A Foul Wind Blows. Wonkagenda For Mon., July 2, 2018
House Republicans back away from That Wall, Trump leaks FART, and North Korea won't 'de-nuke.' Your morning news brief!
Morning Wonketariat! Here's some of the things wemaybe talking about today.
After a stunning defeat last week, and widespread protests over the weekend, Republicans in the House are trying to back away from an immigration bill .
Some awful basement troll in Trump's DOJ thinks they found a loophole in the Flores Agreement that allows them to detain immigrant families.
The Trump administration is making people attempting to rescue children from Trump's Mexican baby jails pay fees that can run as high as $4,000.
Somebody "leaked" a draft of the Trump administration's bill to pull the US from the WTO by ignoring tariff ceilings and the Most Favored Nation Principle --it's called the FART Act. Seriously.
Trump is refusing to sign his NAFTA renegotiation until after the midterms, telling Fox's Maria Bartiromo that he wants to make it "more fair," whatever that means.
Meanwhile, Trump's attacks on US allies and trade partners have created instability in global markets; after Trump declared , "the European Union is possibly as bad as China, just smaller," countries and businesses all over the world have begun to take defensive measures expected to raise the cost of most goods and services. #MAGA
Trump is still bitching about Harley Davidson.
Senators Cory Booker, Tim Scott and Kamala Harris have introduced a bill that would make lynching a federal hate crime because thatstillisn't a thing.
Democratic leaders are opting to oppose the policies of Trump's potential SCOTUS picks rather than a person in the hope that it will resonate better in flyover country.
Susan Collins went on teevee to say she won't support an anti-abortion SCOTUS nominee, adding she doesn't think Gorsuch will vote to overturn decades of precedent on Roe v. Wade. He'll just kill it with 1,000 cuts.
ICYMI: The Trump Foundation could find itself in court defending years of ALLEGED grift just before the midterms.
A top EPA ethics official thinks that we should REALLY be investigating Scott Pruitt's rampant corruption a lot harder.
The New York Times's Eric Lipton got his hands on some of Scott Pruitt's love letters to oil and gas companies. Dude, just sext like a millennial.
A new study by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the DOJ inspector general shows that federal law enforcement jobs are a man's world, and sexism and gender discrimination are rampant.
John Bolton went on Face the Nation to scare our hangovers away, stating that Russia denied screwing with the 2016 election, and no one should have "a case of the vapors" about Trump's meeting with Putin ahead of the NATO summit. Bolton thenrattled his saber against North Korea after reports surfaced in WaPo that North Korea is hiding its nuclear program and is unlikely to "denuke." [ Transcript ]
The Senate confirmed Harry Harris as your new ambassador to South Korea.
Illinois neo-Nazi Arthur Jones tells Politico, "I snookered them," when asked about being the Republican congressional candidate for the Illinois 3rd. “I played by the rules, what can I say?" Now even Ted Cruz is telling Republicans to vote for the Democrat.Fucking. Illinois. Nazis.
Democratic leaders and strategists are warning that hardball politics and outrage slogans like "abolish ICE" could backfire . With NBC reporting that leadership of House Democrats is up for grabs , the editorial board of the NYTimes dumped more fuel on the fire by declaring it time for Democrats to make room for younger blood. So which is it? Young blood or niceness?
Page Six was digging through the trash and found a butthurt waitress who used to work a bar with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez . Six months ago she got a shitty tip-out; apparently this is news.
Republicans narrowly avoided a costly runoff in the Texas 27th to replace disgraced fugly former Bro Caucus Blake Farenthold by electing Michael Cloud.
A new PPP poll shows Republican POS Devin Nunes with an 8-point lead over Democratic opponent Andrew Janz. [ Donate ]
Teachers are mad as hell, and they're not taking shitty wages anymore ; now they're making their voices heard at the ballot box.
ICYMI: Cops in Charleston County, South Carolina are upset that two books telling the stories of people brutalized by police are on the summer reading list for Wando High School's English 1 class.
Indiana State Police are warning about orange "Trump-shaped ecstasy pills" with the words "great again" on the back. Good bye,Blue Monday!
Police in Portland, Oregon, declared an "alt-right" Patriot Prayer rally a riot after clashes between anti-fascist counter-protesters escalated, forcing police to use flash grenades and rubber bullets. Can't spell "patriot" without riot.
After attempting to disrupt a Families Belong Together protest in Huntsville, Alabama, a man pulled a gun and pointed it at protesters. And an old man chased his ass down. CLICK.
A number of futbol fans are crying foul after Russia blatantly cheated to advance in the World Cup after several full-contact tackles in the final minutes of the game went uncalled by officials. At least Fifa fined Russia for a neo-Nazi banner held up by a fan.
Hard left candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador won the presidential election in Mexico last night amid a wave of populist anger towards corrupt politicians and violence.
In Case You Forgot: The US is actively engaged in a secret war in Africa where special forces commandos are operating with questionable levels of authority, with one active-duty Green Beret officer telling Politico, "It's less, 'We're helping you,' and more, 'You're doing our bidding.'"
Elliot Broidy will stop paying hush money to the former Playboy model whom he accidentally impregnated since she "You're Fired" Keith Davidson as her lawyer. [ Archive ]
The NRA is denying that it helped launder rubles into the 2016 Trump campaign, but legal experts think Robert Mueller has been working with the IRS to unmask "dark money" donors.
Michael Cohen sat down with George Stephanopoulos to confuse everyone about where his loyalties lie now that he's about to get a new lawyer.
That prank phone call from a morning show reject is getting serious after Michael Avenatti was tapped to defend the guy. Now the Secret Service is involved, and call logs show that this is all Jared's fault.
Silicon Valley is trying to cover its ass from future Russian fuckery , but the tight lipped intel community and zero direction from the Trump administration have left nerds pissing in the wind while speeding down the information superhighway.
Independent Massachusetts Senate candidate and the self-proclaimed "inventor of email" Shiva Ayyadurai is still filing hilariously frivolous lawsuits against anyone who calls him a "fraud," "charlatan," "liar," or "fake."
Hugh Hewitt's awful and obscenely early Saturday morning MSNBC talking head show was suddenly canceled, and NOTHING OF VALUE WAS LOST. [ Video ]
John Oliver took a look at why everything is terrible , and then 'splainered gene editing. [ Video ]
Michelle Wolf has great advice if you ever run into Trump officials on the street, and why Ivanka is like herpes.
And here's your morning Nice Time! Baby Hippos!
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Unfortunately, yes.