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Assembly Republicans on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping spending plan for Wisconsin schools that authors say will put more money into classrooms than what Gov. Scott Walker has proposed in his two-year state budget.

But minutes before it was rolled out, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, rejected the proposal, saying the Senate Republicans are sticking with Walker's proposal to add $649 million in new funding.

Tuesday's tensions signal the two houses may not come to an agreement before Thursday, the day Fitzgerald set for the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee to resume writing a 2017-19 budget or else he'd consider asking Senate Republicans to craft their own.

"The Assembly package that was endorsed today is simply not the direction that this budget is headed," Fitzgerald said Tuesday.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, fired back by saying he didn't understand why Fitzgerald would blast a proposal he hasn't seen and would just be a "rubber stamp" for Walker.

"There is absolutely no reason to make threats," Vos said about the idea of both houses crafting their budgets.

Meanwhile, finance committee co-chairman Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, said budget negotiations likely won't resume until the two caucuses find common ground on education spending.

Walker, speaking to reporters in Wisconsin Dells, said because the Assembly Republicans' plan reduces his new spending and doesn't reduce property taxes below 2014 levels, it "goes at odds with what our top two priorities are."

"So my hope is, in the end well get a budget thats closer to where were at," Walker said.

The Assembly Republicans' plan would lower property taxes about $10 on a median-priced home from today's levels and about $121 under 2010 levels. But it doesn't meet the 2014 level that Walker has required to gain his signature.

Nygren said the most important piece of the plan is giving school districts that spend less per student than the state average the ability to raise property taxes -- about $92.2 million worth of property tax increases.

Such districts would be allowed to raise $9,800 per student under the plan. Nygren said school districts' limits on what they can raise ranges from $9,100 to $15,000.

"This proposal is addressing a significant challenge, and that is equity in school funding," he told reporters.

He said it "levels the playing field" between districts that were spending at a low rate when state lawmakers imposed caps on how much districts could raise property taxes in 1993 and districts that were spending at a higher rate then.

Nygren also said fewer referendums would be sought under the Assembly Republicans' plan. He said 55 percent of low-spending districts went to referendum since 2011.

The plan also adds $30 million more for the state's general funding mechanism for schools than what Walker has proposed. By cutting the state's school levy tax credit, more money will be spent in classrooms than what Walker has proposed, Vos said.

Walker has been touring the state promoting $649 million in new funding and the Assembly Republicans' plan would decrease that amount by about $70 million.

Senate Republicans say any decrease would be tough for public school officials and advocates to support. Minutes after the plan was released Tuesday the Wisconsin Association of School Boards issued a statement citing concerns with the decrease but supported its overall goal.

The Assembly Republicans also proposed getting rid of Walker's requirement in his state budget proposal to tie the new funding to whether a district is requiring its staff to pay at least 12 percent toward health care costs.

The plan also would allow students to enroll in private voucher schools if they were put on waiting lists in the last school year because of enrollments caps, and adds state funding for the statewide program. A new position would be created to administer the state's three voucher programs under the plan, too.

The Department of Public Instruction also would be required to decrease the number of licenses teachers must get to be in classrooms -- a proposal State Superintendent Tony Evers has supported.

The plan's release comes as budget negotiations have deteriorated and a planned Tuesday meeting of the finance committee to settle portions of the budget was canceled.

Disagreement have already led to an impasse among both houses and with Walker over the state's next transportation budget, and Walker's proposal for the state to self-insure state workers has been rejected by leaders of his own party.

Vos said Tuesday that he hopes the Senate will back off from outright rejection.

"I'm willing to negotiate at any time, any place, anywhere, as long as people of good will get together and don't draw hard lines in the sandbefore theyve even heard the other persons ideas," Vos said. He said he isn't concerned about the state's July 1 deadline to get the budget complete. Current spending levels continue if a new state budget is not passed by that date.

"Im not going to check the brain at the door and give up the principles our caucus stands for (for that deadline)," Vos said.

Senate Republicans met Tuesday after Fitzgerald rejected the Assembly's plan.

State Journal reporter Mark Sommerhauser contributed to this report.

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Assembly Republicans unveil sweeping education proposal but impasse continues - Madison.com

(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

President Trump, after days of lashing out angrily at the London mayor and federal courts in the wake of the London Bridge terrorist attack, faces a convergence of challenges this week that threatens to exacerbate the fury that has gripped him and that could further hobble a Republican agenda that has slowed to a crawl on Capitol Hill.

