Parsing Tennessee’s Results
Republicans averted an upset in a Tennessee House race, yet voters swung away from them in a warning sign for next year’s midterms, Alicia Diaz reports.
Trump-backed Matt Van Epps’ victory by about nine percentage points in a district President Donald Trump won by 22 points last year becomes the latest data point in a trend that is raising alarm about the GOP’s prospects. GOP-aligned groups spent more than $3 million to help Van Epps beat liberal state Rep. Aftyn Behn (D). Read More
In today’s Congress Tracker newsletter, Greg Giroux reports the result signals Democrats could stretch the House map into new turf and force Republicans to spend time and money to defend previously secure districts.
Like the Detroit of Old
Trump appears ready to bet that turning back the clock on fuel economy regulations will rejuvenate American car building and buying.
As Gabrielle Coppola, David Welch, and Jennifer A. Dlouhy previewed, top executives from Detroit’s major automakers are headed to the White House today to applaud in person when a more lenient proposal is officially announced.
The idea behind the regulatory rollback is that new cars would become more affordable. Whether that happens, and how fast, are separate questions. Some considerations we’re keeping in mind:
- Carmakers plan their lineups years in advance, so changes take time to show up on the road.
- Trump’s tariffs could offset manufacturer savings, since the levies have raised automaker costs by billions of dollars.
- Car prices have also been rising as domestic automakers prioritize profitable high-end models. If fewer entry-level cars are on the lots, consumers end up having to choose among vehicles that are less efficient and more expensive.
It’ll be up to the carmakers to put Trump’s affordability theory to the test post-rollback. Read More
Hegseth Says He Didn’t Watch Second Strike
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he wasn’t watching when a top US admiral ordered a second strike on an alleged drug-running boat on Sept. 2, further distancing himself from an attack that has drawn bipartisan scrutiny and prompted accusations of possible war crimes.
Speaking at a Cabinet meeting alongside President Donald Trump, Hegseth said he watched the first strike live but then had other meetings to attend. Read More
Ukraine, Russia Negotiations Continue
The Kremlin said Vladimir Putin held “very useful” talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, though the sides failed to reach agreement on a plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. The negotiations lasted almost five hours. Read More
Trump to Expand Travel Ban
The Trump administration is expected to expand its travel ban to include around 30 countries, a bid to more aggressively curtail migration to the US following last week’s shooting of two National Guard members in Washington. A list of the countries being added to the ban is expected to come soon. Read More
Also Read:
- Trump Calls Somalis ‘Garbage’ in Anti-Immigrant Tirade (New York Times)
- Rubio Casts Doubt on Maduro’s Ability to Honor Any Deal With US
- Trump Signs Bill to Deepen US-Taiwan Ties Amid China Concerns
The National Defense Authorization Act is one of Congress’ top year-end targets and lawmakers might look to attach their last-minute priorities to the must-pass legislation.
Join BGOV’s reporters and analysts on Dec. 11 at 1 p.m. for a deep dive webinar into the bill, what its policy choices mean going forward, and how it fits into the larger spending debates in Washington. Register Here
Lawmakers Invited to Drug-Approval Meeting
Two Republican lawmakers were invited to attend an FDA meeting about the potential expanded approval of a drug backed by billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, Charles Gorrivan, Rachel Cohrs Zhang, and Gerry Smith report.
The plan was scrapped due to internal opposition at the agency, whose regulatory process is supposed to be dictated by science rather than politics.
FDA head Marty Makary was aware the lawmakers were invited to the meeting, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg, though it’s unclear if he endorsed the move.
Lawmakers have generally not been allowed to attend drug approval meetings to prevent the appearance of political interference in the review process. Read More
Obamacare
Maeve Sheehey reports that Republicans on Capitol Hill emerged from their party meetings agreeing that they need a health care plan and nowhere close to agreeing on what that plan should be.
House Republican leaders moved no closer to promising a vote on an extension of the soon-to-expire Obamacare tax credits, and a GOP leader of a bipartisan coalition isn’t ruling out using a discharge petition to force a vote on letting the subsidies run for three more years. Read More
Eye on Interest Rates
After cutting interest rates by more than a percentage point, Federal Reserve officials are now wondering where to stop — and finding there’s more disagreement than ever, Maria Eloisa Capurro and Catarina Saraiva report.
Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson said the twin risks of higher inflation and unemployment are two of the reasons she’ll approach next week’s rate-setting meeting with caution.
Patrick Harker, who headed the Philadelphia Fed until he retired this year, said “the labor data and the price data” will drive the call when policy-makers meet. Read More
See Also:
- Trump Sees Fed Chair Pick ‘Early Next Year,’ Praises Hassett
- The 26-Minute, 51% Wipeout That Deepened the Trumps’ Crypto Woe
Before You Go
An advocacy group is spending more than $1 million on ads against Senate Democrats who have voted to confirm Trump’s judicial nominees. The new campaign by Demand Justice mainly targets Maggie Hassan (N.H.), John Fetterman (Pa.), and Angus King (I-Maine), Tiana Headley reports. Read More
Ponzi Schemer: Eli Weinstein, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison after two criminal convictions, had his sentence commuted by Trump in 2021. This year, he was sentenced for a third time. Now, he may be seeking a Trump pardon again, Silas Brown, David Voreacos, Ava Benny-Morrison, and Saksha Menezes report. Read More
Autopen Politics: Trump promised to do away with all documents Biden signed with an autopen, but legal analysts are skeptical that he can issue a sweeping void of Biden-era policies and directives, Mica Soellner reports. Read More
Abortion Ruling: A federal judge barred the Trump administration from pausing Medicaid reimbursements to health centers offering abortion care, Celine Castronuovo and Ian Lopez report. Read More
If This Newsletter Was Forwarded to You
Thank your friend, and then sign up to keep reading Starting Line on weekday mornings.
To contact the reporter on this story:
To contact the editors responsible for this story: