1/ Biden told Putin the U.S. will take “any necessary action” after the latest massive ransomware attack. The White House says Biden has warned Putin that the United States would hold Moscow responsible for cyberattacks originating from Russia even if they cannot be directly linked to the Kremlin. (Washington Post)
2/ Michigan’s attorney general will launch an investigation into those who have allegedly peddled disinformation about the state’s Nov. 3 election for their own financial gain. The inquiry follows a recommendation in a GOP-led investigation into the election after the report found no evidence of widespread fraud. (Detroit Free Press)
3/ Biden nominated Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as the U.S. ambassador to India. Garcetti would step down as L.A. mayor after Senate confirmation. Denise Bauer, a former ambassador to Belgium and prominent Biden donor, will be nominated ambassador to France. (Los Angeles Times / Washington Post)
4/ The C.D.C. issued new school guidance with an emphasis on full reopening. The guidance acknowledges that many students have suffered from months of virtual learning and urges schools to fully reopen in the fall, even if they cannot take all of the steps the agency recommends to curb the spread of the coronavirus. (New York Times)
5/ Biden signed an executive order to promote competition throughout the U.S. economy, in the most ambitious effort in generations to reduce the stranglehold of monopolies and concentrated markets in major industries. The order takes aim at monopolies in agriculture, airlines, broadband and banking. (Politico)
6/ The Department of Education urged Biden to extend student loan relief. The White House has not yet made a final decision on how and when to restart federal student loan payments, which have been frozen since March 2020. (Politico)

Day 171: "Any necessary action."

Your essential guide to the daily shock and awe in national politics.

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1/ On the third day of Trump’s election interference case involving falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment late in the 2016 campaign, two of the seven jurors already seated in the case were removed. One expressed concerns after being identified publicly based on details reported by the media. After being dismissed, Judge Juan Merchan blamed journalists for being too accurate in their reporting, and ordered the press to not report on certain details about prospective jurors going forward. The second juror was dismissed over concerns that he may not have been truthful about whether he’d ever been accused or convicted of a crime. Prosecutors said they found an article featuring a person with the same name who was arrested in Westchester in the 1990s for tearing down political ads. The juror reportedly “expressed annoyance about how much information was out there about him in the public.” Seven new jurors were seated hours later, bringing the total number to 12 jurors. The next six jurors selected will serve as alternates. Meanwhile, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office re-upped its request for Merchan to hold Trump in contempt of court for violating his gag order seven more times since Monday, calling the behavior “ridiculous.” Merchan said he would take up the matter next week. (Washington Post / New York Times / CNN / NBC News / Politico / Bloomberg / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / CBS News / NBC News / Axios)
2/ House Republicans privately urged Speaker Mike Johnson to change the chamber’s rules and raise the threshold required to trigger the procedure to oust the speaker. Doing so would allow Johnson to pass the $95 billion foreign aid package and still keep his job over the opposition from the House Freedom Caucus and other conservatives. Johnson, however, opted against the rule change, saying lowering the threshold for introducing a motion to vacate has “harmed this office and our House majority.” House Democrats have signaled they’ll provide the votes to overcome a planned blockade by conservatives and pass the long-stalled aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. However, if Republicans add political amendments or measures that weaken the bill, Democrats won’t provide the votes. Meanwhile, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene embarrassed herself and wasted everyone’s time by repeatedly proposing absurd and juvenile amendments to the foreign aid package, including “space laser technology on the southern border,” requiring lawmakers voting for Ukraine aid ...

Day 1185: "Annoyance."

1/ Speaker Mike Johnson defied threats from his Republican colleagues to oust him and scheduled a vote on individual bills to fund Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. Johnson plans to have the House vote on three individual foreign aid bills, a fourth bill sanctioning Russia, China, and Iran, and a fifth bill addressing border security measures. The package largely mirrors the Senate-passed $95 billion aid package, with the exception for the border security provisions. Johnson, however, will almost certainly need Democratic votes to get the package to the floor, as well as to save his job if he faces a motion to vacate. Biden endorsed the plan and urged Congress to work quickly. The House is expected to vote Saturday evening. (NBC News / Associated Press / CNN / Politico / New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / NPR / Axios / CNBC)
2/ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “do everything necessary to defend itself.” Over the weekend, Iran launched more than 300 attack drones and cruise and ballistic missiles at Israel in response to an Israeli strike on Iran’s embassy in Syria that killed two Iranian generals. The U.S., U.K., and Germany have pressed Israel to not further escalate tensions with Iran and to instead be satisfied with its successful air defense that intercepted nearly all the missiles and drones. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, however, said it’s “clear the Israelis are making a decision to act — we hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible.” The U.S. and the E.U are also planning new sanctions on Iran meant to “degrade Iran’s military capacity.” Nevertheless, Netanyahu said Israel “will make our own decisions” about how to respond to Iran’s retaliatory strikes. Iran, meanwhile, warned that even the “tiniest invasion” by Israel would bring a “massive and harsh” response. (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News / CNN / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press)
3/ For the second time in two weeks, Arizona House Republicans blocked an attempt to rep...

Day 1184: "Make our own decisions."

