National

The White House will host key North Carolina leaders, including the mayors of Raleigh and Charlotte, as President Biden looks to expand on his argument that his administration is restoring American manufacturing. 

Why it matters: North Carolina is a crucial political battleground where Democrats are hoping to win a close Senate race and pick up a few seats in the House, in part by capitalizing on the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, post-Roe momentum, and a growing population in urban and suburban Raleigh and Durham areas. 

What we're watching: Wolfspeed, a silicon chip manufacturer, announced it will build a new factory in Chatham County, which is expected to create 1,800 jobs. 

The details:  The Mayors of Charlotte, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Concord, Kinston and Durham are confirmed to attend the half-day event tomorrow. 

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.), who is defending her seat in North Carolina's 6th district from Republican nominee Christian Castelli, will also attend. 

They'll be joined by state Rep. Pricey Harrison, state Sen. Michael Garrett and board of commissioner chairs Sig Hutchinson of Wake County and Melvin “Skip” Alston of Guilford County, among other local elected officials. 

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper will speak in a pre-recorded video message. 

What they're saying: "I think there's a real kind of direct impact that North Carolina has felt, whether we're talking about new investments coming into the state or the impact that the expansion of electric vehicle manufacturing and battery manufacturing will have for the state," Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Senior Advisor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, told Axios in an interview.

"The coupling of the university system with the workforce development opportunities into good paying union jobs again — we see as a real opportunity there."

By the numbers: About 135,000 more North Carolinians will receive health insurance next year due to the Inflation Reduction Act, according to HHS projections. 

An estimated 170,000 additional North Carolina households will install rooftop panels as a result of incentives in newly passed legislation, according to White House estimates shared with Axios. 

The US Army Corps of Engineers is spending $10.3 million to dredge Wilmington Harbor, and the Asheville Regional Airport received a $15 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration in July after the passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. 

The big picture: North Carolina is one of a handful of states — like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin — where Democrats are trying to claw back working-class votes they lost to Trump in 2016. 

The White House kicked off its series of half-day long conversation with local elected leaders with mayors from Ohio, ground-zero for chips manufacturing. 

Flashback: Democrats have not had presidential success here since 2008, when former president Obama narrowly carried the state. That same year, Cheri Beasley, then a former public defender and district judge, won a seat on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. 

Beasley is now the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, running against Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) for the seat of retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) 

What's next: The White House says it will host conversations with leaders from all 50 states — aiming for one every week, with upcoming events Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern and Southwestern states.

White House to host North Carolina mayors in manufacturing push

The President  hopes to expand on his argument that his administration is restoring American manufacturing.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles standing in front of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper at a press conference. 

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles standing in front of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. Photo: Andy McMillan/Axios Charlotte archives

White House

The White House will host key North Carolina leaders, including the mayors of Raleigh and Charlotte, as President Biden looks to expand on his argument that his administration is restoring American manufacturing. Why it matters: North Carolina is a crucial political battleground where Democrats are hoping to win a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="close Senate race " data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2022/09/19/the-closest-senate-race-in-america-that-nobodys-watching" data-vars-content-id="3ed4119a-015c-4a67-b982-0700c2d002d9" data-vars-headline="White House to host North Carolina mayors in manufacturing push" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2022/09/19/the-closest-senate-race-in-america-that-nobodys-watching" target="_self">close Senate race </a>and pick up a few seats in the House, in part by capitalizing on the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, post-Roe momentum, and a growing population in urban and suburban Raleigh and Durham areas.

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

Raymond Dearie's appointment as special master to review records the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago was a positive development for former President Trump, whose lawyers recommended him. But their call for the low-profile New York judge was befuddling given Dearie has no apparent connection or loyalty to Trump.

Driving the news: Two sources with direct knowledge of the closely held deliberations now tell Axios what Trump's legal team was thinking:

Lawyers and advisers to the former president believe Dearie's role on the secretive court that approved controversial warrants used to surveil former Trump campaign aide Carter Page in 2016 and 2017 made Dearie a deep skeptic of the FBI.

The two sources were granted anonymity because they were describing sensitive discussions within the Trump team.

Details: Dearie's seven years on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, including during the Page case, is a matter of public record and has been reported. But it has not been previously reported that this experience drove the Trump team's thinking in requesting him.

Dearie could not be reached for comment. He has not made any public comments — that Axios is aware of — to suggest that the Trump team's thinking is more than a hope or a theory. And, he will be reviewing the documents themselves for privilege, not reviewing representations about the documents by the FBI.

A representative for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York — the court on which Dearie has served since 1986 — did not respond to questions about whether Trump team's understanding of Dearie's view of the FBI matches his actual view.

Taylor Budowich, a spokesperson for Trump, did not respond to a request for comment.

Why it matters: As special master, Dearie will vet more than 11,000 documents seized from Mar-a-Lago for both attorney-client privilege and executive privilege to determine if any material was improperly swept up in the search.

His appointment could, at a minimum, delay the Justice Department's investigation into the former president. The department has argued that such a delay could harm U.S. national security because of the sensitive nature of the highly classified documents Trump improperly kept at Mar-a-Lago.

Flashback: The Justice Department's investigation into Russian election interference in the 2016 presidential election and connections to the Trump campaign involved a flawed process.

Dearie, 78, served for seven years on the FISC. He was one of the judges who signed off on FISA warrants to surveil Page.

Two of the four approved warrants were later declared invalid after a DOJ Inspector General report found a series of misstatements and omissions in the FBI's applications to get the warrants.

A former FBI lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith, pleaded guilty in 2020 to altering an email submitted as part of the surveillance application — a felony charge. 

The FISA process typically is not adversarial in real time because people who do not know they are under surveillance cannot push back against FBI claims in court.

Judges historically have appeared to give the FBI significant deference in these cases. But the Page saga showed how that trust could be misplaced.

Trump's lawyers are betting that has made Dearie more skeptical of the FBI than an average judge — in a way that endures beyond the Page case.

Between the lines: Trump has a history of demanding loyalists in key roles, which made his team's suggestion of Dearie as special master a puzzle to many legal observers.

Dearie, whom former President Reagan appointed to the federal bench in 1986, is widely respected in the legal community and has a reputation as an "exemplary jurist" and a straight-shooter.

Since the announcement, Dearie has even received praise from Trump enemies. Andrew Weissmann, a former lead prosecutor in the Russia investigation who appeared before Dearie early in his career, told the New York Times that Dearie was "a fair-minded, smart judge who has a ton of common sense..."

Dearie's bipartisan high esteem worked to Trump's benefit. U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee in the Southern District of Florida, did not face pressure to reject Dearie as she would have with a recommendation of someone seen as a Trump loyalist.

Dearie was not on the Justice Department's list of recommended special masters, but the DOJ accepted the recommendation from Trump's team due to his "previous federal judicial experience and engagement in relevant areas of law."

Since 2011, Dearie has been on "senior active" status, meaning he has a reduced caseload but continues to preside over cases, as his court calendar suggests.

Two days after Trump made his request for a special master, Dearie told Law.com he would move to inactive status.

Two weeks later, Trump's lawyers submitted Dearie's name to DOJ as one of two recommendations for the role. It is not clear whether or how those developments are connected.

What's next: Cannon said Dearie will need to complete his review of materials by Nov. 30 — a timeline closer to the Trump team's suggestion than to DOJ's proposed deadline of Oct. 17.

The Nov. 30 deadline could shift subject to Dearie's own proposals. Cannon also asked Dearie to submit interim reports and recommendations on documents before his entire review is complete.

In granting the request for special master, Cannon also temporarily barred law enforcement agencies from accessing the material for their investigation of Trump's handling of the documents until the special master review is complete. 

After Cannon rejected DOJ's request to allow investigators to continue reviewing classified documents, the DOJ asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to issue a partial stay of Cannon's order.