Instead of hunkering down and delicately navigating the legal and political thicket as some White House aides have suggested Trump spent much of Monday launching volleys on Twitter, unable to resist continuing, in effect, as his own lawyer, spokesman, cheerleader and media watchdog.

Trump escalated his criticism of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, incorrectly stating that Khan had told Londoners to not be alarmed about terrorism. He vented about the Justice Department, which he said pushed a politically correct version of his policy to block immigration from six predominantly Muslim countries, which Trump signed before it was halted in court. He also complained that Senate Democrats are taking forever to approve his appointees and ambassadors.

Inside the White House, top officials have in various ways gently suggested to Trump over the past week that he should leave the feuding to surrogates, according to two people who were not authorized to speak publicly. But Trump has repeatedly shrugged off that advice, these people said.

Not that Im aware of, White House principal deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday at a news conference when asked if the presidents tweets were being vetted by lawyers or aides.

Social media for the president is extremely important, Sanders said. It gives him the ability to speak directly to the people without the bias of the media filtering those types of communication.

Trumps refusal to disengage from the daily storm of news coming ahead of former FBI director James B. Comeys highly anticipated public testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday is both unsurprising and unsettling to many Republicans, who are already skittish about the questions they may confront in the aftermath of the hearing. In particular, they foresee Democratic accusations that Trumps exchanges with Comey about the FBI probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign were an effort to obstruct justice.

Some Republicans fear that Trumps reactions will only worsen the potential damage.

Its a distraction, and he needs to focus, said former Trump campaign adviser Barry Bennett. Every day and moment he spends on anything other than a rising economy is a waste that disrupts everything.

Rick Tyler, a veteran Republican consultant, said Trumps relentlessness in using Twitter poses a serious obstacle for the White House.

I cant imagine internally theyre happy with his performance, Tyler said. The president is undermining his presidency whenever his staff says one thing and then he does another. Theyll say something youd expect, and then hell go off and bring in the gun debate to a terror attack.

Some Trump supporters also fear that his extemporaneous rebukes are upending the priorities he is trying to implement.

(Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)

George Conway, a well-known GOP lawyer who recently took himself out of the running to lead the Justice Departments civil division and is the husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, wrote on Twitter on Monday that Trumps fulminations on the travel ban could damage its chances.

These tweets may make some ppl feel better, but they certainly wont help OSG get 5 votes in SCOTUS, which is what actually matters. Sad, he wrote, using abbreviations for the Office of Solicitor General and the Supreme Court.

Trumps friends say hes just being himself.

Hes rightly frustrated, and he isnt always checking with his lawyers about each tweet. But hes getting his message out there, said Christopher Ruddy, a close associate of Trump and president of Newsmax Media, a conservative news organization. He is relying on himself to be the messenger.

It is an increasingly lonely endeavor. Trumps poll numbers have sagged, with Gallups daily tracking number showing him at 37 percent approval Monday, nearing the nadir of his presidency so far, while the RealClearPolitics polling average shows his approval rating just under 40percent.

Yet even among party leadership and senior advisers in the West Wing, many remain supportive of Trumps combative posture, unable or unwilling to usher him toward a less incendiary approach.

Its all infighting and leaks to the point where Trump is diluting his own proposals, Bennett said. I dont get it. Rather than getting him to talk about jobs, they stand by as he goes on about Mayor Khan.

The few who have spoken up have been careful to not provoke Trump. Unfortunately, the president has, I think, created problems for himself by his Twitter habit, Sen. John Cornyn (Tex.), the No. 2 ranking Senate Republican, said with a tight smile during a Sunday interview on Dallas TV station WFAA.

Comeys testimony is one of a number of items on the White House radar this week that risk stoking Trumps rage.

A week after Trump declared his trip to the Middle East a success, the region was swept into turmoil Monday after four Arab nations Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain broke diplomatic relations with another U.S. ally, Qatar, which they have accused of supporting terrorism.

Several U.S. allies in Europe also have grown weary with Trump after he decided to withdraw the country last week from the Paris climate accord. One of his closer allies there, British Prime Minister Theresa May, responded uncomfortably Monday to Trumps outbursts about Khan, who is Muslim, as the United Kingdom was coping with the aftermath of the London Bridge attack, which killed seven.

I think Sadiq Khan is doing a good job, and its wrong to say anything else, May tersely told reporters.

In Congress, Trumps ambitions to pass a health-care overhaul and tax changes have been stymied by party infighting and growing nervousness about the potential political cost, especially in the more moderate Senate. The only major legislative accomplishment so far has been the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, which came in April after bypassing a Democratic blockade.

