Tag: Tuesday Morning

Good Tuesday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. The deal, which would stave off another partial government shutdown, appears to be a significant victory for Democrats. It still must pass the House and Senate, and secure the president’s signature. In a bit of political theater, Beto O’Rourke was holding his own rally less than a mile away. • Critics called Hillary Clinton “shrill” and “unlikable” in 2016. It’s no coincidence that the same words are being used against Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris as they campaign for the 2020 Democratic nomination. Here’s how sexism plays out on the campaign trail. • Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota apologized for insinuating that American support for Israel is fueled by money from a pro-Israel lobby group — a comment that drew condemnation from fellow Democrats. • Cliff Sims, the former White House communications aide who wrote an insider account about working for Mr. Trump, is suing the president in his official capacity, alleging that he used his campaign organization to keep former employees from invoking their First Amendment rights.

The prime minister is due to chair a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning before departing for a two-day visit to Northern Ireland to underscore her commitment to avoiding a hard border with Ireland. Read more She is expected to say: “I know this is a concerning time for many people here in Northern Ireland. But we will find a way to deliver Brexit that honours our commitments to Northern Ireland … that commands broad support across the community in Northern Ireland … and that secures a majority in the Westminster parliament.” Privately, however, there is scepticism within the government about the possibility of a breakthrough before May returns to parliament to make a statement about her Brexit plans on 13 February. The prime minister’s withdrawal agreement faces a new problem in the shape of a potential legal challenge by one of the architects of the Good Friday agreement. The group was created after Tory MPs from the leave and remain camps came together to promote the Malthouse compromise, which involves a longer transition period while alternatives to the backstop are explored. The resulting 'Malthouse compromise' involves redrafting the backstop arrangement for the Irish border which is so unpopular with Conservative Eurosceptic MPs and the Democratic Unionist party, which props up the government. It would also extend the transition period, set out under the previously negotiated withdrawal agreement, until the end of 2021. If the attempt to renegotiate the backstop fails, the Malthouse compromise proposes what amounts to a managed no deal. Before MPs voted for that amendment and against others, Theresa May praised the Malthouse compromise. The Northern Ireland minister, John Penrose, told Cable in a written parliamentary answer that his department had not allocated any funding for no-deal preparations, adding: “A number of staff across the department work on both EU exit and non-EU exit related work.” Cable said: “If the government is serious about letting Britain crash out of the EU, there should be a dedicated unit in the Northern Ireland Office, preparing for this eventuality.

Good Tuesday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. _____________________ • Virginia’s turmoil deepened on Monday as Gov. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax suggested the governor’s allies had a hand in unearthing sexual assault claims made against him, to stop him from becoming governor should Mr. Northam resign. • From immigration to infrastructure, here’s what to expect from Mr. Trump’s address tonight. • Stacy Abrams, whose unsuccessful run for governor of Georgia attracted much attention, and who will deliver the Democratic rebuttal to the State of the Union, is being courted to run for the Senate in 2020. • Some House Democrats will send pointed messages to Mr. Trump with the guests they bring to his address, including climate scientists and survivors of sexual assault. • Mr. Trump’s legislative path to a border wall has narrowed significantly, and his fallback plan, circumventing Congress by declaring a state of emergency, threatens to splinter his own party. • As the government struggles merely to stay open, Head Start, the preschool program, offers a story of bipartisan progress at odds with a polarizing time.

The guidelines that emerge from these meetings are sent out to 7,500-plus moderators around the world. Facebook has been accused of accelerating violence in the country. In many countries, extremism and the mainstream are blurring. The company never set out to play this role, but in an effort to control problems of its own creation, it has quietly become, with a speed that makes even employees uncomfortable, what is arguably one of the world’s most powerful political regulators. A 2016 document on Western Balkan hate groups, still in use, incorrectly describes Ratko Mladic as a fugitive. And Google Translate can be unreliable: Mr. Mladic is referred to in one slide as “Rodney Young.” The guidelines, said Mr. Mujanovic, the Balkans expert, appear dangerously out of date. Several months after Facebook said it had banned praise for Ma Ba Tha, a Myanmar supremacist group accused of encouraging ethnic cleansing, the company’s Myanmar guidelines stated that the group was allowed. Facebook users are prohibited from posting content that is deemed to support or praise them. Facebook says that any such practice would violate its rules, which include contingencies for reviewing posts in unfamiliar languages. But at company headquarters, the most fundamental questions of all remain unanswered: What sorts of content lead directly to violence?

