Don't hold your breath for Federal Reserve interest rate relief. Inflation rose 0.4% in March for a higher-than-expected annual Consumer Price Index of 3.5% to push prices in the opposite direction from the 2% rate the Fed wants. Shelter and gas accounted for more than half the increase. Energy was up 1.1% and food was up 0.1%.
UPDATE: The House voted 273-147 Friday to pass Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, for two years. Donald J. Trump had pushed MAGA House Republicans to stall the bill because he alleges it was used to spy on him during his 2016 presidential campaign, though FISA was enacted to collect intelligence on foreigners abroad. Nevertheless, 126 Democrats voted against the reauthorization, while 86 Republicans voted "nay," according to CQ Roll Call.
FISA Rising – The House appears ready to finally pass FISA reauthorization for two years in its fourth try expected Friday, Punchbowl News reports. Key to this is Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago Friday where he and GOP presidential candidate Donald J. Trump promise a “major announcement,” according to NPR’s Morning Edition.
•••
Russia Keeps Hitting Harder – Desperately in need of soldiers, Ukraine has lowered its age of inscription from 27 to 25 as Russia hikes up its offensive. On Thursday night, Russia destroyed Kyiv’s Oblast Trypillia thermal power plant, cutting 100% of the capital’s energy supply, The Kyiv Independent reports. Lithuania is now providing Ukraine with generators and anti-drone systems, the report says.
Meanwhile, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a long-term security agreement with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics at a security conference in Riga.
•••
No Enforcement – Arizona Attorney Gen. Kris Meyers (D) says she will not enforce the state’s revived 1864 abortion ban, written when “women couldn’t vote and the civil war was still raging.” Arizona’s supreme court recently upheld the abortion law. A November ballot initiative calls on voters to “enshrine” abortion rights.
“The Republicans have no idea what is coming at them in November,” Meyers told NPR’s Morning Edition. “The people of Arizona, as they should, will make it clear that they don’t want to be subjected to an 1864 abortion ban.”
--TL
__________________________________________
THURSDAY 4/11/24
Biden and Kishida and Bongbong – Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. joins Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Thursday at the White House for a trilateral summit with President Biden. The three are to hash out what Semafor calls Beijing’s “alleged” expansionism in the South China Sea and will discuss better cooperation between the three countries’ coast guards.
The Philippines under Marcos II (son of despots Ferdinand Sr. and Imelda) is pushing back on China’s quest to rule the region, reports NPR’s Morning Edition.
•••
Johnson and Trump at Mar-a-Lago – There are 41 Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus, less than one-fifth of the party’s one-vote majority in the people’s chamber. One of those Freedom Caucus members is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who has sent Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) packing to Mar-a-Lago Thursday, Kevin McCarthy-style to try and get former President Trump’s blessing (literally, we suspect) to bring a $60 billion standalone Ukraine aid bill to the House floor, per Punchbowl News.
Credit or blame MTG, who has been dangling over Johnson a threatened motion to vacate as speaker in order to let Ukraine continue to lose ground in its defense against Russia, which in turn would allow Donald J. Trump to come in and “broker a deal” that would turn land Russia already has captured in Ukraine over to Vladimir Putin.
There’s also this matter of the Freedom Caucus’ blocking renewal Wednesday of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Section 702, which Trump claims without evidence was used against him in the 2016 presidential election, according to The Wall Street Journal.
•••
Bolton’s Write-In Revealed – Former national security advisor for the Trump administration John Bolton used to be a regular on Fox News. But in the years since he left the Trump White House in a huff, he could be more frequently be found on CNN. There, he has often said he wrote in a presidential candidate on his 2020 ballot, rather than vote for Donald J. Trump or Joe Biden, and will do so again in 2024, but he has never before revealed his choice for president. On CNN’s The Source Wednesday night, he finally revealed to host Kaitlan Collins his write-in for 2020 and 2024. The answer? Dick Cheney.
--TL
__________________________________________
WEDNESDAY 4/10/24
UPDATE ON CPI -- Kai Ryssdal on APR's Marketplace begs to differ with news outlets that call Wednesday's Consumer Price Index of 3.5% "unexpected," referring to an interview he had last week with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who warned of a "bumpy road" to the 2% target CPI. When will the CPI come down to 2%? "We don't know," Powell told Ryssdal. "We will lower (interest) rates when inflation comes down to 2%."
•••
Whistling Past the Elections – Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets President Biden Wednesday evening for what Semafor calls a “pomp-filled” visit to announce stronger military cooperation and joint space exploration. While that latter would seem to have more of a future than the longstanding U.S.-Russia space deal, Wednesday’s friendly gathering falls in the shadow of our elections November 5 and Japan’s leadership contest in September.
There’s a fundraising scandal and economic slowdown for Kishida back home in Japan. And whatever sort of military hookup Biden and Kishida might cook up Wednesday would not have much of a future in an isolationist second Trump administration.
