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Who are the four people Trump and the DOJ have proposed for special master?

Former President Trump and the Justice Department (DOJ) have submitted a total of four candidates to be potentially appointed as special master in charge of reviewing the documents the FBI took at Mar-a-Lago last month. 

The submissions came after a federal judge granted Trump’s request on Monday to have a special master review the materials that the FBI obtained to see if any are protected by attorney-client or executive privilege. 

The DOJ also filed an appeal on Thursday to request that the special master not review the more than 100 classified documents that the FBI took, arguing that a pause in its review of those materials could cause “irreparable harm” to the government and the public in delaying the investigation. 

The Trump legal team and the DOJ each proposed two candidates to conduct the review. 

Here are the four people that Trump and the DOJ have proposed to serve as special master: 

Raymond J. Dearie 

Trump chose Raymond J. Dearie, a retired U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY), as one of his picks. Dearie was nominated to the seat and confirmed by the Senate in 1986 by then-President Reagan. 

He served as chief judge of the court from 2007 to 2011, according to his profile page on the court’s website. Dearie assumed senior status on the court in 2011, moving to a form of semi-retirement that allows judges older than 65 to take a lighter caseload. 

Dearie also served as a U.S. attorney for EDNY from 1982 to 1986. He also served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which reviews requests for surveillance warrants against suspected foreign spies in the U.S., according to Trump and the DOJ’s court filing announcing their choices. 

Paul Huck Jr. 

Paul Huck Jr., who is Trump’s other pick, has spent his legal career working in both the public and private sectors. Huck served as deputy attorney general in Florida for four years and then served as general counsel to Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican at the time who has since joined the Democratic Party, from 2007 to 2008. 

While serving as general counsel, he was the top legal adviser to Crist on constitutional, legislative and statutory matters involving the executive branch, according to his profile page on the site for conservative legal organization The Federalist Society, where he is a contributor. 

The Federalist Society defines a contributor as speaking or participating in its events, publications or multimedia presentations, and the title does not necessarily imply any other endorsement or relationship with the organization. 

Huck also founded his own law firm, the Huck Law Firm, and is a former partner at the multinational law firm Jones Day, according to the court filing. 

Barbara S. Jones 

One of the DOJ’s picks is Barbara S. Jones, who served as a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of New York for more than a decade and a half. She was nominated to the seat in 1995 by then-President Clinton. 

She presided over cases on a wide range of topics, including accounting and securities fraud, antitrust, corruption, labor racketeering and terrorism while serving, according to her profile page for Bracewell LLP, where she is a partner. 

Before she began serving as a district judge, she served as chief assistant to Robert Morgenthau, the district attorney of New York County at the time. 

Jones also served as the chair of the Response Systems to Adult Sexual Assault Crimes Panel, which Congress created to analyze investigations of sexual assault in the military. 

She served as a special master in 2018 to review documents from Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, to examine if any were privileged. 

Thomas B. Griffith 

Thomas B. Griffith, the DOJ’s other candidate, served as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2005 to 2020. He serves as special counsel for the law firm Hutton Andrews Kurth LLP. 

Griffith served as the Senate legal counsel, the body’s nonpartisan top legal officer, from 1995 to 1999, according to his profile page on his law firm’s website. He advised Senate leadership and committees on investigations in the role. 

Griffith was also the general counsel to Brigham Young University in Utah for five years. He is a lecturer of law at Harvard University and has served in that role in the past for Stanford University and Brigham Young.

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden to attend premier Hispanic Heritage Month event

President Biden is scheduled to attend the keystone event celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month in Washington, The Hill has learned.

Organized by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), the Annual Awards Gala hosts a who’s who of Latinos in politics, culture and advocacy.

Biden’s attendance at the 45th annual gala is the first by a president since former President Obama delivered an address at the 39th edition in 2016.

“It’s an example of the commitment of our nation’s highest ranking leaders to our community and desire to engage with us directly – to speak to us, to hear from us, to learn about our needs and desires,” said Marco Davis, CEO of CHCI.

From 1979 to 2016, every sitting president was invited to address the gala, and only former President George H.W. Bush was unable to attend during his time in office.

But in 2017, CHCI broke with tradition and didn’t invite former President Trump after he pardoned Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and announced a plan to wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

CHCI’s main function is to train young Hispanics who want to work in government, and its intern classes usually include a number of DACA beneficiaries.

“The president was not invited this year based on his slanderous comments and strongly disagreeable actions for the Latino community in the United States,” then-CHCI Chair Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) said at the time.

Trump also did not attend or address the following galas, and the coronavirus pandemic forced CHCI to take the event online in 2020 and 2021.