Good Tuesday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. • Judge Brett Kavanaugh denied allegations of sexual misconduct and said he would “not be intimidated into withdrawing” as the Supreme Court nominee. The woman they were referring to is furious, calling the insinuation “horrible, hurtful and simply untrue.” [Read the story] • Judge Kavanaugh took the remarkable step of submitting to a television interview before a confirmation vote, defending himself on Fox News. One historian called it “utterly extraordinary.” [Read the story and the transcript] • President Trump on Judge Kavanaugh: “Hopefully we’ll have a second judge very shortly who is a fantastic, fantastic man, a fantastic talent and intellect.” [Read the story] • Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, expected Mr. Trump to fire him on Monday after The Times reported that he had considered secretly taping the president and had discussed using the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. But at the end of the day, he was still in his job. Here’s what went on behind closed doors. [Read the story] • The drama surrounding Mr. Rosenstein and Judge Kavanaugh is proving a distraction for Mr. Trump at the U.N. General Assembly. [Read the story] • Kyrsten Sinema, the Democratic nominee for Senate from Arizona, has made her story of childhood homelessness central to her appeal. But court documents reviewed by The Times raise questions about how she told that story.

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—The Republican Party officially filed for moral bankruptcy on Tuesday morning, a move that many in the nation considered long overdue. In filing for moral bankruptcy, the Republicans will formally attest that they have no morals, standards, or ethics on their balance sheet, and will agree to cease all activity as a political party in exchange for indemnity from any and all legal actions. Harland Dorrinson, a Washington attorney who specializes in moral bankruptcies, said that, by making its moral vacuum official, the G.O.P. could theoretically break itself up and sell off the parts, but, he warned, “There are no buyers.” “From Lindsey Graham to Ted Cruz to Mitch McConnell to Chuck Grassley, all of the Republican Party’s assets could only be described as toxic,” he said. “Their breakup value is zero.” Further complicating such a sale, Dorrinson said, is the fact that the lion’s share of the Republican Party is already owned by the National Rifle Association, Koch Industries, and the Russian government. “All of those entities are going to take a major loss on their investment,” he warned. “The Kochs have been trying to sell Paul Ryan for months, and they can’t give him away.” While bemoaning the demise of a once legitimate political party, Dorrinson did see one silver lining. “The bankruptcy of the Republican Party will be presided over by Donald Trump, and no one has more experience in this area,” he said.

Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. • Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court nominee, and the woman who accused him of sexual assault are set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week. [Read the story] • Mr. Trump said the United States would impose tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods and was prepared to tax all imports. [Read the story] • The special counsel asked a federal judge to schedule sentencing this fall for Michael Flynn, Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser. [Read the story] • The House Oversight Committee will investigate the potential misuse of government vehicles by FEMA’s chief, Brock Long. [Read the story] • Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, may run for president as a Democrat in 2020, despite his views on stop-and-frisk police tactics and the #MeToo movement. [Read the story] • Hillary Clinton, in an essay posted by The Atlantic, accused Mr. Trump of ignoring the law, dividing the country and serving himself above all. [Read the story] A spotlight on the people reshaping our politics. A conversation with voters across the country. • President Moon Jae-in of South Korea arrived for a meeting with Kim Jong-un to work toward declaring the end of the Korean War.

Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. • The Trump administration, taking its third major step this year to roll back federal efforts to fight climate change, is preparing to make it significantly easier for energy companies to release methane into the atmosphere. • The U.S. may impose sanctions on Chinese officials over the treatment of Muslims. It would be a rare rebuke of Beijing’s human rights record. • The Trump administration threatened the International Criminal Court with sanctions if it pursued an investigation of American troops in Afghanistan, opening a harsh new attack on an old nemesis of many on the political right. • An analysis by the Education Department has found that its proposed new rules for handling allegations of sexual misconduct on campus would substantially decrease the number of investigations into complaints and save educational institutions millions of dollars over the next decade. Watch us poll voters in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District. Gina Ortiz Jones is a former Air Force intelligence officer who later worked as director in the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. He voted against the Republican bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. _____________________ Today’s On Politics briefing was compiled by Emily Baumgaertner in Washington.