Redistricting Votes
Lawmakers in California will wrap up work on their plan to ask the electorate to add as many as five Democratic-leaning seats in Congress via unusual midterm redistricting. A few things to know:
Timing: The state Assembly and Senate both plan to vote today on clearing the three measures needed to make Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan work. One is a constitutional amendment that would head to voters. The other measures detail the proposed districts and seek to formally call a Nov. 4 special election, Andrew Oxford reports.
What It Looks Like: Legislative analyst Brandon Lee walks through major changes to the congressional districts in a BGOV OnPoint.
Sacrificial Democrats: Greg Giroux identifies the incumbent House Democrats who need to get ready to introduce themselves to big groups of voters they don’t now represent.
Let the Real Fighting Begin: Democrats hold supermajorities in Sacramento, so Republicans went to court to stop them — and lost, Maia Spoto reports. Meanwhile, both parties are shifting into campaign mode and rushing to rally big donors.
Arnold Schwarzenegger: The former governor says he’s part of the opposition and will defend an independent redistricting process he championed.
Barack Obama: Newsom’s plan has the former president’s seal of approval.
And in Texas: The state House of Representatives approved a plan to create as many as five more Republican-tilted congressional districts in Texas in a special session. The Texas state Senate, which is also controlled by Republicans, is expected to take up the effort today. Approval there would send it to Gov. Greg Abbott (R) for his signature.
The California remap is a response to the Texas revisions, being done at the behest of President Donald Trump, who sought to decrease the likelihood of midterm voters flipping control of the US House next year.
See also:
- The Texas Tribune looked at the planned remap’s impact on a district temporarily without representation after the death of its incumbent.
- A legal insight written for Bloomberg Law examines whether the Texas governor had the constitutional authority to call the special session on redistricting in the first place.
US-owned Factory Bombed
Russia attacked a civilian factory owned by a US company in western Ukraine, causing a massive fire and wounding at least 15 people.
Local authorities said that at around 4:40 a.m. local time, two Russian cruise missiles hit Flex Ltd’s premises in Mukachevo.
“It was a regular civilian business, supported by American investment, producing everyday items like coffee machines,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Thursday on social media.
Russia resumed massive strikes deep inside Ukraine after a three-week pause ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s summit with President Donald Trump in Alaska on Aug. 15. Following that meeting, Trump backed down from his threats to increase penalties on Moscow unless it ceases its full-scale invasion.
European leaders and Zelenskiy visited Washington on Monday as Trump continues his bid to broker an end to Russia’s war, now well into its fourth year. Trump is pushing for a bilateral meeting between Zelenskiy and Putin by the end of the month, as Kyiv’s European allies and Washington discuss security guarantees for Ukraine. Read More
Also Read:
- Vance Says Russia Wants Territory That’s Under Ukraine’s Control
- Poland Accuses Russia of Provocation Over Military Drone Crash
- Zelenskiy Rules Out China as One of Postwar Security Guarantors
Wheels Up
Vice President JD Vance is headed to Peachtree City, Ga., today to talk up the GOP’s tax and spending package to voters in a state that will be important in next year’s Senate elections.
Congressional Republicans have faced some backlash to the big law’s many changes.
In the view of a neighboring state’s senator, Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), people will be more likely to embrace the law once it makes a difference in their lives. “Unless you realize something out of it, it’s like everything else up in Washington, DC, it’s all talk and no substance,” said Tuberville, who’s running for governor in his state. “There’s going to be a lot of substance to this, it just all has to go into effect.” — Lillianna Byington
Eye on the Economy
Several notewothy numbers are being updated today: jobless claims, existing home sales, and what purchasing managers say they’re experiencing at their factories.
On top of that, the experts will be scrutinizing Walmart’s earnings report for what that giant employer says it expects going forward — especially anything about the impact of tariffs on its business.
Last Hurrah: The symposium of global central bankers and finance chiefs kicking off today in Jackson Hole, Wyo., will be the final one for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in that position since his chairmanship expires in May.
In past years, Powell has used this event to recalibrate expectations. We’ll be watching for what he says about fighting inflation at a time when the president is pushing hard for interest rate cuts.
And a correction: Powell speaks to the symposium tomorrow. Yesterday’s newsletter inaccurately said it would happen sooner.
As for Trump’s pressure campaign against the Fed, he has shifted from threatening to fire Powell to saying the first Black woman to serve as a Fed governor should quit over a mortgage practice the central bank has found to be “broad-based” across the US. Fed Governor Lisa Cook said she won’t be bullied into doing what Trump demands.
Also Read: Fed Minutes Show Majority of FOMC Saw Inflation as Greater Risk
Tariff Watch
The Christmas-decorations industry is hoping tariffs don’t ruin the holidays after a hectic ordering season that saw importers cancel shipments, cut down on orders and lay off workers to be able to pay the duties. Some expressed concerns about staying in business.
The vast majority of artificial Christmas trees, lights and other decor are imported — mostly from China. Because seasonal items typically need to be shipped months ahead of time, stiffer levies already added millions of dollars in unexpected costs. Jared Hendricks, founder and chief executive officer of Village Lighting Company in West Valley City, Utah, had to take a line of credit leveraged by his house and office to help cover $1.5 million in extra tariff costs.
- “This is the most stressful year I’ve ever had,” said Hendricks, whose business sells lights, garlands and wreaths to professional installers and consumers. Read More
Also Read: Swiss Watch Exports Bounce Back in July Ahead of US Tariffs
In Court
One of the administration’s showcase policies is up for argument today in San Francisco, where the Ninth Circuit appeals court is considering a long-running challenge to the “Remain in Mexico” policy.
The Immigrant Defenders Law Center argues that making asylum seekers wait south of the border country while their appeals play out denies their right to counsel and violates their First Amendment rights.
The government is appealing a lower court ruling that blocked the policy from going into effect.
Also Read: Trump Makes US Entry Lengthy, Costly for Workers and Travelers
Before You Go
Strategic Weapons: A DC think tank says North Korea has quietly built and operated a sprawling long-range missile base near the Chinese border. “These missiles pose a potential nuclear threat to East Asia and the continental United States,” the report said. Read More
Musk Case Continues: A woman who didn’t get “a random chance to win $1 million” has a federal judge’s OK to proceed with her lawsuit claiming if she knew that, she would never would have signed Elon Musk’s America PAC petition and handed over personal identifying information. The winners were carefully selected to be spokespeople for Musk’s pro-Donald Trump political action committee. Read More
Personal Investments: Trump has bought at least $103.7 million in bonds since he returned to office, including those sold by companies affected by the sweeping changes to federal policies he’s championed. Read More
A Fleet Would Be Handy: NBC News reports that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement to have a dedicated fleet of deportation planes. Until now, charter flights have been the vehicle of choice.
Setting It Straight
An item about the Department of Homeland Security in yesterday’s newsletter misspelled the department’s acronym. It’s DHS. And the date of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole was incorrect. It happens Friday.
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