MORNING MESSAGE
Trump’s Supreme Court Pageant: a Silly Show to Fill a Stolen Seat
But
cheap tricks like Trump’s live, prime-time Supreme Court announcement do serve a
purpose: They distract the public from everything else he’s doing. It’s
government by three-card monte, and in this case it draws attention away from
the most important fact of all about this Supreme Court seat: The Republicans
stole it from former President Barack Obama.
Donald
Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary—fast-food CEO Andrew Puzder—is out of touch
with the needs of working people. Despite having built his business and fortune
on the backs of hard working Americans, he opposes meaningful increases to the
minimum wage and overtime pay.
GORSUCH NAMED FOR SCOTUS SEAT THEFT
Gorsuch
likely bad for voter rights. The Nation’s Ari Berman: “Like Scalia, as a
judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Gorsuch has been hostile
to abortion rights and environmental regulations, and sympathetic to large
corporations and the religious right. He has criticized liberals for challenging
bans on gay marriage before the courts. Though his paper trail on civil-rights
cases is slim, he’ll presumably be in sync with Scalia on these issues too.”
Gorsuch
to swing Court right. Politico: “…he could join with other conservatives to
rule that individuals and businesses sometimes have the right to discriminate
against gays for religious reasons … Conservative judges tend to be deferential
to the executive branch on national security-related issues, but Gorsuch’s
strong concerns about religious liberty might lead him to be skeptical about
rules that are arguably designed to impact a particular religion … Perhaps the
most certain result of putting Gorsuch on the court is an eventual setback for
public employee unions … The one view that made Gorsuch such a star with legal
conservatives is his view that judges should do more to check the power of the
modern regulatory state.”
Republicans
could nuke filibuster for SCOTUS. Politico: “…Republicans can lose two of
their 52-member caucus. They’re already down one with Collins … Few are actively
pushing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to take the ultimate step. But
conservatives such as Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and even more pragmatic lawmakers like
Rob Portman (R-Ohio) are holding out the threat … The overwhelming preference of
Republicans is to somehow persuade eight Democrats to get on board. Democrats
say this is theoretically possible, but they expect opposition to quickly build
and won’t rule out ultimately blocking Trump’s nominee.”
Will
Kennedy resign now? W. Post: “…an undercurrent of Trump’s first choice for
the court was whether it would soothe Kennedy, making him feel secure enough to
retire and let this president choose the person who would succeed him … Who
better, then, to put Kennedy at ease than one of his former clerks? … Some say
Kennedy would be reluctant to leave, too, if it meant a more conservative court
that would reverse some of his landmark decisions, especially on gay rights. But
others who know him suggest he is ready to go … Pleasing Kennedy is wise but not
dispositive, as lawyers at the court like to say.”
Mixed
reaction from Senate Dems. The Hill: “Sen. Elizabeth Warren … said she would
oppose his nomination … ‘I cannot support any nominee who does not recognize
that corporations are not people,’ [Sen. Sherrod] Brown said … Sen. Ron Wyden
(D-Ore.) also signaled his opposition … Seven Democrats in the Senate – Sens.
Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Joe
Manchin (D-W.Va.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and Dick
Durbin (D-Ill.) – have said they oppose a filibuster.”
Schumer
expresses “serious doubts.” Yahoo! News: “The Senate minority leader also
emphasized that the Senate should keep its 60-vote standard — the amount
necessary to defeat a filibuster — to approve Supreme Court nominees, calling it
‘a bar that was met by each of President Obama’s nominees.'”
Dems
should fight, argues NYT’s David Leonhardt: “The presumption should be that
Gorsuch does not deserve confirmation, because the process that led to his
nomination was illegitimate.
Activists
demand full court press. The Atlantic: “‘If grassroots Democrats hear their
elected leaders treating Trump’s nominee as business as usual, it’s not that
they’ll be disappointed or crestfallen, they’ll be furious,’ [MoveOn.org’s Ben
Wikler] said …
STATE DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEES PROTEST TRAVEL BAN
1000
State Department workers protest Trump travel ban. NYT: “By 4 p.m. on
Tuesday, the letter had attracted around 1,000 signatures, State Department
officials said, far more than any dissent cable in recent years. It was being
delivered to management, and department officials said more diplomats wanted to
add their names to it. The State Department has 7,600 Foreign Service officers
and 11,000 civil servants.”
Brown
Prof. Corey Brettschneider makes case for why Trump’s travel ban is
unconstitutional, in Politico: “Giuliani’s admission is a textbook case of
drafting an order in a way that avoids overt declaration of animus against a
religious or ethnic group, while retaining the motive and much of the effect …
An executive order or law displays unconstitutional animus and thus violates the
Equal Protection Clause when it has the ‘purpose and effect of disapproval of a
class recognized and protected by state law,’ as Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote
for the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Windsor.”
Children
suffer from ban. NYT: “Children who are most in need of emergency
international assistance come from five of the seven countries covered by
President Trump’s order barring entry to the United States, according to a
United Nations report … ‘This shows who the ban really impacts: the world’s most
vulnerable, women and children who are fleeing terror,’ said Jennifer Sime, a
senior vice president at the International Rescue Committee…”
Universities
sound alarm. Yahoo! News: “‘The order is stranding students who have been
approved to study here and are trying to get back to campus, and threatens to
disrupt the education and research of many others,’ the nonprofit Association of
American Universities stated…”
BANNON TERRIFIES EVERYBODY
Top
House Dems demand Bannon leave NSC. Yahoo! News: “Rep. Barbara Lee and the
chairs of four Democratic caucuses in the House of Representatives are demanding
President Trump remove his chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, from the National
Security Council … The congresswoman said she has a ‘team of people’ looking
into what Democrats can do to oppose Bannon if their demands to Trump fall on
deaf ears, and it will continue to target him.”
Bannon
worries Republicans. The Hill: “‘The president has the right to appoint him
to be his adviser, but I think there is a lot of concern about his influence,’
said one GOP lawmaker, who spoke on background to offer a candid view from
Capitol Hill … Many Republicans fear that Bannon’s ascendance is coming at the
expense of Trump’s chief of staff, Reince Priebus…”
BREAKFAST SIDES
“Border
tax sets off frenzy of lobbying” reports The Hill: “In the last six months
of 2016, more than 35 companies and groups specifically lobbied on the
border-adjustment tax, with many opposed to it … While retailers are among those
most concerned about the tax plan, it could also have major repercussions for
the oil and gas industry.”
World
prepares for trade war. Bloomberg: “After the U.S. president said Germany
and Japan are gaming foreign-exchange markets to win favorable trade terms,
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe joined German Chancellor Angela Merkel on
Tuesday in pushing back and leading a global counter-charge to the accusations …
Merkel and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang last week talked by phone and spoke out in
favor of closer trade ties, signaling a global pact opposed to Trump’s
protectionist agenda.”
Senate
Dems boycott committee votes for Mnuchin and Price, delay Sessions vote.
Politico: “Hatch told reporters he would try again to vote on Price and
Mnuchin on Wednesday, and Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) also set up
a Wednesday attempt to complete a vote on Sessions. But it’s all but guaranteed
that Trump’s Tuesday night Supreme Court selection will raise temperatures in
the Senate, and Democrats said they might keep withholding consent for routine
decisions. … Democratic senators on the environment committee huddled Tuesday
afternoon to decide whether to mount a boycott of Wednesday’s panel vote on
Scott Pruitt … Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins said today that she is still
undecided about whether to support Pruitt … Collins and Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa
Murkowski also on Tuesday reserved the right to oppose Betsy DeVos on the
floor…”
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