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A Democratic lawmaker wants to force the White House to put their spokespeople, such as Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in front of news cameras twice a week.

Maybe this is what J.P. Morgan & Chase CEO Jamie Dimon had in mind when he trashed Washington for doing stupid shit: A Democratic lawmaker has proposed a bill that would force the White House to hold at least two media briefings a week open to live cameras.

Rep Jim Himes, a Democrat from Connecticut, said his Free Press Act is needed to thwart the Trump administrations overtly hostile attitude toward the press since the early days of the presidential campaign.

The White House had held fewer news briefings lately, in some cases disallowing cameras. President Trump has engaged in a running skirmish with mainstream media outlets, repeatedly calling them fake news.

Himes bill, of course, stands a snowballs chance in hell of becoming law. The Republican-controlled Congress is certain to ignore the bill. Nor would the White House sign it into law.

The only way the bill would stand a remote chance is if Democrats seized large majorities in both branches of Congress large enough to override a presidential veto. Thats virtually impossible.

In the Senate, for example, Democrats would have to win 67 seats, a number they havent achieved since 1962. Right now they hold just 48 seats and face high odds of winning back the chamber in 2018.

Even in the all-but-impossible scenario that Democrats seized commanding congressional majorities, theres a little thing called the separation of powers. The White House would be all but certain to ignore Congress, saying the legislative branch cannot tell the executive branch what to do.

Good luck getting the Supreme Court to side with Congress in a hypothetical showdown with the president. Even now the Supreme Court doesnt allow cameras to cover its own daily business.

On Friday, Dimon, the powerful Wall Street banker, lambasted Washington for holding back the economy.

Since the Great Recession, which is now 8 years old, weve been growing at 1.5% to 2% in spite of stupidity and political gridlock because the American business sector is powerful and strong, he said. What Im saying is it would be much stronger growth had we made intelligent decisions and were there not gridlock.

Read: J.P. Morgans Dimon says bad policies are hurting the average American

The Himes bill probably wouldnt qualify as smart policy in Dimons view of things.

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Democrat wants to force White House to broadcast press briefings - MarketWatch

President Donald Trumps son-in-law and close adviser was already in the congressional crosshairs before this weeks revelation. | Getty

Jared Kushner has become the top target of Democratic outrage over the Trump campaigns ties to Russia, with congressional Democrats ramping up their calls for his security clearance to be revoked.

President Donald Trumps son-in-law and close adviser was already in the congressional cross hairs before this weeks revelation that he attended a controversial meeting with a Russian lawyer.

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Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort also attended last years meeting, which was pitched as a chance for the Russian lawyer to provide damaging information about Hillary Clinton as part of a Russian government effort to help the Trump campaign.

But neither Trump Jr. nor Manafort are currently serving in the White House with a high-level security clearance and therefore, unlike Kushner, are not privy to sensitive national security secrets.

That has made Kushner a top target of Democratic ire.

His security clearance must be revoked immediately, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declared on Thursday.

Also Thursday, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) put forward two appropriations amendments designed to strip Kushner of his clearance, but both were blocked by Republicans in party-line votes. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, sent a letter this week to Trump urging Kushners clearance be suspended pending a full investigation.

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And Rep. Bill Flores, a Republican, urged the president to stop mixing family and politics.

"I'm going out on a limb here, but I would say that I think it would be in the president's best interest if he removed all of his children from the White House," Flores told a local television station in his home state of Texas.

But even before this week's revelations, there were major concerns about Kushner having a clearance.

Kushner omitted meetings with foreign officials, including a top Russian diplomat and businessman, on his initial security clearance application forms. He has since updated his forms to include more than 100 contacts with foreign officials, The New York Times reported.

One expert in the security clearance application process said shes never seen an employee with such egregious omissions continue to retain a clearance.

It doesnt make sense, said Joanna Friedman, an attorney with the Federal Practice Group, who has represented employees seeking security clearances for a decade. Well have clients who, you know, have 2,000 dollars worth of debt that they did not disclose they pay it off during the investigation and they still dont get approved for security clearance.

Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said his panel had received documents from Kushner and would be receiving more.

The Virginia senator, whose committee is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into Russia's meddling in last year's presidential election, said he wasn't ready yet to call for Kushner's security clearance to be revoked. But, Warner added, "We now have three examples of meetings that he omitted or forgot."