David Winston, a Republican pollster who works closely with congressional GOP leaders, said lawmakers are eager to avoid discussions on issues that do not have to do with their agenda including Trumps tweets and said an extended delay on big-ticket legislation would pose a problem.

Anytime theyre not talking about the economy or jobs, they know thats not what the electorate is looking for, Winston said. Its going to be the responsibility of the White House to provide that context when the news cycle and media has their attention elsewhere, he added.

Ongoing turmoil in the White House only exacerbates the problems. Talk of possible staff changes has fueled a rush of stories that irritate Trump, who disdains news coverage of his advisers and their many rivalries. Former campaign loyalists, such as Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, have been spotted heading to the Oval Office for meetings.

Meanwhile, the Russia-related questions are ubiquitous. Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel delving into potential ties between Trumps campaign and Russia, is busy at work, and Trumps son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, is a focus of the investigation, according to people familiar with the probe.

Trump allies have for weeks discussed the possible formation of a Russia-focused war room either inside or outside the administration, but any such operation has yet to be formally announced. The president has retained an outside legal team, however, while Bossie and Lewandowski have been mentioned as possible leaders of an advocacy group that would defend Trump after Comeys testimony.

The White House has gamely attempted to ignore the fallout from Trumps latest tweets, pressing forward Monday with a conventional rollout of parts of a promised infrastructure program.

Standing in a dark suit and red-striped tie at the White House in front of Cabinet officials and Vice President Pence, Trump endorsed a plan to spin off more than 30,000 federal workers, including thousands of air traffic controllers, into a private nonprofit corporation and he railed against the Obama administrations previous work to improve the Federal Aviation Administration.

The current [aviation] system cannot keep up, has not been able to keep up for many years, Trump said. Were still stuck with an ancient, broken, antiquated, horrible system that doesnt work.

It was a brief respite from rancor. A few hours later, this time on Facebook, Trump was back at it, posting a video and fervent note to his millions of followers.

We need the Travel Ban not the watered down, politically correct version the Justice Department submitted to the Supreme Court, but a MUCH TOUGHER version! Trump wrote. We cannot rely on the MSM to get the facts to the people. Spread this message. SHARE NOW.

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As Trump lashes out, Republicans grow uneasy - Washington Post

President Trump is dining with a group of Republican lawmakers on Tuesday night, including several who are slated to question former FBI Director James Comey during this week's Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.

The White House said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton who sit on the intelligence committee will be among the six GOP lawmakers having dinner at the White House. Earlier Tuesday, Trump is meeting with congressional GOP leadership at the White House, including Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who is also on the committee.

Comey, who was fired by Trump last month, is scheduled to testify before the intelligence committee on Thursday. He is expected to be asked about his conversations with the president and whether Trump pressured Comey to end the FBI's probe into any ties between his campaign and Russia.

Over the last few days, the White House had considered invoking executive privilege to prevent Comey from testifying, on the grounds that the executive branch has the right to withhold information from conversations between the president and other officials.

But the White House ruled that out on Monday. "The president's power to assert executive privilege is very well established," White House deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders said. "However, in order to facilitate a swift examination of the facts sought by the intelligence committee, President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey's scheduled testimony."

Other Republican lawmakers eating dinner with Trump in the White House residence are Indiana Sen. Todd Young, Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, Florida Rep. Francis Rooney and New York Rep. Lee Zeldin.

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Trump dining with several Republicans on Senate Intelligence Committee ahead of James Comey hearing - Washington Examiner

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks at a rally, Tuesday, June 6, 2017 in New York. Cuomo and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., are hoping to increase the number of congressional seats held by the Democratic Party. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) ORG XMIT: NYMA302(Photo: Mary Altaffer, AP)

WASHINGTON Democrats launched a coordinated campaign to unseat House Republicans from New York on Tuesday, hoping the Empire State will play a major role in helping them win back control of the House.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and members of the state congressional delegation kicked off the New York Fights Back campaign at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City to target six Republican seats. Democrats need a net gain of 24seats to win back the House majority.

We say to these Congress people, we promise you, if you violate your office, you defraud the voters, you hurt the people of this state, we will remove you from office, Cuomo said.

Cuomo specifically named Reps. John Faso of Kinderhook and Chris Collins of Clarence and their colleagues, saying he is charging them with violating their oath of office to represent New Yorkers interests.

These are not moderate responsible officials, he said. These are political pawns to the ultra-conservative puppet masters in Washington.

Pelosi said New York will be on the front lines of Democrats fight to restore sanity to Washington.

