Election Lessons
Big wins by Democrats in races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia and passage of a new House map by voters in California delivered a repudiation of President Donald Trump that could reverberate into next year’s midterm elections.
In the end, Rep. Mikie Sherrill romped to win the governor’s race in New Jersey. So did former Rep. Abigail Spanberger and her entire ticket in Virginia. Not only is Spanberger the first woman governor in the Old Dominion state, but when she and Sherrill take office, there will be a record-high number of women running states, Greg Giroux reports. Read More
Jonathan Tamari and Giroux explain how the elections gave Democrats a jolt of optimism about the midterms. Read More
Andrew Oxford looks at how the new House district lines voters in California will set off a scramble among incumbents and candidates. Read More
Trump will get to chew over the results this morning at a breakfast with Senate Republicans, where they’re also likely to discuss the ongoing government shutdown, which now has lasted longer than any shutdown in history. In today’s BGOV Budget, Jack Fitzpatrick and Ken Tran report there are signs of talks to reopen the government picking up steam.
Also Read:
- Mamdani Makes History With Decisive Win in NYC Mayoral Race
- Texas Voters Ban Future Capital Gains, Stock Transaction Taxes
Can Trump Do That?
Trump went where no president has gone before when he declared that there’s a national emergency that can be fixed by cranking up tariffs on foreign imports. Today, the Supreme Court considers whether Trump had a legal right to do that.
If Trump wins this case, the international trade war he launched can continue apace. If he loses, Trump will have fewer ways to use tariffs as an all-purpose tool to demand concessions from trading partners. A loss also could cost the US more than $100 million.
Isabel Gottlieb walks through the options that the administration would have after a high court defeat, and Greg Stohr directs our attention to three justices to watch.
Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — all Trump appointees — have hinted that they aren’t sure bets to allow unprecedented authority. The case is forcing a 6-3 Republican-appointed majority to directly consider Trump’s assertions of sweeping presidential power. Read More
See Also:
- Tariff-Paying Firms Line Up in Court to Get Paid If Trump Loses
- Blog Posts Help Spur Trump Tariffs Challenge at Supreme Court
- Toymaker Gears Up for Supreme Court Fight Over Trump’s Tariffs
Siding With Challengers
Two court rulings to know about as challenges to Trump challenges make their way through the system:
Saying “the Constitution demands the Court set aside this lawless behavior,” a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the administration can’t tie billions of dollars in transportation funds to states’ cooperation with immigration enforcement.
Federal agencies have only the powers granted them by Congress, Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. said for the US District Court. Bernie Pazanowski reports that the court concluded taking an action outside the bounds of an agency’s statutory authority violates the Administrative Procedure Act. Read More
Alexis Waiss and Shayna Greene report that Biden-era Energy Department efficiency standards for gas-fired residential furnaces and commercial water heaters have been upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.
The American Gas Association and other gas trade groups unsuccessfully challenged the efficiency rule changes. Read More
Also Read: Trump Gold Card Favors Wealth Over Merit, Tempting Lawsuits
Calling On K Street
Lobbyists going to Capitol Hill? That’s business as usual. Kate Ackley reports that the Republicans in charge on the House side are doing it the other way.
The GOP whip team has been making the rounds of top lobbying firms to keep up their ties while the government’s shut down and House members have spent a month and a half at home.
For plugged-in lobbyists, it’s an opportunity to probe the latest leadership thinking and get their clients in the room to share concerns. It’s also a way for aides to nurture ties to the nation’s business community heading into year-end policy fights as well as the 2026 midterm election year. Read More
Eye on the Economy
American businesses will soon be able to pay less to bring in goods from China.
Trump made a significant concession to China in executive orders that go into effect on Monday. One of them extends for a year a truce that reduced the reciprocal tariff rate from 34% to 10%. The other one lowers the tariff put in place as an incentive to crack down on trafficking of the deadly drug fentanyl and the precursor chemicals used to make it.
The fentanyl tariff rate will be halved from 20% to 10%, Josh Wingrove reports. Read More
Before You Go
Another Strike: The US military “carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization” in the Pacific Ocean, Secretary Pete Hegseth says in a post on X. Read More
Louisville Plane Crash: A UPS cargo plane crashed and exploded shortly after takeoff on Tuesday in Louisville, Ky. Video of the accident shows the aircraft struggling to get airborne, with one of its engines on fire, before exploding beyond the end of the runway. Read More
Medicine Costs: Nyah Phengsitthy reports that top drugmakers have finalized talks with the Trump administration to slash the cost of 15 treatments. However, the industry is expressing skepticism about the program, saying there’s insufficient transparency. Read More
Day 36: Erin Durkin reports that now that the election is over, some Republicans are expressing hope for substantive talks to end the shutdown. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she’s in discussions about how to get Democrats to back a stopgap spending bill. And Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said the record-topping length of the shutdown “provides them an opportunity for an off-ramp,” since the minority party can point to how tough and unified they’ve been. Read More
Whiplash: Ben Penn reports that some of the FBI agents fired from the Washington Field Office were rehired and fired again this week, prompting criticism from an organization representing 90% of active agents. The FBI Agents Association said the on-off-on firings “highlight the chaos that occurs when long-standing policies and processes are ignored.” Read More
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