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), also a member of the intelligence panel, said he was exceptionally troubled about the Kushner revelations.

I do not think in light of what has been discussed that he should be allowed to handle national security matters and materials, Wyden said.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, too, has come under scrutiny for failing to note foreign meetings on his security clearance application. House Judiciary Committee Democrats on Thursday called for a review of Sessions' fitness to hold a clearance. But they saved their harshest calls for Kushner.

A handful of House Democrats, led by Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), began calling for Kushner's clearance to be revoked in April, when it was first reported that Kushner omitted foreign connections on his security clearance application. A month later, the number grew to 50 House Democrats after reports indicated Kushner had attempted to set up a back channel to the Kremlin in one of his undisclosed meetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.

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Kushner becomes chief target of Democrats' Russia anger - Politico

Notwithstanding predictions of a Democratic Senate bloodbath in 2018, Heidi Heitkamps favorability rating in North Dakota is 60 percent, while Republican Jeff Flakes popularity in Arizona is underwater. Photo: U.S. Senate

Perhaps as a tonic for the troops at a time when Senate Republicans are being engulfed by chaos of their own making, veteran spinner Karl Rove devoted a Wall Street Journal column to a baleful assessment of the reelection prospects of Senate Democrats running in states carried handily by Donald Trump last year.

Theres a certain dated quality to Roves analysis; he writes as though these senators are fresh from gazing in awe at Trumps 2016 victory and are trying to decide whether to fight back or run for the hills. In reality, these pols have for the most part chosen to oppose every unpopular thing Trump and the congressional GOP have proposed this year, which fortunately for red-state Democrats is nearly their entire agenda. Still, the 2016 numbers are indeed daunting for some:

The 25 Democratic senators who face re-election in 2018 are already gearing up for a fight. Their latest quarterly fundraising reports, released over the past two weeks, show impressive totals, ranging up to $3.1 million. But for the 10 Democrats from states carried by President Trump, a well-stuffed war chest may not be enough.

This is especially true for six senators in states where Mr. Trumps victory last November was huge. He won Joe Manchins West Virginia by an astonishing 42 points; Heidi Heitkamps North Dakota by 36 points; Jon Testers Montana by 20; Joe Donnellys Indiana and Claire McCaskills Missouri by 19, and Sherrod Browns Ohio by 8.

Rove goes on to make a very dubious assertion that we are going to hear a lot from Republicans between now and November of 2018:

They must all keep an eye on the presidents favorability ratings. On Election Day, Mr. Trump was viewed favorably by 37.5% of voters and unfavorably by 58.5%, according to the RealClearPolitics average. As of this Wednesday, his ratings stood at 40.4% favorable and 53.6% unfavorable.

Mr. Trump is likely to be more popular in states he won than his national average: The larger his margin in those states last November, the better he stands now. If this trend holds through 2018, Democrats in states Mr. Trump won by double or nearly double digits could face stiff re-election contests.

This argument ignores the rather pertinent fact that Trump was running against a rival who was almost as unpopular as he was. In 2018, Republicans wont have the luxury of running against Hillary Clinton. Instead, they will be up against well-known Senate incumbents with their own public profiles, and in a midterm environment where there is usually a wind blowing against the party controlling the White House.

So while we should indeed keep and eye on the presidents favorability ratings, those of the senators in question are even more relevant. As it happens Morning Consult just released an update of its home-state favorability assessments for all 100 U.S. senators, and the very Democrats Rove thinks are in inherently deep trouble are actually doing quite well. Joe Manchins ratio is 57/31; Heidi Heitkamps is an even more impressive 60/28. Jon Tester (50/39), Joe Donnelly (53/25), and Sherrod Brown (50/29) are at or above the magic 50-percent level that often connotes future victory, with limited unfavorables, and Claire McCaskill (46/38) isnt exactly plumbing the depths of unpopularity, either.

In fact, the one senator up in 2018 whose favorability numbers are underwater is a Republican, Jeff Flake of Arizona (37/45).

Another problem for the GOP is that it is struggling to find credible challengers to theoretically vulnerable Democrats in some states (as in Missouri, where consensus GOP favorite Representative Ann Wagner decided not to take on McCaskill), and is facing potentially fractious Republican primaries (as in Indiana, where Representatives Luke Messer and Todd Rokita are already attacking each other) in others.

There is plenty of time for things to change in the months ahead, and nobody on the Democratic side has any reason to feel complacent about holding onto Senate seats in one of the more lopsided landscapes in living memory. But for now, a Democratic red-state bloodbath in 2018 looks unlikely. And if congressional Republicans continue to flail around in the clumsy pursuit of an unpopular agenda, the odds of survival for Democrats in Trump Country will only go up.

Peter W. Smith was found dead with a suicide note shortly after talking to a reporter about his plot to get Russian-hacked Clinton emails.

The favorite lost the yellow jersey, and things are getting interesting.

Sebastian Gorka says the White House may give back Russian diplomatic compounds that the U.S. seized to punish the Kremlins election interference.

Hes also not kidding about those solar panels.

Six Senate Democrats running for reelection in states easily carried by Trump last year are benefitting from strong popularity and GOP fecklessness.

I already know where you live, Im on you. You might as well call me.You will see me. I promise. Bro.

Ed Rogers: lobbyist, Washington Post columnist, and Trump defender.

By giving conservatives long-term Medicaid cuts and then telling moderates they wont be implemented, McConnell may be too clever for his own good.

He addressed the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian law firm that advocates against LGBTQ rights.

John Roberts set a very favorable precedent for the former State Assembly speaker, who was sent to jail for public corruption.

At a press conference in Paris, he couldnt escape the big controversy here at home.

It has a few extra tweaks, but the essence remains intact. And, like its predecessor, it seems dead in the water.

The Trumps Paris trip begins.

Its asking Donald Trump Jr. to testify about his meeting with the Kremlin-connected lawyer, possibly as early as next week.

He revealed at an event in D.C.

Ahead of Trumps visit to Paris, the French president says that the Western world has been cracking up since the American election.

This is the worst episode of Schoolhouse Rock! weve ever seen.

An appeals court used a recent Supreme Court precedent to say the jury had been given incorrect instructions in the case.

Originally posted here:
Things Are Looking Up for Democratic Senators in Trump Country - New York Magazine

Sen. Tom Carper Explains How Democrats Could Work With GOP On Health Care NPR NPR's Kelly McEvers talks with Democratic Sen. Tom Carper about how his party might work with Republicans to improve health care. Facebook; Twitter. Google+. Email. Subscribe to the NPR Politics Podcast. Listen on NPR One · Apple Podcasts · Google ...

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Sen. Tom Carper Explains How Democrats Could Work With GOP On Health Care - NPR

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said she believes Christopher Wray should get a committee vote next week. | Getty

Senate Republicans are pushing for a speedy vote on Christopher Wrays confirmation to lead the FBI and at least one powerful Democrat is willing to help.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said she believes Wray should get a committee vote next week, although any senator who sits on the panel could ask that it be held over for seven days.

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Its been the tradition, Feinstein said, referring to the fact that nominees for FBI director have rarely faced the one-week delay. And I think theres no reason not to.

Feinstein noted that the nine Democrats on the Judiciary Committee hadnt yet discussed whether Wrays nomination should be delayed a routine practice in the committee that gives senators more time to vet candidates. Still, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Thursday that nominees for FBI director generally havent been delayed, and he scheduled a committee vote for Wray for July 20.

Earlier this week, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said in an interview before the confirmation hearing that he would favor a delay, because I think as with any hearing, there will likely be questions.

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Still, the comments from Feinstein show just how little opposition and concern there is from Democrats about Wray, currently a lawyer in private practice who also served in the Justice Department during the George W. Bush administration.

A handful of Democratic senators said during Wrays hearing before the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that they would back his confirmation to replace James Comey, who was abruptly fired by President Donald Trump in May.

And Wrays Democratic support grew on Thursday, when Sen. Mark Warner, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he would vote for his confirmation after meeting privately with him.

I am likely to support his confirmation, added Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) in an interview Thursday. He answered, directly and clearly, a whole series of questions about his independence, his willingness to resist an overreaching president and his determination to provide [special prosecutor] Bob Mueller with the resources and freedom to continue his investigation that he needs and deserves.

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Democrats signal support for quick vote on FBI nominee Wray - Politico