Senator Jon Tester's office released a detailed summary of allegations against Ronny Jackson, Trump's pick to head the Veterans Affairs Department, on Wednesday, which range from claims of recklessly dispensing drugs to crashing a government vehicle while drunk — though Jackson denies the latter ever happened, per the AP.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott is demanding former Congressman Blake Farenthold to "cover all costs" of the June 30 special election to fill the seat he left vacant upon his resignation earlier this month amid scrutiny over a 2015 settlement he made with his former communications director who claimed he sexually harassed her the year prior.
The details: In a letter sent Wednesday, the Republican governor urged Farenthold to pay back the $84,000 in taxpayer funds used to settle the claim "to the counties in [his] district to cover the costs of the ... special election," adding that "the counties and taxpayers ... should not again pay the price for your actions.”
The Department of Homeland Security plans to end the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that gave 9,000 Nepalese nationals legal residency in the U.S. following the devastating earthquake which took place three years ago today, the Washington Post reported.
Why it matters: DHS has already ended these permits for 200,000 Salvadorans, 50,000 Haitians, and for thousands of Nicaraguans and the Sudanese. The Nepal TPS has been in place for a much shorter period of time, but a Trump official told the Post that TPS was "never intended to afford long-term residency to foreigners."
Democratic candidates have exceeded expectations in each special election since President Trump took office, which included dramatic wins for Rep. Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania and Sen Doug Jones in Alabama.
Behind the numbers: To take the House, Democrats have to beat the partisan leans calculated by Cook Political Report in each district by an average of 4 points, analyst Dave Wasserman says. Even if the Alabama Senate race — in which Jones beat expectations by 15 points — is discounted as a special case given Roy Moore's troubles, Democrats have over-performed by 6% to 12% in recent special elections.
A new academic study finds that Trump voters' anxiety was driven more by fear of what may come than by anger over the past, according to a New York Times account by Niraj Chokshi that shot to #1 on the site's Most Popular list.
The big picture: Economic anxiety was cited as a reason why Trump voters supported him despite any misgivings or doubts they had about him, but this study suggests that may not have been the case.
At this point it's very difficult to imagine a scenario in which Ronny Jackson is the next Veterans Affairs secretary.
The latest: Senators from both parties spent the day yesterday throwing cold water on Jackson's nomination. And after a trickle of loose and vague suggestions of inappropriate conduct, CNN's Juana Summers and Manu Raju scooped some details last night.
Top Republicans have conceded for months that they're likely lose the House in November's midterms. But some well-wired operatives now tell Axios that President Trump may face his real nightmare: losing the Senate, giving Democrats both ends of the Capitol, and one-third of the government.
Why it matters: It's not just that Democratic dominance at the Capitol would speed impeachment proceedings and trap the White House in a thicket of oversight probes and hearings. Twin losses would be a massive repudiation of Trump and his brand of Republicanism, just as he embarks on his reelection.
The Supreme Court has mostly been able to stay insulated from Trumpworld — it hasn’t had to grapple with the impulses and contradictions that tie the rest of official Washington in knots. But that will likely have to change today as the court takes up President Trump’s travel ban.
Between the lines: It’s no big surprise to see a president’s signature policies land at the Supreme Court, but the travel-ban case is uniquely tied up with Trump’s haphazard policymaking process, and with the tug of war between the president and his administration. The justices will even have to decide how much they care about Trump’s tweets.