•••
Arizona’s Abortion Ban – The Arizona Supreme Court says an abortion ban from 1864 by the first territorial legislature is legal, giving Democrats an election-year bonanza in the swing state. The law imposed 46 years before Arizona became a state allows for no exceptions in the case of rape or incest, and abortion providers can be sentenced for two to five years in prison, though Planned Parenthood says it will perform abortions for the two weeks until the new-old law takes effect, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. Organizers of a November initiative to make abortion a “fundamental right” in Arizona say they already have blown past the minimum needed to get the initiative on the ballot with more than half a million signatures so far, according to the NPR report.
Meanwhile … MAGA politician Kari Lake, who was adamantly anti-abortion in 2022 when she lost Arizona’s gubernatorial election to Democrat Katie Hobbs has moderated on the issue, like Donald J. Trump, in 2024 in her race against Ruben Gallego for independent Kyrsten Sinema’s U.S. Senate seat. The Arizona Freedom Caucus, which is as conservative as it sounds, has condemned Sinema for her flip-flop, Newsweek reports.
Florida ban: Meanwhile, in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis, other key conservatives and the Republican Party of Florida are asking voters to oppose a November ballot initiative that would repeal the state's strict abortion laws, Politico reports, calling the measure "extreme." States' rights indeed.
--TL
__________________________________________
TUESDAY 4/9/24
Have You Seen the Movie Trading Places? – Before a fundraiser at billionaire financier John Paulson’s Palm Beach, Florida mansion that his campaign and the Republican National Committee say raised “more than $50 million” Donald J. Trump spoke before “The most successful people in the whole country” and apparently recalled an “episode” in his presidential term in which he called Haiti and some African nations as “shithole countries,” The New York Times reports. No mention of MAGA faithful in red hats and t-shirts.
“And when I said, you know, ‘Why can’t we allow people to come in from nice countries, I’m trying to be nice. Nice countries, you know, like Denmark, Switzerland? Do we have any people coming in from Denmark? How about Switzerland? How about Norway?’” Here, NYT reported “chuckles” from the crowd.
Meanwhile, on abortion… Trump targeted one of his most loyal Senate allies, Lindsey Graham (R-SC) over the senator’s questioning of the former president’s moderated, political stance on abortion that individual states should decide on abortion access (per The Hill).
--TL
__________________________________________
Welcome Back, Congress
ECLIPSE MONDAY 4/8/24
Blue Moon Over the Hill – The Senate is in session Monday and the House is in session Tuesday, though Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is already on Capitol Hill to work out a deal to potentially save Ukraine after it has slipped into defense-only mode as it runs out of weapons and ammunition. The White House has been “quietly backchanneling” with Johnson, Politico reported late last week in explaining why the Biden administration has not publicly criticized the House speaker over lack of more military aid to Ukraine. The White House and Johnson have “maintained contact” during Congress’ two-week spring recess just ended, Biden administration officials told Politico.
Of course, that means Democratic House members will support Johnson and fend off Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) threat of a motion to vacate if he works with the party on the other side of the aisle. While all House Democrats voted to remove former Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the speakership last year, most will likely back Johnson this year, which should be sufficient to defeat the MAGA wing of the House GOP caucus on MTG’s potential motion.
Mayorkas impeachment: Meanwhile, the House impeachment case against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for allegedly failing to keep the southern border with Mexico safe and secure advances to the Senate this week, where it will die a sure death, NPR’s Morning Edition reports.
•••
‘Some Troops’ Withdrawn from Gaza – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has withdrawn some Israeli troops from the southern Gaza, BBC reports, following last week’s phone discussion between Netanyahu and President Biden. On Sunday, The New York Times reported that some Israelis believe Netanyahu is refusing to reach a ceasefire in Gaza in order to extend his time in office.
Squeezed by both sides: But far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Guir reacted to reports of negotiations with Hamas warning that “if Netanyahu decides to end the war without an expansive assault on Rafah, he won’t have the mandate to serve as prime minister,” according to Haaretz. Rafah is the only remaining large city in Southern Gaza that has served as a refuge for Palestinians.
New development: Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid at the State Department at 11 a.m. Monday, Haaretz reports. It will not be open to the press.
•••
Trump Punts on Abortion -- Ex-President Trump has delivered the U.S. Supreme Court justices necessary to overturn Roe v. Wade, so it’s up for states to decide what to do on abortion, he said on his Truth Social media outlet Monday morning (according to various outlets). His statement has been long-awaited, with supporters generally interested in a national ban on abortion if he wins the November election, and Democrats having made political hay over the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling.
“You must follow your heart, or in many cases, your religion or faith” on the abortion issue, he said.
•••
Biden’s Push for Student Debt Relief – President Biden travels to Madison, Wisconsin Monday where he will promote yet another new program to cancel college student loan debt. The new program, which could launch this fall just in time for the presidential election, would cancel student debt for financial hardship cases, for those who have carried the debt for 20 years or more, and for those who built the debt on “low-value” college programs, and have not yet applied for relief under his other programs, American Public Media’s Marketplace reports.
--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa