The House Judiciary Committee said on Wednesday it will investigate President Trump's proposal to host the 2020 G7 summit at his Miami golf resort, as part of ongoing Congressional impeachment investigations.
What's happening: The committee asserts that hosting some of the world's major economic powers at Trump National Doral would implicate the U.S. Constitution's foreign and domestic emoluments clauses, which could be grounds for impeachment. A hearing on the matter will take place in September.
2020 Democratic candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told the New York Times in an interview Wednesday that she is withdrawing from the presidential race.
The big picture: Gillibrand attempted to brand herself as the women's candidate — focusing her campaign on reproductive rights, child care and her #MeToo advocacy. But with a relatively high number of women running, she struggled to stand out, leading to poor showing in the polls and a failure to qualify for next month's debates.
Kids born outside the U.S. to American citizens who are military members or government officials will have a much harder time qualifying for citizenship, according to a new memo posted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Wednesday.
The big picture: The new policy guidance alters the definition of "residing in the United States" to disqualify some children born to U.S. citizens at overseas military bases or diplomatic facilities from automatically receiving citizenship. It requires citizen parents to spend much more time in the U.S. than is currently required to establish residency — and thus pass on citizenship to their children.
President Trump is determined to speed up construction on the southern border wall to deliver on his 2016 campaign promise ahead of the 2020 election, reports the Washington Post.
The state of play: Trump has "directed aides to fast-track billions of dollars' worth of construction contracts, aggressively seize private land and disregard environmental rules," current and former administration officials told the Post. The president has previously promised to complete 500 miles of fence before the election, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has only completed 60 miles of "replacement" barrier so far.
Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said he "did as well as [he] could for as long as [he] could" during his tenure in the Trump administration, according to a new book excerpt published Wednesday by the Wall Street Journal.
Why it matters: The foreign-policy-focused piece — released just days after President Trump's weekend at the G7 summit — represents Mattis' first at-length comments since he left the White House in February after stating that his views were "not aligned" with those of the president.
Democrats are increasingly taking far-left positions most would not have dreamed of — or dared — taking three short years ago.
Why it matters: A convergence of incentives — fundraising, cable coverage, liberal activism and social media — are inspiring Democrats to offer full-throated support of big government liberalism. The result would make Hillary Clinton and former President Obama sound like conservative Democrats in this field.