Biden participated twice as a keynote speaker in the virtual editions, sending video messages as the Democratic presidential nominee in 2020, and as president for the 2021 gala.

“When we were virtual it was definitely a very different experience. I will say that the president did send a video message that we were able to air when we were virtual last fall, so technically he participated … but him being [there] in person is a very different thing,” said Davis.

Vice President Kamala Harris is also scheduled to participate in the event.

The gala’s return is a boon for Beltway Hispanics, who sometimes refer to the event as “Latino Prom” or “Brown Prom,” in reference to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner tongue-in-cheek moniker of “Nerd Prom.” 

Although CHCI and its parent institution, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, are non-partisan, both groups are more closely associated with Democrats.

Still, the CHCI gala has historically brought together Democratic, Republican and unaffiliated Hispanics with an interest in political leadership.

The 2022 event will posthumously honor Celia Cruz, the famed Cuban-American singer, with the 2022 Medallion of Excellence Award. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra will receive the 2022 American Dream Medallion Award.

Also receiving awards will be retiring Reps. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) and Albio Sires (D-N.J.), Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia Kenia Seoane López, and Marvin Figueroa, a CHCI alumnus who heads the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs.

Hispanic Heritage Month kicks off on Sept. 15, Mexican Indpendence Day, and runs through Oct. 15.

Source: TEST FEED1

Gavin Newsom faces new challenge with rising temperatures in California

A record-smashing heat wave that blanketed much of California this week is presenting a new challenge to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) just as talk picks up about the possibility he could run for the White House in 2024.

California and Newsom passed an initial test — keeping the lights and power on despite triple-digit temperatures covering much of the state that pushed the state’s electrical grid to its limits.

But that didn’t stop Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), another potential presidential contender who Newsom has used as a GOP foil this summer, fro taking a shot.

“I hear a lot of people chirping about Florida from California. They’re so worried about Florida. They can’t even keep the power on in California, are you kidding me?” DeSantis said. 

Republicans also hit Newsom on the state’s plan to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. Noting the California Independent System’s plea for state residents to avoid charging electric cars at certain peak hours. 

“I kind of feel like they’re holding things together with bandaids right now. They just extended the Diable nuclear power plant as well. I think that was a common sense thing that they needed to do. So I think they’re trying to keep it all together, but it’s really a lot of misplaced investment over decades and over reliance on wind and solar, in particular, that’s kind of led to this situation,” Derrick Morgan, vice president of conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, told Changing America. 

“I think it’s a cautionary tale that pursuing policies that are in the Green New Deal, or going along that continuum, can be a real danger,” Morgan added.

Newsom in recent days has pushed back against his critics, arguing the state has never seen such extreme heat for such an extended period of time.

He said Wednesday the state will need to keep improving efforts to deal with climate change, but argued actions the state has taken in the last two years, including increasing battery storage and extending lifetimes of backup generators, is what kept the power on. 

“Had we not done what we’ve done in the last two years we would have had rolling blackouts over the last week,” Newsom said Wednesday. 

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Last week’s near crisis highlighted California’s delicate balancing act of phasing out fossil fuels while keeping the grid reliably functioning in the face of extreme weather events that demand more power. 

The state saw temperature records broken in cities stretching from the Bay Area to south of Los Angeles. Sacramento hit 116 degrees Fahrenheit Tuesday, breaking the previous all-time record high of 114 set in 1925. 

The state only narrowly averted ordering rolling blackouts Tuesday, a method involving cutting power to some areas to save energy for others, during the most intense phase of the heat wave as Californians heeded call sto cut back on power use. The state was also forced to activate generators fueled by natural gas. ISO reported statewide power demand hit 52,061 megawatts, a record for California. 

California has taken some of the most aggressive actions in the country to cut out its reliance on fossil fuels and ramp up the use of renewable energy such as wind and solar. Those steps, to a degree, have elevated Newsom on the political stage as Democrats look for political leaders on climate change.

But the problems are also fodder for Republicans to use to tarnish Newsom and his policies.

California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher said the risk of rolling blackouts is a result of failed Democratic policies and said the state was “lucky” to get through Tuesday without ordered blackouts. 

The state has laid out plans to get all of its power from renewable sources by 2045, an ambitious goal as electricity demand is expected to increase and heat waves are forecast to hit with more frequency and intensity. Utilities are working to scale up renewable energy sources as well as battery storage for use when the sun is down.  

According to ISO CEO and President Elliot Mainzer, California put nearly 8,000 megawatts of clean energy resources on the grid in the last two years, including more than 3,300 megawatts of lithium-ion batteries. 