Scoop: Team Trump sees special master as deep FBI skeptic

Judge Raymond Dearie's involvement with the Carter Page case is known. But advisers have not previously said it drove their thinking in requesting him.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on September 14, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida.

Former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in September 2022. Photo: Joe Raedle via Getty Images.

Donald Trump

Scoop: White House prepares for post-midterm turnover

The White House is launching a talent search to be ready for potential turnover after the 2022 midterm elections.

President Joe Biden speaks at the start of a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on July 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. 

President Biden speaks at the start of a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on July 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. Photo: Drew Angerer via Getty Images

The White House is launching a talent search to be ready for turnover in President Biden&#x27;s cabinet and other senior administration roles after the 2022 midterm elections. Driving the news: White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain has tapped former administration officials Jeff Zients and Natalie Quillian to help oversee a wide talent search effort outside the administration to bring in new talent, an administration official told Axios.

Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund is pouring $1 million into new television ads urging Wisconsin voters to oust Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), accusing him of enabling rising crime and gun violence, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The attack on Johnson is one of the most prominent examples of Democrats flipping the script against Republicans on the issue of crime — which has become a potent GOP attack in the final stretch of the midterms — by tying it to gun safety. 

What we're watching: "Mass shootings, school shootings and violent crime are on the rise, and Ron Johnson is making things worse," a narrator says in the new 30-second ad, which is slated to appear in the Madison and Milwaukee media markets. 

"He abandoned law enforcement, voting against funding the police, preventing local departments from hiring more officers, but supported flooding our streets with guns." 

The new ad buy from Everytown — the gun safety group founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — marks the first time the group has spent in a U.S. Senate race this cycle, with more to follow. 

It comes on top of the approximately $2 million the group has already spent during the midterm campaign.

The big picture: Crime and public safety have emerged as top midterm issues, with both parties pouring tens of millions into key races to paint the opposing party as responsible for the uptick in crime over the past two years. 

What they're saying: “Politicians like Ron Johnson talk tough on crime in an attempt to distract from their disastrous record. The reality is they’re making things worse and failing to keep people safe," John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, told Axios. 

The other side: In the same state, new ads from the Senate Leadership Fund — Republicans' top Senate super PAC — have relentlessly attacked Democratic nominee Mandela Barnes for his support for ending cash bail.

One of the spots features the grandmother of a child struck by a car during an attack on a Waukesha Christmas parade last year.

Other Democrats across the country are pushing back with ads of their own in response to GOP attacks on crime. 

John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, released an ad in response to incessant attacks from his Republican opponent Mehmet Oz in which he cited "public safety" as the reason he ran for office.

"Dr. Oz in his Gucci loafers is attacking me on crime. Dr. Oz wouldn't last two hours here in Braddock," Fetterman says in the ad. "We did whatever it took to fund our police and stopped gun deaths for five years." 

First look: Everytown launches $1 million ad buy attacking Ron Johnson on crime

Democrats are trying to flip the script against Republicans on the issue of crime.

2022 elections

Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund is pouring $1 million into new television ads urging Wisconsin voters to oust Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), accusing him of enabling rising crime and gun violence, Axios has learned.Why it matters: The attack on Johnson is one of the most prominent examples of Democrats flipping the script against Republicans on the issue of crime — which has become a potent GOP attack in the final stretch of the midterms — by tying it to gun safety.

Conservative groups have launched a national search for prospective plaintiffs to challenge the Biden administration's federal student loan forgiveness order in court.

Why it matters: 43 million student borrowers eligible for relief could be stuck in financial limbo if the order becomes embroiled in drawn-out litigation.

What we're watching: The Job Creators Network — a right-leaning small business group that's advocated for lower taxes and fewer regulations — is preparing to file a lawsuit once the Department of Education unveils the website where borrowers can apply. 