1/ The House will vote on three individual bills to fund Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. A fourth bill would wrap several Republican foreign policy proposals into one, including the seizure of Russian assets, and a House-approved bill that could ban TikTok in the U.S. In total, the legislative package roughly resembles the $95 billion aid bill the Senate passed two months ago. House Speaker Mike Johnson, however, doesn’t necessarily have the votes to bring the bills to the House floor and the House Freedom Caucus has threatened to oust him from the speakership if he moved forward with funding for Ukraine. Notably absent from the bills are any measures to address border security, which Republicans have demanded for months as a condition of approving aid to foreign countries. Further, it’s unclear if Johnson has the Senate’s support, given the chamber already passed bipartisan foreign aid legislation back in February, which has been sitting in the House ever since. (CNBC / Politico / New York Times / Washington Post / NPR)
2/ A second Republican agreed to co-sponsor an effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson from his job, less than 24 hours after Johnson outlined a plan to send aid to Ukraine and Israel. Rep. Thomas Massie, joining Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s attempt to end Johnson’s speakership, stood up during a closed-door Republican conference meeting and told Johnson to resign, saying “you’re not going to be the speaker much longer.” Johnson, meanwhile, dismissed the effort to remove him as speaker as “absurd,” saying: “I am not resigning.” Without Democratic support, Republicans would need a simple majority to oust their second speaker in six months. One Republican called the situation “a clusterfuck,” and another said: “We are screwed.” (Politico / CNN / Washington Post / The Hill / Axios / Wall Street Journal)
3/ House Republicans sent articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate. In February, House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas, citing his alleged failure to enforce border laws, reduce migrant crossings, and secure the southern border. Their first attempt to impeach Mayorkas failed when four Republicans joined Democrats in voting against the impeachment, but they were successful on their second try by a single vote. House Republicans have demanded a full trial, while the Democratic-controlled Senate i...

Day 1183: "A clusterfuck."

1/ Jury selection in Trump’s criminal hush money trial began, marking the first criminal prosecution of an American president. Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to conceal hush money payments during his 2016 campaign. If convicted, Trump could face up to four years in prison. The task of selecting 12 jurors and six alternates could take up to two weeks. More than half of the first 96 prospective jurors were dismissed after saying they can’t be fair or impartial, and the court adjourned for the day with no jurors chosen. Trump, meanwhile, appeared to nod off several times, sitting motionless in his seat at the defense table, his back slightly arched, his head drooping onto his chest, and his mouth going slack. Trump will be required to attend the trial each day, which will take place four days a week and could last eight weeks. This is the first of Trump’s four criminal prosecutions to go to trial. (New York Times / Associated Press / Washington Post / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal / CNN / Politico / NPR / NBC News / Axios)
2/ Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against launching new strikes on Iran. Over the weekend, Iran launched a barrage of over 300 drones and missiles on Israel in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of two Iranian generals at the country’s embassy in Syria. Israeli air defense, supplemented by U.S. planes and warships, intercepted 99% of the incoming Iranian munitions. “You got a win. Take the win,” Biden told Netanyahu, warning him that the U.S. would not support or participate in any offensive counter-strike against Iran. In private, Biden has reportedly said he fears that Netanyahu is trying to drag the U.S. into a wider regional conflict. Nevertheless, Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant claimed that Israel had no choice but to respond to the attack, vowing to “exact a price.” Israel’s war Cabinet met for several hours and one official said Israel’s response to the Iranian attack may be “imminent,” but “will be coordinated with the Americans.” Iran, meanwhile, claimed its attack on Israel was “legitimate” and “responsible,” and that Tehran is not seeking to raise tension but will take “proportionate action” to defend itself. (Associated Press / New York Times / NBC News / CNN / Politico / <a href="https://www.vox.c...

Day 1182: "Take the win."

1/ Biden is reportedly considering an executive order to limit the number of asylum-seekers who can cross the southern border. After the bipartisan Senate bill collapsed earlier this year, the Biden administration is studying whether Biden has the use authority in Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which gives the president the ability to block entry of certain immigrants if it would be “detrimental” to U.S. national interests. “We’re examining whether or not I have that power,” Biden said. “There’s no guarantee that I have that power all by myself without legislation. And some have suggested I should just go ahead and try it. And if I get shut down by the court, I get shut down by the court. But we’re trying to work that, work through that right now.” (Axios / Bloomberg)
2/ The Biden administration finalized a rule to close the “gun show loophole,” requiring people who sell firearms online and at gun shows to conduct background checks on customers. The new rule is estimated to impact more than 20,000 people engaged in unlicensed firearms sales. (Bloomberg / CNN)
3/ Biden will expand the boundaries of two national monuments in California: the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. Biden set a goal of conserving 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030. He has designated five new national monuments this term. (Washington Post)
4/ The top U.S. humanitarian aid official said famine is occurring in northern Gaza. Samantha Power, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, cited an assessment from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which stated that the “latest evidence confirms that Famine is imminent in the northern governorates of the Gaza Strip and projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May 2024.” Power said the USAID “believe that assessment is credible.” The IPC classifies food shortages as a famine when at least 20% of households face an extreme lack of food, when at least 30% of children suffer from acute malnutrition, and when at least two adults or four children for every 10,000 people die each day from starvation or disease linked to malnutrition. Power said the rate of malnutrition among children in northern Gaza prior to Oct. 7 was “almost zero” but it now stands at one in three. (New York Times / CNN / Axios)

Day 171: "Any necessary action."

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