Michael Colvin, director of the California Energy Program at the Environmental Defense Fund, credited California’s fleet of battery storage with helping to avert blackouts. 

“There are two reasons in particular why we were able to avoid rolling blackouts, because it got very close. The first one was that California customers themselves showed up,” Colvin said. 

“The second hero of the story in my opinion is what I would call virtual power plants, or the battery storage facilities.”

It’s far from clear Newsom will run for president — especially since President Biden is still planning to do so.

But Biden’s age — he would turn 81 weeks after election day in 2024 — and his low approval ratings have raised questions about whether he’d change his mind. If Biden opts out, it’s likely to lead to a wide-open race that would almost certainly include Vice President Kamala Harris, another Californian.

Newsom drew attention over the summer when he ran a television ad in Florida that urged state residents to come to California.

“Freedom, it’s under attack in your state. Republican leaders, they’re banning books, making it harder to vote, restricting speech in classrooms, even criminalizing women and doctors,” Newsom said in the ad, which carried images of both DeSantis and former President Trump.

“I urge all of you living in Florida to join the fight. Or join us in California, where we still believe in freedom — freedom of speech, freedom to choose, freedom from hate and the freedom to love.”

Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Colvin, who focuses on strategies to transition California to clean energy, said the recent heat wave is unusual as it impacted the majority of the state for a prolonged period of time. He says there’s typically more flexibility during heat waves as power can be redirected for air conditioning to different regions that need it. 

“California knows how to handle a hot day. We have plenty of power to be able to do that. But just like people, the electric grid itself needs to cool off, you end up running into operational problems and failures if you have multiple hot days in a row with no sort of night time relief to try and cool some things off,” he added. 

Source: TEST FEED1

DeSantis, democracy, abortion: How Kamala Harris is trying to convince people to vote

When Vice President Harris has appeared before audiences around the country in recent days, she has posed a question asked by would-be voters: “Why should I vote?”

Harris has told the crowds publicly — and has reiterated to aides privately — that Democrats have to give them a good answer that will lure them to the polls.

During addresses in Texas and Massachusetts this week, she ticked off a string of reasons, from democracy being at stake to abortion rights. And in some speeches this summer, she has also directly taken on policies by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). 

“There are, as there have always been, forces that stand in our way. Forces that oppose … even the most commonsense gun safety proposals,” Harris said during a July speech at the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority convention in Orlando. “Forces that include extremist, so-called leaders, who instead of expanding rights work to restrict rights.”

President Biden and Harris have both struggled with low approval ratings, raising real questions about how much help they can provide to Democratic candidates in the House and Senate. So far, the two have not appeared alongside candidates in key races in Georgia, Pennsylvania and Arizona.

Republicans, for their part, have gone on the attack against the president and the vice president.

Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker this week used Harris to go after Democrats on the issue of race, saying in a new ad that she and others were seeking to use “race to divide us.” Harris and Biden were featured prominently in the ad.

But other Democrats say they believe Harris can be an effective voice in getting Democrats to the polls by touring the country and giving the grassroots a sense of the stakes at play.

One source who has advised Harris questioned her effectiveness in certain states.

“I doubt she’ll be the messenger deployed to win over swing states,” the source said. 

But the source and others in her orbit said Harris can be very effective in broader get-out-the-vote events and in helping to keep abortion rights front and center — as well as in fundraising efforts. 

Harris has been crisscrossing the country and appearing at events to appeal to various voting blocs. 

She traveled to Houston on Thursday to deliver remarks at the National Baptist Convention. In August, she traveled to Boston for a conversation on reproductive rights with Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and to Las Vegas for remarks at a steelworkers union convention.

On Saturday, Harris will speak at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting in Maryland, and on Sunday, she’ll appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in an interview she recorded on Friday. 

A source close to Harris said her appearances are about “rallying not just the base, but about bringing other people in.”

Her appearances, the source said, are “not just the big speeches” — like the one she delivered to steelworkers in Nevada last month — but the more personal “touches,” the source added, pointing to the vice president’s meetings with Hispanic lawmakers on the heels of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

Harris has consistently tied in meetings about reproductive rights in her political travels.

In Las Vegas, she tacked on a meeting with state legislators on abortion issues while visiting the city for the steelworkers union speech.

Harris has been a leading voice from the administration on reproductive rights following the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and she’s met with local leaders and advocates to discuss the issue in Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana and Massachusetts, among other states.

Democrats this cycle are hopeful that abortion is an issue that will bring voters out in November and maybe attract additional votes from independents or moderate Republicans, especially in states where leaders are passing restrictive abortion laws.

Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist, sees Harris as the right person to lean into that strategy on the trail.

“She is really giving a real voice to some of the issues that women are facing in this country, whether they supported the ticket or not,” he said. “I think her voice is so magnetic that it’s going to attract a wide range of followers, amplifiers and supporters.”

Since the start of her tenure as vice president, some Democrats said they had been underwhelmed by Harris’s lack of a policy portfolio and her presence on the national stage overall. Her approval ratings have hovered below 40 percent, and she has been plagued by a constant revolving door of staffers.

There continue to be questions about whether she could successfully run for president should Biden choose against a second term. Biden has insisted he intends to run for office again, and Harris has said she will work for his reelection.

An August poll from her home state of California found voters would prefer their governor, Gavin Newsom (D), in the 2024 Democratic presidential primary over Harris. In another poll last month, Harris trailed former President Trump by 7 percentage points in a hypothetical 2024 presidential match-up.

Still, Democratic strategists argue that she is an asset on the campaign trail for this midterm cycle, and she is focused on helping Democrats hold onto Congress and expand their majority.

Democratic strategist Eddie Vale said Harris can serve as a “closer” of sorts who will appeal to women.

“I think that there’s not an issue that she cannot take on or talk about. What she is doing now, I think, is very intentional. She is out updating and educating people on one, the things we have done and two, how high the stakes are,” Seawright said.

He added that she’s a team player and said she is doing what makes sense for Democrats this cycle, “and is not necessarily playing a selfish role in terms of what she can do to be helpful.” 

Source: TEST FEED1

The fight against inflation may cause pain. Here’s how Americans will feel it

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sounded a warning to Americans last month as the central bank continues its efforts to combat high prices: The fight against inflation is going to be painful.  

“Higher interest rates, slower growth and softer labor market conditions will bring down inflation. They will also bring some pain to households and businesses,” Powell said last month. 

The Fed has hiked interest rates four times this year already in an effort to stanch price increases.  

When the Fed raises interest rates, money becomes more expensive to borrow, harder to get, and more worthwhile to save. The goal is to bring down the amount of money consumers and businesses are willing to spend to a level where firms can no longer afford to keep raising prices for their goods and services.  

In other words, the Fed wants demand for goods and services to fall closer to supply which has dwindled as a result of obstacles created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and other shocks. 

In an ideal world, the Fed can raise interest rates gradually enough to bring inflation down without slowing the economy. But economists generally agree that inflation has risen too high for the Fed to bring it down without causing at least some hardship. 

“We’re taking a very distributed pain that’s very unpopular because it touches everybody,” said Claudia Sahm, a former Fed research director, of high inflation, “and there’s only a fraction of the country that’s gonna pay for it to get it down.” 

“The people who will pay, who feel the pain from the Fed fighting inflation, they are not sitting at the table making the decisions,” she continued.  

Here are three ways Americans could feel the squeeze. 

Workers will lose power and protection 

The Fed’s rapid rate hikes will bring to an end two years of rapid wage growth, record-breaking job openings and remarkably low layoffs.  

The U.S. still added 315,000 jobs in August and wages rose 5.2 percent over the past year, but economists expect job growth to slow and the unemployment rate to rise as businesses feel the squeeze of higher rates.  

That means many workers who’ve not yet gotten raises won’t get one and may have fewer other employment options with better compensation. 

“Whereas in the past, businesses would quickly lay off excess labor at the first hint of a slowdown in activity, the first post-pandemic response is to reduce hiring,” wrote Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Pantheon, in an analysis last week. 

Fed officials are hopeful they can slow hiring enough to curb inflation without forcing businesses to layoff employees. Even so, Sahm warned it could take several months for the economy to feel the full weight of the Fed’s actions. The delayed impact means the Fed may move to slow the economy too much and not realize it before it’s too late. 

“When inflation comes down, all of us as consumers benefit for sure. But to get that down, some of us as workers will get hurt,” Sahm explained. 

Sahm added that those most at risk are relatively new hires and groups who often have persistently higher rates of unemployment, including Black Americans, Hispanics, non-college educated workers and those with disabilities. 

“For Black and brown and low wage workers, the pain will be severe from fighting inflation,” Sahm said. 

Harder for businesses to grow and expand 

Small business owners in particular will face serious headwinds as the Fed saps consumer spending from the economy. 

Slower sales and the higher cost of borrowing money may make it difficult—if not impossible—for some firms to not only invest in their workforce, but their physical operations and the equipment they use.  

