Day 972: "Make better choices."
Today in one sentence: Kevin McCarthy’s latest short-term funding proposal to avert a government shutdown doesn't have enough votes to pass; federal prosecutors asked the judge overseeing Trump’s indictment for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election to impose “a narrowly tailored” gag order on him; Trump accused "liberal Jews" – on the final day of the Jewish New Year celebration – of voting “to destroy America & Israel”; Trump, who appointed three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, called Florida's six-week abortion ban a “terrible mistake”; Biden sent acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and White House senior advisor Gene Sperling to Detroit to help mediate negotiations between the United Auto Workers and the Big Three automakers; and 75% of Americans said they support the United Auto Workers.
1/ Kevin McCarthy’s latest short-term funding proposal to avert a government shutdown doesn’t have enough votes to pass. McCarthy can only lose four Republican votes on a continuing resolution deal without relying on Democratic support. However, more than a dozen conservatives have already vowed to not support the plan – negotiated by the House Freedom Caucus and the more moderate Republican Main Street Caucus – to keep the government running until Oct. 31. The measure, which would cut most federal agency budgets by about 8% and resume construction of wall on the southern border, had little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate. Government funding will run out in less than 13 days. (Axios / Politico / Washington Post / New York Times / Bloomberg / CNN / Wall Street Journal)
2/ Federal prosecutors asked the judge overseeing Trump’s indictment for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election to impose “a narrowly tailored” gag order on him. Special counsel Jack Smith’s office cited Trump’s “inflammatory,” “intimidating,” and “near-daily” comments about the case in seeking an order that would prohibit him from attacking prosecutors, witnesses, and the judge. “The defendant has an established practice of issuing inflammatory public statements targeted at individuals or institutions that present an obstacle or challenge to him,” Smith’s office wrote. Trump, nevertheless, responded to Smith’s request by posting on his personal social media site: “I’m campaigning for President against an incompetent person who has WEAPONIZED the DOJ & FBI to go after his Political Opponent, & I am not allowed to COMMENT? How else would I explain that Jack Smith is DERANGED, or Crooked Joe is INCOMPETENT?” (NBC News / Politico / New York Times / CNBC / USA Today)
- Twitter turned over at least 32 direct messages from Trump’s account to the special counsel. “Newly unsealed court records indicate special counsel Jack Smith’s team warned that former President Trump could “precipitate violence” unless the court shielded its efforts to obtain information on his Twitter account.” (CNN / The Hill)
- One of Trump’s co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case argued that the case against him should be moved to federal court because his attempts to help overturn the state’s 2020 election results were part of his job duties. Jeffrey Clark allegedly urged the then-acting U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to send an official Justice Department letter to Georgia’s governor and legislative leaders saying the department had “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple States, including the State of Georgia.” Rosen refused to do so. The federal judge, however, was reportedly skeptical of Clark’s efforts to movie his Georgia case to federal court. (NBC News / CNN / The Hill / USA Today / Washington Post)
- Trump wrote to-do lists for his White House assistant using documents that were marked classified. Molly Michael said “she received requests or taskings from Trump that were written on the back of notecards, and she later recognized those notecards as sensitive White House materials – with visible classification markings – used to brief Trump while he was still in office about phone calls with foreign leaders or other international-related matters.” (ABC News)
3/ Trump accused “liberal Jews” – on the final day of the Jewish New Year celebration – of voting “to destroy America & Israel.” The 2024 Republican presidential front-runner posted a meme on social media from a group that seeks to draw Jewish voters away from the Democratic Party, and commented: “Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward! Happy New Year!” It is unclear what prompted his post. (Washington Post / NBC News / The Hill)
4/ Trump, who appointed three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, called Florida’s six-week abortion ban a “terrible mistake.” Although Trump repeatedly ducked questions about what he thinks is appropriate for a federal abortion ban, he claimed that he would “sit down with both sides and I’d negotiate something, and we’ll end up with peace on that issue for the first time in 52 years.” (Washington Post / New York Times / Associated Press)
5/ Biden sent acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and White House senior advisor Gene Sperling to Detroit to help mediate negotiations between the United Auto Workers and the Big Three automakers. About 12,700 of the union’s 150,000 automotive members – about 9% of the unionized workforce – stopped making vehicles and went on strike last week following failed negotiations on cost of living adjustments and quality of life improvements. UAW is seeking a wage increase of 36% over four years, while the carmakers have offered between 17.5% and 20% over 4 1/2 years. The industry is responsible for 3% of America’s gross domestic product. “It’s my hope that the parties can return to the negotiation table to forge a win-win agreement,” Biden said, adding that “even though no one wants a strike […] record corporate profits — which they have — should be shared by record contracts for the UAW.” Trump, meanwhile, accused UAW leadership of failing its members, saying “the autoworkers will not have any jobs […] because all of these cars are going to be made in China.” (NPR / Washington Post / CNBC / USA Today / Associated Press)
poll/ 75% of Americans said they support the United Auto Workers, while 19% sided with the auto companies. (Gallup)
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