They've tapped Karen Harned from the National Federation of Independent Business to lead a team vetting potential plaintiffs. She oversaw a recent legal bid to block certain COVID-19 vaccine workplace mandates.

Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist tells Axios his organization will either file its own lawsuit, team up with conservative think tanks or state attorneys general, or all of the above. 

One Oregon man who previously ran for U.S. Senate as a Republican is representing himself in a lawsuit challenging Biden's student loan plan in district court, arguing that the relief will worsen inflation and raise the interest expense on his mortgage.

State of play: The Biden administration last month announced plans to forgive $10,000 in student loans for individual borrowers who make under $125,000 per year, and $20,000 for those who have received Pell Grants.

The administration has not yet rolled out the site where around 35 million borrowers will have to apply for forgiveness. 

The approximately eight million qualifying borrowers for whom the Department of Education already has income information will receive automatic debt relief.

Between the lines: One key challenge is proving that a plaintiff has the standing to sue in federal court.

The Supreme Court has ruled that merely being a taxpayer does not provide the necessary standing to challenge an allotment of government funds alleged to violate the Constitution. 

"[Biden's loan forgiveness plan] is unfair but you can't take unfair to court," said Job Creators Network president Alfredo Ortiz.

Zoom in: One path some groups are exploring is finding a plaintiff who is a private citizen earning just above the income threshold, or who put themselves through school while working and has already paid off their loans.

Loan servicers might seek standing by arguing that the administration's action led them to lose money they might otherwise have made. 

Some Republican state attorneys general, including Mark Brnovich in Arizona and Eric Schmitt in Missouri, have indicated early interest in arguing standing, though details are not yet clear. 

What they're saying: "Standing is a game of Whac-a-Mole," Fordham University law professor Jed Shugerman told Axios. "If you're the Biden administration you have to whack every mole" but when an advocacy group is looking for a plaintiff, "All you need is one entity with concrete and direct harm that is willing to sue." 

Dalié Jiménez, professor of bankruptcy law at UC Irvine and director of the Student Loan Law Initiative, said legal challenges amount to an effort to intimidate people from applying for the relief in the first place. 

"Borrowers should continue to do as the department is asking them to do, which is to fill out the application until a court basically like says otherwise or prevents it from taking effect, Jiménez said.

The other side: The Biden administration says a 2003 law known as HEROES, the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act, allows it to waive federal student loans to support borrowers in an emergency, such as a natural disaster or war. 

A 25-page memo from the Justice Department lays out the administration's legal justification, citing the "financial hardship arising out of the COVID -19 pandemic."

White House spokesperson Abdullah Hasan told Axios in response to this reporting: "Let's be clear about what they would be trying to do here: The same folks who voted for a $2 trillion tax giveaway for the rich and had hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own small business loan debt forgiven would be trying to keep millions of working middle-class Americans in mountains of debt."

Inside preparations to challenge Biden's student loan forgiveness

Conservative groups have launched a national search for prospective plaintiffs.

Illustration of a graduation cap on the statue of Lady Justice.

Student debt

Conservative groups have launched a national search for prospective plaintiffs to challenge the Biden administration&#x27;s <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="federal student loan forgiveness order" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/08/24/student-loan-forgiveness-debt-cancel-biden" data-vars-content-id="e1609dbf-bb67-4ec6-8c60-b131d673b1f5" data-vars-headline="Inside preparations to challenge Biden&#x27;s student loan forgiveness" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/08/24/student-loan-forgiveness-debt-cancel-biden" target="_self">federal student loan forgiveness order</a> in court.Why it matters: 43 million student borrowers eligible for relief could be stuck in financial limbo if the order becomes embroiled in drawn-out litigation.

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

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Stories

Scoop: White House prepares for post-midterm turnover

First look: Everytown launches $1 million ad buy attacking Ron Johnson on crime

White House to host North Carolina mayors in manufacturing push

Inside preparations to challenge Biden's student loan forgiveness

Scoop: Team Trump sees special master as deep FBI skeptic