“While US businesses remain optimistic about the outlook and corporate finances are generally healthy, elevated uncertainty regarding the trajectory of final demand, persistent inflation, market volatility and rising interest rates will lead to more conservative hiring and investment decisions,” Daco wrote. 

Part of that is by design, since the Fed wants to reduce the amount of demand for ever-more-expensive goods and services. But smaller firms and those with high debt loads may face steep obstacles without the power and scale of larger businesses to weather the storm. 

Higher home payments, slower home sales 

Homeowners and buyers will feel the pain of the Fed’s fight against inflation across the housing market as higher interest rates slow sales and force listing prices down. 

The Fed’s rate hikes have caused mortgage rates to nearly double over the past 12 months, hitting 5.89 percent for 30-year loans this week, according to Redfin. The steady climb in rates has pushed the average monthly payment on a median-priced home to $2,337, up 40 percent from $1,664 a year earlier. 

Homeowners looking to sell will likely find fewer offers and may be forced to bring their asking prices down, a sharp break from more than a decade of interrupted home price growth. 

Home-buying interest is down 11 percent over the past 12 months, according to Redfin’s Homebuyer Demand Index, which measures requests for tours and services from the company’s real estate agents. Touring activity as of Sept. 4 was also down 38 percent from the start of the year. 

“The housing market always cools down this time of year, but this year, I expect fall and winter to be especially frigid as sales dry up more than usual,” said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.  

Source: TEST FEED1

Democrats seek campaign opportunity with ObamaCare court ruling

Democrats are seizing on a federal judge’s ruling against ObamaCare’s prevention coverage as an opportunity to campaign on preserving health care just two months before the midterm elections.

The ruling on Wednesday by Judge Reed O’Connor in Texas escalates another battle over ObamaCare, and could jeopardize access to preventive care for millions of Americans, including screenings for colorectal and other cancer, depression and hypertension, among many other services.

Running on saving the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has proven effective for Democrats in the past: The party used the GOP’s attempt to repeal the law in 2017 to mount a successful campaign in 2018 to take control of the House. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court’s June decision to overturn Roe v. Wade gave Democrats another health issue with which to galvanize their base — and now it appears they’re looking to build on that strategy with O’Connor’s ruling.

“With the GOP’s utter disdain for our health, safety and freedom, it is only a matter of time that another drug, treatment, vaccine or health service becomes the next target of their extremism,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement shortly after the ruling.

Pelosi also indicated that Democrats will look to tie the ruling directly to the GOP’s “extreme MAGA” agenda and the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

“This extreme MAGA ruling comes just months after the Republican-controlled Supreme Court discarded precedent and privacy in overturning Roe v. Wade. Since then, House Republicans have plotted an unhinged, dangerous campaign to punish our most personal decisions, from abortion care to birth control and more,” Pelosi said.

Frederick Isasi, executive director of the liberal group Families USA, said it’s a “very straight line” between the Supreme Court’s abortion decision and O’Connor’s ruling.

“I think the big signal here is it’s another example … where a small group of folks who have a very ideological, or hardcore religious perspectives are now changing our laws to restrict the freedom of people and their ability to access health care services,” Isasi said. 

While issues like inflation, gas prices and immigration have dominated campaign rhetoric on the GOP side, Democrats have been hammering Republicans on health issues like abortion and the cost of prescription drugs. The decision from O’Connor injects more fuel into the fight. 

“As a thirty-five-year ovarian cancer survivor, I am outraged that this judge would take us back to the days before the ACA when individuals suffered pain and even death because coverage for routine cancer screenings were not guaranteed without cost-sharing,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said. 

The ruling shows “that conservatives on the bench are on the march to overturn a number of hard won freedoms earned by Americans,” DeLauro said.

O’Connor has a history of ruling against ObamaCare, as well as other Democratic policies. In 2018, O’Connor sided with a coalition of GOP state attorneys general and struck down the entire health law as unconstitutional, a decision that was eventually overturned at the Supreme Court in 2020.

The Biden administration said it was reviewing the ruling, and is expected to appeal. Additional briefings from both sides were due Friday, but O’Connor granted an extension until Sept. 16.

Under ObamaCare, any service or drug that gets an “A” or “B” level recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a volunteer panel of experts, must automatically be added to a list of free services covered by insurers. 

There are more than 100 services on the list, and experts say the requirement has led to better health outcomes

But O’Connor ruled any services recommended by members of the USPSTF are invalid because they “are unconstitutionally appointed.” 

The ruling also specifically targeted the HIV drug regimen known as preexposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. O’Connor said ObamaCare’s requirement that PrEP be fully covered violated the religious freedom of a company owned by Steven Hotze, a well-known Republican donor who has challenged ObamaCare on other occasions.

