| CONGRESS: Congressional leaders and White House officials on Tuesday indicated that raising the nation’s limit on federal borrowing in order to avert default will be woven into a broader measure to keep the government funded when the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. However, White House officials had been urging Congress to raise the debt ceiling as soon as possible through a measure delinked from budget battles yet to come. "We all agree the debt ceiling is going to be part of an overall deal, but we're not discussing that right now,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters after meeting with Congress’s three other party leaders and the president’s senior advisers. Schumer and Pelosi released a written statement underscoring Democrats’ insistence on parity between any spending increases for defense, favored by Trump and the GOP, and hikes in domestic spending, such as for the U.S. census and veterans. Pelosi and Schumer were joined by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and acting White House budget director Russell Vought. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan joined for a portion of the discussions. A White House official confirmed that the administration is now open to combining a debt limit increase and new defense and nondefense budgetary caps, report Alexander Bolton and Niv Elis. > House and Senate members who sought additional details from the administration about intelligence that triggered public warnings about potential strikes by Iran against U.S. interests got their wish. They received information behind closed doors from acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a hard-liner about Iran. Trump officials say administration efforts to deter Iran have worked (The Hill). 
© Getty Images The Tuesday briefing occurred after Trump said he had "no indication" of threats or attacks by Tehran, contrary to administration statements for the past two weeks. Jordain Carney reports that many superficial parallels between the run-up to the Iraq war in 2003 and the situation in Iran this year have lawmakers chattering about “eerie parallels.” Senators from both parties have admonished Trump that there is no appetite in Congress for a new military conflict in the Middle East, especially leading up to 2020 elections. > Pelosi and Schumer are to meet with the president today for their second discussion since April about a potential $2 trillion infrastructure plan and how to pay for it. On Tuesday night, the White House said Congress must ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement before turning to an unrelated measure for U.S. roads, bridges, ports, energy grids and broadband. It’s yet another wrinkle in years of foot-dragging and disputes about priorities and revenue sources involving the nation’s crumbling infrastructure (Reuters). > Republican leaders in Congress as well as the president are distancing themselves from Alabama’s new law banning nearly all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Alabama’s law potentially complicates a key message Republicans hoped to convey to voters: Democrats lead the party that is extreme on abortion (The Hill). > Legislation to block tech companies from tracking users online is gaining momentum. On Monday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) unveiled a "Do Not Track" bill with tough penalties for companies that breach its protections. Efforts to create a “Do Not Track” registry have hit roadblocks for over a decade, but consumer advocates and tech industry critics are optimistic that’s about to change (The Hill). … Meanwhile in tech, GOP senators on Tuesday signaled they are divided over whether to pursue antitrust enforcement against the country's largest tech companies. Some Republican lawmakers who attended a Tuesday Senate Judiciary Committee hearing slammed the enormous market power of companies such as Facebook and Google. Other senators questioned whether "breaking them up" is a wise idea (The Hill).
> House GOP Leader McCarthy this year aided a California firm in his district, BYD Motors, a division of BYD Co., a large Chinese manufacturer, by blocking a bipartisan attempt to limit Chinese companies from contracting with U.S. transit systems. Through a spokesman, the congressman defended his advocacy on behalf of companies in his district and denied any link between BYD’s campaign contributions and his actions in Congress (The Washington Post). *** POLITICS & CAMPAIGNS: 2020 Democratic candidates are starting to embrace litmus tests for potential judicial nominees, a political tool that was considered taboo for a long period of time as the importance of multiple issues takes hold in the race. With several states pushing to enact laws restricting abortion, Democratic hopefuls are pushing to set more explicit ideological and jurisprudential conditions for would-be judicial nominees, according to Max Greenwood. Chief among those conditions: that any potential judicial nominee commits to backing the Roe v. Wade decision. Those pledges underscore the extent to which presidential candidates have become comfortable with shattering what has historically been considered taboo in campaign politics. Politico: Joe Biden nets fundraising windfall in 2-day Florida swing. CNN: Six takeaways from Beto O'Rourke's town hall. > Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) fought off an unexpectedly tough primary challenge Tuesday night from Robert Goforth, a first-term state legislator, defeating him with 52 percent to Goforth’s 39 percent. Bevin, who first gained notoriety back in 2014 when he primaried McConnell for his seat, has been mired by poor approval ratings after a series of fights with teachers and public sector unions. According to a Morning Consult poll released in April, Bevin is the least popular governor in the U.S. 
© Getty Images Bevin will face Attorney General Andy Beshear, who won a three-way primary fight for the right to take on the incumbent governor in November. Beshear topped Rocky Adkins, the state House minority leader, by six percent. The Courier-Journal: Andy Beshear wins the Democratic primary for Kentucky governor “In his victory speech, Beshear noted how Bevin barely received 50% of the vote in the GOP primary. He knocked the governor for name calling and bullying others, saying this race shouldn't be defined by attacks or national partisanship. ‘I will tell you what I see: This race is not about what's going on in Washington, D.C.,’ Beshear said. ‘It's not about right versus left. Folks, it's about right versus wrong.’" > Fred Keller, a Pennsylvania state legislator, won his special election in the state’s 12th congressional district Tuesday night to replace former Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.). Keller’s took home 70 percent of the vote in the deep red district (The Hill). Keller’s win came after Trump held a campaign rally in Montoursville, Pa., on election eve. Once Keller is sworn into office, there will only be two vacant seats remaining in the House, both in North Carolina. The 9th district’s seat remains vacant as no winner was certified after the November election. The 3rd district is also without representation after the death of the late Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.). Special elections for both seats will be held on September 10. > Iowa Democrats are expecting a massive turnout on caucus night, bolstered by two dozen candidates pushing voters to the polls. As Reid Wilson reports, the party is conscious of screw-ups in 2008 and 2016 that led to grumbling from losing candidates, and they’re worried about outlets such as Fox News exploiting those divisions this time. To avert disaster, they’ve embarked on an ambitious plan to lock down as many caucus sites and backups as possible — but even then, counting is likely to be slow if a thousand people turn out at a single precinct. The Hill: Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) seeks Iowa edge with army of volunteers. | 
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