The Empire State is one of our most important battlegrounds for Democrats to take back the House of Representatives for the American people, she said. There are 8 Republican seats we can and must win in November 2018. Defeating them in 2018 means laying the foundation for victory right now.

Elected officials were joined at the rally by more than 2,000 activists and labor union allies along with actors Steve Buscemi and John Leguizamo, according to organizers.

State Democrats are targeting the six Republicans who they see as most vulnerable and who voted for the American Health Care Act, the GOP plan to replace Obamacare. An independent estimate says the plan would put 23 million at risk of losing their health care. That includes about 3 million New Yorkers, Cuomo said.

They plan to invest heavily in field organizing, digital media andvoter registrationin races against Faso, Collins and Republican Reps. Lee Zeldin of Shirley, Elise Stefanik of Willsboro, Claudia Tenney of New Hartford andTom Reed of Corning. They launched NYFightBack.org on Tuesday as an information hub and organizing tool to mobilize voters against those six.

GOP Reps. John Katko of Camillus and Dan Donovan of Staten Island voted against the AHCA, but Democrats believe that may not matter in a wave election. A number of Democrats who voted against Obamacare still lost their seats in 2010.

Already, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the partys campaign arm in the House, announced plans to target all of New Yorks House Republicans, except for Rep. Peter King of Seaford.

"It comes as no surprise that Andrew Cuomo is lashing out so hysterically to deflect from his failed record," said Chris Martin, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm for House Republicans. "Under Cuomos liberal tax-and-spend agenda, New York remains one of the unfriendliest states for businesses in the country and Democratic House candidates will be forced to explain that fact to voters.

The NRCCplans to devote resources to the re-election campaigns for Faso, Katko and Tenney. They are three of just20 Republicans currently named to the NRCCs nationwidePatriot program for vulnerable incumbents, which provides support for campaign organizing and fundraising.

Democrats are particularly interested in New York because it has a high number of Republican House members in what is traditionally a Democratic state (for presidential elections), said Nathan L. Gonzales, editor of Inside Elections, a non-partisan political newsletter.

Among the state'sRepublican House members, the most vulnerable member is Faso, who was likely aided in 2016 by President Trump beating Democratic expectations in that district, he said.

Trump is now viewed favorably by 33% of Upstate voters while 63% view him unfavorably, according to a May 15-18 poll by Siena College Research Institute. The poll showed only 30% of Upstate voters support the AHCA and 60% oppose it.

Though he lost his home state of New York, Trump fared well in districts upstate. But there's no downside for Democrats saying they're targeting races in June during the off year, he said.

"Democrats are feeling emboldened right now," he said. "They feel like they can compete anywhere and they're trying to get as many credible challengers in place now in case each seat develops into a real opportunity next year."

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Democrats launch campaign to oust NY Republicans - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

BOONE, Iowa One honeymoon is not yet over.

Another is just beginning.

These are heady times for Republicans in Iowa, with their party in complete lawmaking control at both the federal and state levels.

Their GOP's new president, Donald Trump, has delivered a conservative justice to the U.S. Supreme Court and rescinded some of the regulations implemented under the previous, Democratic administration.

Their newly structured Iowa Statehouse delivered significant changes to state laws regarding abortion and public employee collective bargaining. And their new governor, Kim Reynolds, has taken the reins from her predecessor and gets a running start at next years election.

Thousands of Iowa Republicans gathered at big-ticket fundraisers on consecutive days this past weekend. Conversations with dozens of the attendees revealed they are optimistic about their new governor and GOP majority in the Iowa Legislature, and they remain ardently supportive of Trump.

The Republican Party is in a very good place, Martin Graber, who lives in Fort Madison and chairs the Lee County Republicans, said at one of the events.

About 1,300 people attended a black-tie-optional celebration of Reynolds recent swearing-in on Friday evening at a hotel ballroom in Des Moines East Village. The next afternoon, under a blazing sun at the Central Iowa Expo near Boone, another thousand-plus showed up at GOP U.S. Sen. Joni Ernsts third annual Roast and Ride fundraiser, which included a visit from Vice President Mike Pence.

At both events, Iowa Republicans stated unwavering support for the party.

Although large crowds flooded the Iowa Capitol at times during this years session to express dissatisfaction with some of those Republican-led changes particularly regarding collective bargaining Republican voters at the weekend events said they remain supportive of the partys agenda.

Trumps young tenure has at times been rocky and his approval rating in national public opinion polls is low, but Iowa Republicans remain in the presidents corner.

