crimes without fear or favor.' The case was ultimately dismissed. 'Bove's DOJ efforts show that he is a Trump loyalist and lacks the qualifications, especially wisdom and temperament, to serve as a federal judge,' said Tobias. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who recommended Mangi to Biden for this seat in 2023 and unsuccessfully fought for his confirmation, called Bove's nomination 'deeply troubling.' 'It is vital that the federal judiciary in New Jersey be committed to upholding the ideals of independence and objectivity,' Booker said in a joint statement with Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.). 'On this measure, Emil Bove has fallen short, repeatedly engaging in conduct as a top advisor in Trump's administration that undermines his credibility as an objective jurist.' Progressive judicial advocacy groups have denounced Bove's nomination and urged senators to oppose his confirmation to the 3rd circuit court, which has jurisdiction in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. 'Let's speak plainly: Emil Bove is being nominated to a circuit court seat because of his proven loyalty to Trump,' Maggie Jo Buchanan, interim executive director of Demand Justice, said in a statement. 'Bove has demonstrated time and time again his willingness to use his position to advance even the most dangerous and extreme actions of this administration,' she said. 'Any member of that chamber that purports to respect our system of governance must reject this nominee as antithetical to the foundational values of our nation and our courts.' Caroline Ciccone, the president of a progressive watchdog group focused on corruption in government, said 'every American should be alarmed' by Bove's nomination. 'Bove has consistently placed his loyalty to Trump over the Constitution,' Ciccone said in a statement. 'And his lifetime appointment would all but guarantee Trump and his allies could seek out favorable rulings regardless of how unconstitutional their actions are.' Trump's first batch of judicial nominees is getting a hearing next Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee, but Bove's nomination hearing hasn't been announced yet.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Advocates push Senate to drop changes in 90/10 rule for vets benefits
A coalition of 31 veterans groups is urging Senate leaders to strip a provision from the Republican budget reconciliation package which they say will allow for-profit schools to once again take advantage of student veterans. In a letter sent Wednesday evening to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the groups noted that the provision concerning a repeal of the 90/10 rule could also cost the federal government as much as $1.6 billion, making the move concerning on a fiscal level as well as a ethical one. 'Our organizations spent a decade with bipartisan lawmakers to solve this problem,' the letter stated. 'That progress shouldn't be undone.' GOP bill repeals rule on how for-profit schools count vets benefits Veterans groups in recent weeks unsuccessfully lobbied House leaders to drop the provision before passing the reconciliation bill. The new effort includes a broader array of groups including Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and Veterans Education Success. At issue is the 90/10 rule, which covers how colleges must account for how much federal financial aid funding they take in. By law, colleges and universities must have at least 10% of their revenues derived from non-federal sources in order to qualify for federal benefits. The idea behind the regulation is to ensure that for-profit institutions aren't funded solely by federal monies, but instead also include significant investment by students interested in furthering their education. But for years, GI Bill benefits and Defense Department Tuition Assistance programs were not counted as federal dollars for the 90/10 calculation, despite being taxpayer-funded benefits. As a result, schools could target veterans or troops receiving federal education payouts to boost their government funding well beyond the 90% cap. Four years ago, as part of an emergency funding bill during the Covid-19 pandemic, lawmakers closed that loophole, reclassifying the GI Bill money and other military education programs as federal funding in the 90/10 calculations. But the Republican-backed reconciliation bill — which includes changes to tax rates, Medicaid spending and a host of other federal program reforms — would revert to the pre-2021 rules on college accounting for federal aid. GOP committee members argued the change was needed to reduce regulations and promote more affordable options for student veterans. Officials from the Congressional Budget Office estimated the 90/10 reversal could cost as much as $1.6 billion over the next decade. 'Congress designed the [rule] to be a market viability test to protect taxpayers from artificially propping up a failing college of such low quality that no employer or private-paying student is willing to pay for it,' the letter stated. 'We urge you to vote 'no' on repealing the common-sense rule.' Democratic lawmakers have been pointing to the rule change as one of many flaws in the Republican backed bill, which passed only party lines in the House. Senate lawmakers are expected to take up work on the massive budget measure when they return from recess next week. Chamber leaders have said they hope for a floor vote on the bill before the congressional July 4 recess.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
House Democrat: Trump wants to follow Putin ‘model,' destroy institutions
Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) accused President Trump of trying to emulate Russian President Vladimir Putin by punishing Harvard University and other institutions Trump views as opposing his administration. 'He wants to follow the model of Vladimir Putin,' Meeks, the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN's Sara Sidner in an interview Wednesday. 'He wants us to be similar to that.' Meeks said Trump is 'trying to destroy our institutions,' which he described as the 'fabric of America.' Trump has taken aim at Harvard by canceling federal contracts, threatening the college's ability to enroll students from other countries, launching multiple investigations and questioning the school's tax-exempt status, among other efforts. The university and the administration are in ongoing legal fights over the rifts. Trump accused Harvard of fostering discrimination and antisemitism on campus and said that's why he has gone after the nation's oldest and richest college. 'Harvard is an Anti-Semitic, Far Left Institution, as are numerous others, with students being accepted from all over the World that want to rip our Country apart,' Trump wrote in a recent Truth Social post. 'The place is a Liberal mess, allowing a certain group of crazed lunatics to enter and exit the classroom and spew fake ANGER AND HATE. It is truly horrific!' Meeks disagreed with Trump's claims. 'This is about retribution,' he told Sidner. 'This is about individuals, as we've seen again and again, universities, law firms, any individual that Trump perceives to be his enemy.' 'It's about him wanting to be a king,' Meeks added. Meeks said he views universities like Harvard as offering a valuable avenue for scholars to come to the U.S. and make the country better through research and other endeavors. 'That's what we should be about, not [Trump] trying to stand and look like a king and say, 'This is what I want; this against me, and so, therefore, I'm going after you,'' Meeks said. Trump has shown increasing hostility toward Putin in recent days after maintaining a friendly relationship with the Russian leader in the past. Trump lashed out this week over Russia's continued war against Ukraine. 'What Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD,' Trump posted Tuesday on Truth Social. 'He's playing with fire!' Meeks has proposed legislation that would put new sanctions on Putin and Russia. 'There is no pressure on Russia at all, and I think it's time for the United States Congress to step up,' Meeks said on CNN. 'All along what Putin wanted to do was buy time and allow Trump to come in and do nothing so that they could do all that they wanted to do. And that's what's happening here.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