Hotze argued that being forced to cover PrEP “facilitates and encourages homosexual behavior, intravenous drug use and sexual activity outside of marriage between one man and one woman.”

Katie Keith, director of the Health Policy and the Law Initiative at Georgetown University’s law school, said O’Connor didn’t specify how broad the decision will be. It could apply only to the plaintiffs who filed this lawsuit, or he could strike down the whole ACA provision.

Keith said it was “disheartening” to see another legal challenge to the ACA.

“We know now that access to all of these incredibly important evidence-based preventive services are at risk,” Keith said. “If we lost these provisions, we would really return to a pre-Affordable Care Act era where each individual employer and insurance company can pick and choose what preventive services they want to cover and whether they can charge you cost sharing.” 

Health care has not been a winning campaign topic for Republicans in recent cycles. Since failing to repeal the health law in 2017, the GOP has been largely silent on the topic of ObamaCare. 

Vulnerable GOP candidates have also lately softened their language on abortion and even tried to scrub references to past comments on the issue from their campaign websites. 

Isasi said if Republicans oppose O’Connor’s decision, they need to speak up.

“We know that this is a judge who’s very aligned with Republican politics. He’s very ideological. And it’s incumbent upon conservative members of the [Republican Party] to speak up and say that is too far,” Isasi said. 

Source: TEST FEED1

How a railroad strike could send food prices soaring

The nation’s supply of food could take a hit if railroad workers go on strike, driving up prices at the grocery store and limiting U.S. grain exports to countries facing famine.  

As soon as next week, 115,000 freight rail workers could walk out if they cannot reach a new contract with railroads, potentially shutting down the national rail network that transports 20 percent of all grain shipments. 

While unions say they want to avert a strike, and Congress has the power to block it, the U.S. food sector is rattled by the prospect of a national railroad shutdown in the middle of peak harvest season.    

A ‘devastating ripple effect’ 

Even a short-lived interruption “would create a devastating ripple effect” on the nation’s fragile supply chains, said Lee Sanders, senior vice president of government relations and public affairs at the American Bakers Association.  

“Rail-dependent facilities would be unable to receive materials and ingredients, and millions of Americans a day would be unable to receive the baked goods they rely on to feed themselves, their families, and communities,” she said.  

A railroad shutdown in mid-September would quickly overwhelm grain storage facilities, leaving farmers with few options to store their crops and boosting the chance of spoilage. Many grain processors would shut down, raising the price of bread and other common items, while farmers would be saddled with huge crop quantities and lower commodity prices.  

“It’s kind of a double whammy when you hit both the beginning and the end of the supply chain,” said Max Fisher, chief economist at the National Grain and Feed Association. 

Freight railroads also carry roughly half of fertilizer, and farmers can’t afford delays, according to a Wednesday letter to congressional leaders from The Fertilizer Institute. 

“If farmers do not receive fertilizer, it results in lower crop yields, higher food prices, and more inflation for consumers,” Corey Rosenbusch, the group’s CEO, told lawmakers.  

Soaring food costs — which agricultural groups blame partially on existing railroad disruptions — have hit American families particularly hard. Grocery prices rose 13.1 percent over the last year ending in July, the largest annual increase in more than four decades, according to Labor Department data.  

There typically isn’t a backup plan for crops that are transported by rail, particularly when the trucking industry is already struggling to keep pace with demand. The same goes for coal, crude oil, steel, lumber, car parts and other items frequently loaded onto freight trains. 

A nationwide railroad work stoppage would cost the U.S. economy more than $2 billion per day and cause shipping containers to stack up at ports, according to estimates from the Association of American Railroads. 

Grain exports and global food security 

Because roughly one-third of U.S. grain exports travel by rail, a work stoppage would also cut down on America’s ability to ship food to foreign nations, particularly those in East Africa and the Middle East that face a risk of famine following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  

A coalition of food and agricultural groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, urged lawmakers on Thursday to block a freight rail strike, warning that it would have “devastating consequences” for global food security.  

“Congress must be willing to act to ensure our farmers and ranchers can continue to help feed the world,” the groups wrote in a letter to the top lawmakers on transportation committees.  

The United Nations estimates that the number of people facing acute food insecurity has risen from 145 million to 345 million since 2019, and 50 million people in 45 countries are nearing famine.  

Russia blocked off Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea at the onset of the invasion, cutting off nations that rely on Ukraine to provide large shipments of grain and cooking oil. 

The warring countries signed a deal to open up Black Sea shipments in July, but Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday criticized the agreement, prompting fears that he could abandon it entirely. 

