President Trump signaled on Saturday that he was intervening to help a Navy SEAL accused of crimes while serving Iraq.
Catch up quick: "In honor of his past service to our Country, Navy Seal [sic] Eddie Gallagher will soon be moved to less restrictive confinement while he awaits his day in court. Process should move quickly!" Trump tweeted. The president tagged the "Fox and Friends" Twitter account and South Carolina GOP Rep. Ralph Norman — both of whom have advocated for Gallagher.
Both parties hate the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration. But in a closed-door Hill meeting last week, White House legislative affairs official Paul Teller said the president is fine with it.
"The president does not want a caps deal" to keep sequestration from kicking in, he told Hill staff last week. That's a direct quote, confirmed by two sources with direct knowledge of his comments.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, who at 77 is the oldest 2020 contender, is the favorite among 18- to 29-year-old likely Democratic primary voters at 31%, according to a new poll by Harvard's Institute of Politics (IOP) given first to Axios. Former Vice President Joe Biden follows in second place at 20%.
The big picture: Candidates with the most experience and name recognition are receiving more support among younger voters, as Hillary Clinton did at this point in the 2016 cycle. But we're still 19 months out from the 2020 election, giving lesser-known candidates ample time to win over young people, as Sanders ultimately did in 2016.
Democrats have long promised to get hold of President Trump’s tax returns once they retook the House, but House Ways and Means Committee chair Richard Neal’s lack of urgency to submit a request — 3 months into the new Congress — means that the documents might not be handed over before the 2020 elections, the HuffPost reports.
The state of play: Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who would have to respond to a request to turn over the documents, has declined to explicitly say whether he would release them, telling Congress "based on the request, we will examine it, and we will follow the law." This could raise the likelihood of a prolonged battle in court.
The finance director for Elizabeth Warren's 2020 presidential campaign resigned after an internal clash over the candidate’s decision last month not to host big-money fundraisers or solicit donations from wealthy donors, the New York Times reports.
The big picture: Though it's unclear when exactly finance director Michael Pratt resigned, news of his departure comes just ahead of Sunday's first-quarter fundraising deadline. The Times reports that Warren is lagging behind her competitors and has struggled to raise campaign dollars, even as she leads the Democratic field in putting forth bold new policy proposals. Warren has reportedly transferred $10 million from her Senate campaign account.
Donald Trump made a fateful decision last month when he attempted to politicize the Fed board.
Between the lines: By nominating Stephen Moore to the board — a Republican partisan rather than an economic technocrat — Trump turned the genteel if inefficient process of Fed nominations into something much more bare-knuckled.
Despite President Trump claiming he has been exonerated by special counsel Robert Mueller's report, which he has not yet seen, only 29% of Americans believe the president has been cleared of wrongdoing, according to a new NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll.
The big picture: 40% of respondents say they do not believe Trump has been cleared, while 31% — which includes 45% of independents — are unsure. Pollster Jeff Horwitt, whose firm Hart Research helped conduct the survey, told NBC News: "The public is still in a wait-and-see view of this investigation and what it means for Trump." Trump's overall approval rating sank to 43%, down 3 percentage points from February's NBC News/WSJ poll.
Former Vice President Joe Biden released a new statement Sunday addressing allegations by Nevada Democrat Lucy Flores of inappropriate conduct at a campaign event in 2014.
"In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once - never - did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention.
I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will. I will also remain the strongest advocate I can be for the rights of women. I will fight to build on the work I’ve done in my career to end violence against women and ensure women are treated with the equality they deserve.
I will continue to surround myself with trusted women advisers who challenge me to see different perspectives than my own. And I will continue to speak out on these vitally-important issues where there is much more progress to be made and crucial fights that must be waged and won.”
Near a shelter under a downtown El Paso international bridge, Beto O'Rourke challenged President Trump's immigration policies at his presidential campaign kickoff rally on Saturday, the El Paso Times reports.
Robert De Niro reprised his role as Special Counsel Robert Mueller as "Saturday Night Live" dedicated the opening sketch of its return show to the fallout from the Mueller report's conclusion.
Details: De Niro's Mueller read from his report that his team had not drawn a definitive conclusion on the charge of obstruction of justice. Aidy Bryant's William Barr responded, "But I have, and my conclusion is Trump clean as a whistle." Alec Baldwin's Trump exclaimed: "Free at last, free at last!"
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) urged small donors Saturday to pause Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee donations, as she became the latest Democrat to criticize a new DCCC policy blacklisting anyone working with primary challengers over sitting Democrats.