If you go back and look at what he promised he was going to do, hes doing that, in my opinion. Hes being obviously hampered just a little bit by some of the establishment in Washington, said Graber, who attended the Roast and Ride wearing a red, white and blue shirt. When its all said and done, I think he will deal with the American people and get done what needs to get done.

The support for Trump and Pence was palpable at the Roast and Ride. Pence, a motorcycle rider, did not participate on the 49-mile ride, the proceeds from which benefited a veterans charity, but he did hop on a Harley to make a short ride and entrance to the event stage.

Trump-Pence T-shirts were everywhere, and interviews with many attendees yielded few cross words for the administration.

Trumps approval rating average to start the week was nearly 15 points under water: His average approval rating in major public opinion polls was 39.7 percent and his disapproval rating 54.4 percent.

But at those events in Iowa over the weekend, Trumps popularity remained as high as Saturdays scorching temperatures.

When I heard (Pence) was coming, thats when I bought my ticket, said Cathy Clark of Grimes, wearing her Trump-Pence T-shirt. I want to see them keep moving forward, if we can, with some of the things that Trump wants to do. I just love it. ... Im really impressed with what theyre doing.

Clark said immigration policy was a key motivator in her 2016 vote for Trump, and she hopes the federal courts clear the way for Trump to implement his executive order restricting travel from several Muslim-majority countries. Trump says the travel ban is needed to prevent terrorists from entering the U.S.; opponents say it equates to a religious ban.

I would like to see the courts decide that its OK to keep those people out of those five countries, Clark said. Im glad that theyre sending people back. Why do we want murderers and rapists here? Why? I dont understand that, why people are so upset about that. I want to keep my grandkids safe and my son and my kids.

Clark said she also would like to see Trump and the Republican Congress tackle tax reform.

My biggest thing is that they take hordes of money out of my check every month, she said. And I would just, I would love to see a 15 percent tax or something that theyre not just gouging some people.

But before the federal government can cut taxes, it must repeal the health care policies implemented under Democratic President Barack Obama, said Rod Ballard of Grimes.

It must have been sweet music to Ballards ears, then, when moments later, Pence spent a good chunk of his address encouraging the GOP Congress to complete a health care reform bill and send it to the president.

The governments got no damn business being in the health insurance business, Ballard said. Were not saying take the safety net away, which is what the left-wing media wants people that are uneducated people to believe.

Trump has not yet been able to deliver on the travel ban, health care reform or the wall along the southern border to curtail illegal immigrants from Mexico, but that is more Congress fault both Democrats and Republicans than Trumps, people at the Roast and Ride said.

Hes running into problems with the Democrats being obstructionists. I guess they dont have the country at heart. I guess they really dont care about us. Thats why we voted the way we did. Thats why Trumps where hes at, to drain the swamp, said Leonard Wallace of Des Moines. He just needs to clean house and drain the swamp.

Wallace said he still supports the agenda Trump laid out on the campaign trail.

Everything on the laundry list that President Trump said, thats why we voted for him, he said. "Theres so much that needs to be done, and he had the list. So lets go for it."

Even Trumps budget, which has been criticized for its dramatic spending reductions, was met with approval at the Roast and Ride.

Wearing his red Make America Great Again hat, Charles Betz, a self-described Libertarian from Tama, said because his biggest concern is the national debt, he approves of Trumps budget proposal. In fact, Betz said he was surprised to see spending increases in any department; military spending received a boost under Trumps proposal.

The budget thing that came out last week was some pretty drastic cuts, Betz said. But my biggest issue the last few years has been our obscene debt, $20 trillion. Somebodys got to do something, and I think its going to have to be something drastic. So Im in support of (Trumps budget) even though some of them are pretty extreme.

Republican state lawmakers did not have the same trouble as their congressional counterparts. This years session of the Iowa Legislature produced significant conservative reforms, some of which were met with public backlash that manifested itself at Capitol protests and intense public forums.

But Republicans at the pair of fundraisers said they approve of the GOP-led changes.

And they were unblinking in their confidence in Reynolds, the new governor who served as former Gov. Terry Branstads lieutenant since 2011.

I think shes going to do a great job, said Dan Shields of Johnston. I really am very confident. No qualms whatsoever about her capabilities.

Trump was scheduled to hold a rally on Thursday in Cedar Rapids, but that event was postponed. Trumps campaign team said the president will return to Iowa at a date to be determined in mid-June.

When he does, if this past weekend is an indicator, Trump can expect a welcoming crowd.

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Giddy ol' party: Iowa Republicans happy with state GOP, still support Trump - Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier