The Trump administration has imposed stricter rules for obtaining student visas and has floated restricting the Optional Practical Training program intended to give foreign graduates U.S. work experience. However, a recent study by the Business Roundtable found that a loss of foreign students and workers could end up hurting native U.S. workers.
Why it matters: The report forecasts a potential reduction of GDP by $52 billion, a loss of 443,000 jobs and a cut to real hourly wages by 17 cents over the next 10 years.
"One of the misperceptions that exists today is that it’s one or the other," Francine Katsoudas, chief people officer at Cisco, which is a member of the Business Roundtable, told Axios. "That you ether have policies that are great from an immigration perspective, but hurt U.S. citizens, but it’s not like that. We have to execute flawlessly on both."
Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who has served in the Senate since 2003, announced Monday that he will not be running for re-election in 2020.
Why it matters: The Tennessee Republican chairs the Senate HELP committee and is considered one of the few members capable of striking deals on health care. This also leaves his Senate seat up for grabs in two years.
Two of Michael Flynn's former business associates, Bijan Kian and Ekim Alptekin, were charged on Monday with illegally lobbying for the extradition of U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims engineered a failed coup in 2016.
Why it matters: "The indictment is further evidence of a broad crackdown on unregistered foreign lobbying growing from the inquiry by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel who has investigated foreign flows of money from Ukraine, Turkey and other countries designed to manipulate decision-making in Washington," the New York Times reports.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry condemned the Senate on Monday for its votes last week to pull U.S. support from the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen's ongoing civil war and blaming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) for Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, stating the nation rejects "any attempts to undermine its sovereignty or diminish its stature."
The big picture: The Senate votes broke markedly with the official position of the Trump administration, which publicly stood behind Saudi Arabia with a controversial statement from President Trump last month despite a CIA report linking MBS to Khashoggi's death. Saudi Arabia referenced this break in its statement, saying it hopes it "is not drawn into domestic political debates in the United States of America, to avoid any ramifications on the ties between the two countries that could have significant negative impacts on this important strategic relationship."
For WIRED, Garrett M. Graff compiled the full list of 17 known investigations targeting President Trump’s world from various federal, state, and local prosecutors.
Be smart: The president should be worried after his Sunday tweet about "rats." There are known cooperators in almost every single one of these 17 open cases, from Michael Cohen to National Enquirer chief David Pecker to former Manafort aides Sam Patten and Rick Gates, Graff tells Axios readers.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), nearing the end of his time in the Senate after his decision to retire, was mum on whether or not he'd support a primary challenge against President Trump in 2020 during an interview on MSNBC's "Kasie DC," saying instead, "We've got to remember what the Republican Party is." He added, "What is happening right now is not the standard Republicanism that we've had in our country for many, many years."
Flashback: Corker got into a verbal sparring match with Trump in October 2017, calling the White House "an adult day care center" after Trump blasted him on Twitter for deciding not to seek re-election after asking for the president's endorsement.
Thousands of protestors in Brussels clashed with police on Sunday as they demonstrated against a UN migration pact signed by Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel last week, reports the BBC.
Why it matters: The mass protest near the European Union complex attracted some 5,500 people and was organized by the right-wing N-VA party, which resigned from Belgium's federal government over Michel's decision to sign the agreement. The UN pact, which aims to foster international cooperation on refugees and migration, is facing pressure from the Trump administration, which argues the document harms sovereignty and legitimizes illegal migration.
White House adviser Stephen Miller told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that President Trump will "absolutely" shut down the government next week if he doesn't get funding for a border wall.
The big picture: In a heated exchange with Democratic leaders Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer last week, Trump declared he would be "proud to shut down the government for border security" — essentially eliminating Republicans' ability to pin the blame on Democrats. Schumer said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday that Trump is "not going to get the wall in any form" and has offered no more than $1.6 billion for border security, paving the way for another tense week ahead of Friday's shutdown deadline.
A Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll of potential Iowa caucus voters reveals that former Vice President Joe Biden (32%) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (19%) are leading what is likely to be a massive field of Democratic candidates in the 2020 presidential primary, followed by Rep. Beto O'Rourke (11%), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (8%) and Sen. Kamala Harris (5%).
The big picture: The Iowa caucuses are still 14 months away, and none of the leading contenders have officially declared that they'll run for president. But given that Iowa is the first state to vote and is often seen as a barometer for later contests, it's noteworthy that voters favored a more "seasoned political hand" over a "newcomer" by a margin of 49% to 36%. O'Rourke is perhaps the most intriguing of the leading potential candidates, having been lifted to national prominence after narrowly losing his Texas Senate race last month.
