2020 candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) — both self-declared Democratic-socialists — will introduce a bill on Thursday to prevent credit card interest rates from rising above 15% and capping consumer loans, the Washington Post reports.
Our thought bubble, via Axios' Felix Salmon: Credit cards are one of the most insidious forms of indebtedness. By bundling a loan with a very convenient payments device, banks deliberately make it easy to rack up large debts and interest charges. Capping rates at 15% would significantly reduce unintentional consumer indebtedness.
On Monday President Trump will welcome to the White House Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has generally been shunned and censured by Western politicians and diplomats for his illiberal practices.
Why it matters: At a time when mainstream governments across Europe are doing their best to contain the far right, Trump’s outreach to Orbán will be seen as an effort to bolster populists, weaken Europe’s strained political center and undermine the EU.
Former CIA operative Valerie Plame announced a 2020 congressional run in New Mexico's 3rd congressional district on Thursday.
The big picture: She will run as a Democrat, citing health care access and prescription drug costs as primary reasons behind her run in her announcement. Plame, who first expressed interest in a run last month, had her identity as a CIA operative made public after a leak in 2003 under the George W. Bush administration to attack her ex-husband Joe Wilson.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she agrees with Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler's claim yesterday that the U.S. is in a "constitutional crisis" over the White House's stonewalling of congressional oversight, telling reporters: "The administration has decided they are not going to honor their oath of office."
Mayor Pete Buttigieg is the only top-tier 2020 candidate that doesn't provide health care coverage to his campaign staffers, NBC reports.
Details: Buttigieg's campaign gives staffers a $400 monthly stipend instead, which allows employees to buy insurance on their own on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. Buttigieg's press secretary told NBC that his campaign is currently negotiating a multi-state group plan as the number of staffers reaches 50 people — the benchmark for employers to offer health care.
The White House's refusal to comply with any Congressional subpoenas shows it's a "lawless administration," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) told MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show" Wednesday.
"It’s the first administration you’ve ever seen where they say we’ll deny all subpoenas from Congress, whether it’s on the Mueller investigation or on security clearances or in anything else. They defy the law. …We cannot have a situation where the president becomes a king or a dictator."
President Trump told supporters after a rally in Panama City Beach, Florida, Wednesday congressional Democrats’ investigations would help him win re-election in 2020, AP reports.
They want to do investigations instead of investments. I think it drives us right on to victory in 2020."
At a campaign rally in Panama City, Fla., President Trump announced a new $448 million relief package for the hurricane-damaged panhandle, reports ABC News.
"These dollars will help communities get back on their feet. We've already given you many, many millions of dollars but these are additional monies that are coming in to help the families put their lives together."
As of May 5, there have been more arrests of immigrants crossing the border in FY2019 than any full year since 2009, Border Patrol chief Carla Provost said in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday afternoon.
Why it matters: The record number of migrant families and children crossing the U.S. border continues to grow. There were 109,144 total migrants arrested or turned away by border patrol agents last month, according to the latest stats. Detention centers along the border are overcrowded, and since March, 33,000 migrants have been released into the U.S. due to limited space, Provost said.
Editor's note: An earlier version mistakenly attributed the latest immigration numbers to be as of April 5 rather than May 5.
In what seems to be a presidential campaign first, nearly 100 staff members for Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2020 White House bid ratified a union contract on Wednesday, AP reports.
Details: The contract with United Food and Commercial Workers aims to arm staffers with some minimum standards, noting the long hours and inconsistent workload that is par for the course on the campaign trail. Sanders' staff voted to unionize in March.
President Trump's longtime friend and close adviser, David Bossie, is, for now at least, a persona non grata in Trumpworld.
Driving the news: Two days after Axios published an investigation of Bossie's fundraising, the president personally authorized the Trump campaign to issue an extraordinary statement that, without naming Bossie, effectively called for the authorities to investigate Bossie's group, the Presidential Coalition.
Many 2020 presidential hopefuls have reacted to the shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch in suburban Denver Tuesday, with several stressing their pledges to change gun laws.
Details: The White House called it a "hateful and horrible" act of violence and said President Trump was monitoring the situation. Here's how 2020 presidential candidates reacted.
The San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that the Trump administration can, at least for now, continue to enforce its policy that requires some asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their cases are being processed.
Why it matters: This is a significant victory for the administration, whose immigration policies have been facing constant legal challenges as it grapples with the surge of migrant families coming across the border. A federal judge last month blocked the "remain in Mexico" policy while it has been challenged in court. Tuesday's ruling means that the government can continue the policy while it appeals the April 8th ruling and the court considers broader issues in the case.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) threatened to hold former White House counsel Don McGahn in contempt of Congress on Tuesday evening should he refuse to testify before the panel and comply with its subpoena request.
Why it matters: McGahn, a key witness from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, was asked to turn over documents by May 7 that could shed light on potential obstruction by President Trump highlighted in the Mueller report and to appear before the House Judiciary Committee on May 21. White House counsel Pat Cipollone instructed McGahn to withhold subpoenaed documents that the panel requested.
