Rick Gates, the Paul Manafort associate and former Trump campaign adviser who was indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller last fall, "is finalizing a plea deal" with Mueller, CNN reports.
Gates spoke to the special counsel team during an interview in which he had to answer questions "about his own case and other potential criminal activity he witnessed," CNN reports. A White House official told CNN that "[t]here'd be no anxiety here" if Gates cut a deal.
Why it matters: Gates would be the third person indicted in Mueller's investigation to strike a deal, and the move could turn up the heat on Manafort to cooperate.
A bipartisan criminal justice reform bill co-sponsored by Sens. Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin passed through the Judiciary Committee today with a majority of Republicans on the committee voting for it, despite AG Jeff Sessions' opposition to it.
Why it matters: While this is a good sign for criminal justice reform efforts, the bill also passed the committee in 2016 but never got a vote on the floor. The White House has expressed interest in prison reform, which focuses on reentry and reducing recidivism. But this bill also includes more controversial sentencing reforms such as lowering mandatory minimum sentences and eliminating the three-strike penalty.
Days before a 19-year-old killed 17 people at a school in Florida, President Trump's 2019 budget plan included a proposal to slash $25 million from education programs designed to prevent crime in schools and assist with recovery efforts, per Politico.
The details: The budget also proposed cutting funds currently being used to support mental health aid for students and teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, where the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting happened in 2012. Liz Hill, an Education Department spokeswoman, told Politico the agency is "committed to providing resources, direct support and technical assistance to schools who have suffered unthinkable tragedy," when asked about proposed defunding.
The Senate took procedural votes Thursday afternoon on four immigration bills that had been presented this week, and none received the necessary 60 votes to move forward.
Why it matters: Sen. McConnell wanted a deal made this week, but now the Senate is back to square one. Senators leave tomorrow for a week-long recess. At this point, nobody knows what will come next and DACA recipients still don't have long-term protection.
Steve Bannon reportedly interviewed with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team multiple days this week, reports NBC News. Citing two sources familiar with the proceedings, the report said Bannon spent around 20 hours speaking to Mueller's team.
Timing: Bannon appeared on Capitol Hill Thursday for a closed-door interview with the House Intelligence Committee after delaying the meeting more than once while working out the proper scope of questioning with the White House.
The Senate failed Thursday to give the Rounds-King bill the necessary 60 votes to pass. But even if it managed to make it off the floor, the White House made it clear that the President would not have signed the bill into law.
Bottom line: Of the four amendments that have been offered to the bipartisan immigration bill, this was the one with the best chance of passing the Senate.
The White House is actively trying to stamp out any momentum behind the bipartisan Rounds-King immigration bill. Shortly after President Trump's veto threat, a White House official told reporters on a call Thursday afternoon that senators had been asked to remove their sponsorship from the bill, saying it's possible that they were "simply grievously misinformed about the bill’s outrageous contents."
Why it matters: Even if the Senate manages to get 60 votes on this bill, the White House is making it extraclear that Trump will not sign it into law. Trump tweeted this afternoon that the bill would be a "total catastrophe."
The White House released a statement Thursday coming out in full force against the bipartisan immigration bill drafted by Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Angus King (I-ME) stating that the amendment would "drastically change our national immigration policy for the worse by weakening border security and undercutting existing immigration law."
Our thought bubble, from Axios' Jonathan Swan: This is a big deal. Veto threats are rare at this stage of the legislative process. As I said in Sunday’s Sneak Peek, you should keep an eye on Sens. Tom Cotton and David Perdue. This is Trump emphasizing the extent to which the they represent his thinking on immigration, which is far more than Senate leadership or other more moderate senators. Trump is laying down a marker on immigration— and it’s a tough one.
President Donald Trump’s latest travel ban targeting people from six Muslim-majority countries violates the Constitution, a Virginia federal appeals court ruled on Thursday.
Why it matters: This ruling will not have any immediate effect. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the travel ban case this coming spring, and said the policy can by fully implemented while appeals made their way through the lower courts.
Hardline Republicans don't like a provision that calls for immigration enforcement to focus on undocumented immigrants with criminal records and recent arrivals.
Meanwhile, Democrats aren't happy about preventing "dreamers" who become citizens from sponsoring their parents.
Bottom line: This was the Senate's best shot at appeasing both sides, but so far, 60 votes still looks just out of reach.
Billionaire entrepreneur and member of the Facebook board, Peter Thiel is reportedly leaving Silicon Valley to relocate his home and independent investment firms to Los Angeles, per the Wall Street Journal.
Why it matters from Axios' Kim Hart: Thiel got a lot of heat from his Silicon Valley peers for supporting Donald Trump, and has reportedly become increasingly frustrated with the tech industry's views of government and general direction. With Thiel's new distance, Silicon Valley also loses one of the few tech insiders with a relationship with the White House. That could come back to bite Silicon Valley in the next few years as it faces more scrutiny from policymakers.
Senior David Hogg, who survived yesterday's school shooting in southern Florida, stared straight into CNN's camera Thursday morning and sent a strong message to President Trump and lawmakers: “Please, take action. Ideas are great… But what’s more important is actual action… that results in saving thousands of children’s lives. Please, take action.”
Why it matters: Yesterday's shooting in Parkland joins Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs as one of the deadliest mass shootings in modern American history. All of them took place in the last five months.
IBM is encouraging the U.S. government to find ways to make use of blockchain technology to improve its services, but also suggests federal officials take their time and start with modest projects.
Why it matters: While much of the attention around government and blockchain has been around regulating cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, adoption of other blockchain technologies could help deliver services more efficiently, IBM said yesterday at a House subcommittee hearing and in speaking with Axios.
Former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus dished about his six months serving President Trump in a chapter of Chris Whipple's upcoming book, “The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency," an excerpt of which was published by Vanity Fair.
Take everything you’ve heard and multiply it by 50.
President Trump weighed in on yesterday's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida, tweeting that the alleged shooter, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, was "mentally disturbed" and touting the need to "always report such instances to authorities."
Go deeper: Learn more about Cruz, who had been expelled from the high school and was known for posting pictures of himself with guns on social media.
More than 100 White House staffers lacked permanent security clearances as of last November, CNN reports, and its unclear whether those officials have gained clearance since. They included Jared Kusher, Ivanka Trump, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and White House Counsel Don McGahn.
Why it matters: The clearance process came under scrutiny after it emerged that Rob Porter was unable to get full clearance due to domestic violence accusations. And having interim clearance can "hamper a staffer's ability to perform essential functions of the job," per CNN.
Mitt Romney is delaying his announcement that he's running for a Utah Senate seat after the deadly school shooting in south Florida earlier on Wednesday.