What lies ahead  

U.S. rail workers could legally strike as soon as Sept. 16 after the White House-appointed Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) released recommendations last month meant to bring railroads and unions closer to a deal. 

Five unions have reached tentative agreements with railroads on a new contract based on the PEB recommendations, which call for 24 percent raises over five years and back pay but don’t address workers’ concerns about grueling hours and limited time off. 

The bulk of rail workers belong to unions that haven’t struck a deal. And a recent online survey from grassroots group Railroad Workers United found that more than 9 in 10 railroad workers would vote to reject the PEB recommendations and go on strike.  

If workers vote for a strike, Congress would likely intervene to block it. They could then vote to fast-track a new contract. Railroads, retailers, growers and other industries are largely urging lawmakers to simply implement the terms laid out by the PEB.  

Still, some business groups are worried about the prospect of a slow congressional response to a rail walkout, driven either by lawmakers’ inexperience with the issue or political games ahead of the midterms. 

The Biden administration, eager to avoid more economic disruption just before November, is pushing unions and railroads to secure an agreement before the issue comes before Congress. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh joined a negotiation session Wednesday before the National Mediation Board.  

“We are confident the parties will make every effort to negotiate in good faith toward a mutually acceptable solution, and we urge both sides to do so promptly,” a White House official said in an email. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Oz tries to tighten the screws on Fetterman

Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz is going on the offensive against his Democratic rival John Fetterman after weeks of falling victim to Fetterman’s robust digital operation and trailing in the polls.

This week marked a shift in Oz’s strategy as his campaign ramped up pressure on Fetterman to participate in televised debates. Meanwhile, a pro-Oz group rolled out an ad targeting Fetterman over a 2013 incident in which he pulled a gun on a Black male jogger he suspected of a crime.

His new onslaught against Fetterman come as the environment in Pennsylvania and across the country increasingly favors Senate Democrats, with several election handicappers recently shifting the Keystone State Senate race into the “toss-up” category.

The latest Real Clear Politics polling average shows Fetterman leading Oz by 6.5 points, but Oz’s allies say that the Republican will likely close that gap as many candidates do after Labor Day. 

“It’s full steam ahead,” said one national Republican operative. “I think Dr. Oz’s shift is just everyone is coalescing around him and Fetterman can no longer hide behind Twitter.” 

The week’s coverage of the race was largely dominated by the back-and-forth between Oz and Fetterman’s teams over scheduling televised debates ahead of Election Day. 

Oz has called on Fetterman to participate in a series of debates beginning this month. On Tuesday, the Republican Senate candidate used a joint press conference with retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to call on the lieutenant governor to debate the celebrity doctor. The following day, Fetterman told Politico in an interview that he is committed to attending one debate against Oz “sometime in the middle to end of October” and on a “major television station” in Pennsylvania. 

“We’re absolutely going to debate Dr. Oz, and that was really always our intent to do that,” Fetterman told the outlet. “It was just simply only ever been about addressing some of the lingering issues of the stroke, the auditory processing, and we’re going to be able to work that out.”

Oz’s allies have framed the interview as a concession from Fetterman after Oz hit him over debate attendance. They also point to the fact that Fetterman was absent from a primary debate that took place in early April. 

“Before John Fetterman had his stroke he was also scared to debate his opponents, especially in the primaries,” said the national GOP operative. 

Oz’s allies argue that a debate held during the middle or end of October will be too late for most voters looking to vote early. Fetterman’s allies say that the date works well given that the election is on most voters’ minds by the middle of October, as opposed to a September debate. 

Republicans also point to what they say is a natural advantage for the former TV doctor.

“He’s got a huge amount of experience on television and that experience is in an interactive setting, so I think he’s used to that,” said Keith Naughton, a Republican strategist with experience working on Pennsylvania campaigns. “The key for him is to have some good practice so that he can handle some of the aggressive questioning that he’s not used to.” 

Democrats, on the other hand, argue that the Oz camp is essentially using the back-and-forth over the debates as a distraction from what they say are bigger issues with the Republican candidate.

“It’s important to remember that he’s attempting to dig out of a pretty big hole that he’s in after the summer he had,” said a national Democratic operative. “If any issue has been defining the race it’s been ‘Mehmet Oz is not from Pennsylvania and doesn’t get Pennsylvanians.’” 

Fetterman’s campaign over the summer launched an aggressive digital campaign painting Oz as out of touch and unfamiliar with the state. In July, they enlisted former “Jersey Shore” cast member Nicole “Snooki” LaValle to highlight the question of Oz’s residency in a campaign video. Fetterman also started a petition last month to add Oz to the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Fetterman and Democrats have also hammered Oz over his properties.

