President Biden touches down Wednesday in Italy for the annual Group of Seven (G-7) summit amid his own personal domestic issues and turbulence on the global political scene. At home: - Biden flew to Italy a day after his son Hunter Biden was convicted on felony gun charges. The president took an unplanned trip home to Delaware on Tuesday to be with his family. Veteran Democratic strategist David Axelrod said the conviction could take a "toll" on Biden in the home stretch to Election Day.
- A new elections forecast from The Economist found former President Trump with a 2 in 3 chance to win November, making him the clear favorite over Biden.
Abroad: - Biden arrives amid a populist right-wing surge in European elections. Some political analysts have drawn parallels between those elections and Brexit in 2016, which came months before Trump's shocking election victory over Hillary Clinton.
- Negotiations over a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas are at a critical juncture. Biden's reelection chances might hang on how progressive Democrats view a potential deal and whether it brings a meaningful end to the bloodshed in Gaza.
- Biden will meet with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky for the second time in as many weeks. The G-7 countries are committed to providing financial support to Ukraine, but the recent European elections and the upcoming American elections could dramatically alter those dynamics.
The Hill's Alex Gangitano and Brett Samuels have the full rundown of what to watch for here.
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Welcome to Evening Report! I'm Jonathan Easley, catching you up from the afternoon and what's coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here. |
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© Jacquelyn Martin, Associated Press |
House voting on Garland contempt charges
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The House is voting now to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing a subpoena for audio files of President Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur in the classified documents case. The big question is whether Republicans will stick together, given their slim majority in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) believes he has the votes, but he can only afford to lose two Republicans in a party-line vote. Either way, the Department of Justice released a memo Wednesday saying Garland can't be prosecuted for contempt. The Hill's Rebecca Beitsch has the key section from the memo: "For nearly seven decades and across presidential administrations of both parties, the Executive Branch has taken the position that the criminal contempt of Congress statute … does not apply to Executive Branch officials who do not comply with a congressional subpoena based on a presidential assertion of executive privilege." Several media outlets are suing the DOJ to obtain Biden's special counsel audio files. House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said he expects the battle for the tapes to be settled by the courts.
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Reading the tea leaves in a special election
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Democrats are finding reasons for optimism in the Tuesday special election to replace former Rep. Bill Johnson (R) in Ohio's 6th congressional district. Trump won the district by 29 points in 2020, but Republican Michael Rulli only defeated Democrat Michael Kripchak by fewer than 10 points last night. That's a nearly 20-point swing toward the left. Democrats believe that turning out more than 27,000 voters for a sleepy special election in a deep-red district in June shows that enthusiasm and turnout will be on their side in November. The Hill's Jared Gans has more takeaways from Tuesday's elections here. Still, the Biden campaign continues to be haunted by bad polling. - The latest Marist Poll finds "Scranton Joe" trailing Trump by 2 points in battleground Pennsylvania.
- A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds that Vice President Harris's favorability rating is even lower than Biden's, and she faces serious doubts about whether she would win the election if she were to become the nominee.
The Hill's Amie Parnes has the latest on Team Biden's strategy: "The campaign is seeking to remind voters of controversial statements and actions President Trump has said and done in an effort to break through what it sees as public amnesia over his tumultuous presidency."
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Supreme Court plunged deeper into controversy
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The liberal activist that secretly recorded conservative justices has plunged the Supreme Court further into controversy, The Hill's Alexander Bolton writes. While the secret recordings didn't provide a true bombshell, Justice Samuel Alito is back in the middle of it, this time for his endorsement of the idea that the country should return to a place of "godliness." Democrats have argued that Alito, who wrote the majority opinion in the case that overturned Roe v. Wade, has been compromised by a commitment to Christian religious doctrine. The activist who recorded Alito also recorded his wife venting frustration with a neighbor for flying a gay pride flag. Expect debates in coming weeks about the ethics of a liberal activist posing as a conservative Catholic to obtain the recordings. The activist, Lauren Windsor, stated that the nation should "return to a place of godliness," to which Alito agreed. Windsor claims she didn't bait Alito. Democrats have their knives out for the conservative majority on the Supreme Court following Alito's flags controversies and media reports about Justice Clarence Thomas accepting gifts and trips from wealthy conservative benefactors. They're seeking leverage to impose new ethics reforms on the court. First up: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) are introducing legislation to "rein in a fundamentally unaccountable and rogue" Supreme Court. |
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15 days until the first presidential debate. 33 days until the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. 68 days until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 146 days until the 2024 general election. 222 days until Inauguration Day 2025. |
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Wednesday - Biden travels to Fasano, Italy, for the G7 Summit.
- The Congressional baseball game starts at 7 p.m.
Thursday - Trump meets with Senate Republicans and attends the Business Roundtable quarterly meeting.
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Is there a story you think should be getting more attention? Something people should be talking about? Drop me a line: jeasley@thehill.com | |
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