“Every week of this campaign has brought fresh revelations about Mehmet Oz that have put him on the defensive, and they’ve all pointed to one conclusion: he’s a fraud, an out-of-touch millionaire who doesn’t understand the concerns of Pennsylvania’s working families,” said Patrick Burgwinkle, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “The only reason he’s running for Senate is to serve himself, and his multi-millionaire friends, and that’s why he’ll be rejected in November.”

Fetterman’s supporters also pointed to an op-ed from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s editorial board on Friday calling on Oz to stop attacking Fetterman over the debates.

“Now that Mr. Fetterman has thrown down the gauntlet, it’s time for Mr. Oz to call off his attack dogs,” the paper’s editorial board wrote.

The op-ed marks a notable change in tone for the publication, which had argued that Oz had “legitimate concerns” about Fetterman’s health amid the debate row.

“If Mr. Fetterman is not well enough to debate his opponent, that raises serious concerns about his ability to serve as a United States senator,” the piece said.

While plans for a debate have not yet been set in stone, most observers seem to agree that Pennsylvanians shouldn’t count on seeing Fetterman and Oz on a debate stage together more than once.

“I expected that they’re going to do one and that’s it,” Naughton said. 

Source: TEST FEED1

Trump, DOJ submit candidates for special master in Mar-a-Lago documents probe

Former President Trump and the Justice Department (DOJ) on Friday night submitted their candidates to serve as special master in the department’s investigation into documents recovered during a search of Mar-a-Lago.

The former president’s legal team proposed Raymond J. Dearie, a former district court judge in New York, and Paul Huck Jr., who previously served as general counsel to the governor of Florida and deputy attorney general for the state, to fill the position, according to court documents. The DOJ suggested Barbara S. Jones, a former district court judge in New York, and Thomas B. Griffith, a former appeals court judge in Washington, D.C.

According to the filing, the DOJ and Trump’s lawyers disagreed on how the special master should function in the case.

The former president’s lawyers want the special master to review all the materials taken in the Mar-a-Lago search, including those with classified markings, and evaluate potential executive privilege claims.

The DOJ, meanwhile, argued the special master should not review the documents with classified markings or consider executive privilege claims.

Trump’s lawyers also suggested that the two parties split the cost of the special master evenly, while the DOJ said the former president should pay for it given that he requested the special master.

The FBI searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on Aug. 8, saying it recovering more than 100 classified documents. A judge granted Trump’s request to appoint a special master to review the removed documents earlier this week, a ruling which the DOJ has since appealed.

— Updated at 11:05 p.m.

Source: TEST FEED1

Poll finds Kelly locked in tight race with Masters in Arizona

A new poll finds Arizona’s Senate race between Sen. Mark Kelly (D) and Republican opponent Blake Masters is getting razor-tight.

The Emerson College poll released Friday shows Kelly leading Masters 47 percent to 45 percent, a finding within the survey’s margin of error, while 4 percent of respondents said they plan to vote for someone else and 5 percent are undecided. 

The poll shows that 47 percent of respondents view each of the candidates favorably. Kelly is viewed unfavorably by 49 percent, while Masters is viewed unfavorably by 48 percent. 

Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College polling, said in a release that a significant gender divide exists between Kelly and Masters. While Masters leads by 10 points among men, Kelly leads by 13 points among women. 

Kelly also has an advantage among independent voters, 46 percent to 37 percent. 

A slight majority of 53 percent also said they expect Kelly to hold his seat and defeat Masters. 

The race is critical to the battle for the Senate majority. Republicans need a net gain of just one seat to take the majority, but their expectations have dimmed in recent weeks amid stumbles by some of their candidates.

Respondents in Arizona considered the economy to be the most important issue for deciding who they will vote for, with 36 percent rating it their top priority. Abortion access and immigration followed, with 16 percent each. 

That could be good news for Masters, who like other Republicans has criticized the Biden administration and Democrats for high inflation.

Almost two-thirds of respondents who rated the economy as their most important issue back Masters, and 98 percent of respondents who considered abortion access their most important issue support Kelly. 

Democrats have sought to make abortion rights a key part of their campaign messaging since the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision in June.

The poll also found that Democrat Katie Hobbs and Republican Kari Lake are tied for the governor’s race at 46 percent each. 

The poll, Emerson’s first of Arizona’s general election during this cycle, was conducted among 627 very likely general election voters. The margin of error was 3.85 points. 

The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Kelly leading Masters by 4 percentage points.

Source: TEST FEED1