Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday became the first 2020 contender to announce reaching 1 million individual donors, according to Politico.
Why it matters: Donor sourcing is a hot-button issue for Democrats, with several progressive candidates opting to only accept grassroots donations during the primary. Sanders' campaign staff said he pledged not to accept high-dollar contributions into the general election as well, should he get the Party nomination.
Immigrants battling serious illnesses in the U.S. can again receive temporary protection from deportation from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), according to a Department of Homeland Security email sent to House Oversight Committee members on Thursday.
Why it matters: USCIS stopped accepting applications for the medical deferred action program last month. Reports of immigrants battling life-threatening illnesses who might have been forced to leave the country sparked outcry from lawmakers and the public. The email to Oversight Committee members said that acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan directed USCIS to reinstate the program.
Business schools are experiencing continued dips in MBA applications amid heightened anti-immigrant rhetoric in the U.S. and ongoing trade war tensions, the Financial Times reports.
The big picture: Stricter rules for international-student visas have discouraged foreign students from applying, along with America's increasingly anti-immigrant politics. University officials fear the issue is specifically troublesome for Chinese students — among the largest international-student population at American business schools — as the U.S.-China trade war persists.
Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday that while serving in President Trump's Cabinet, the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would sometimes share "misinformation" to persuade Trump on particular issues, the Harvard Gazette reports.
What he's saying: "They did that with the president on a couple of occasions, to persuade him that ‘We’re the good guys, they’re the bad guys,’ Tillerson said at a panel with Harvard professors. "We later exposed it to the president so he understood, ‘You’ve been played.' It bothers me that an ally that’s that close and important to us would do that to us."
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) released Thursday 2 letters he received from Intelligence Community inspector general Michael Atkinson detailing why he believes a whistleblower complaint is a matter of "urgent concern."
Why it matters: Acting director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire has blocked Atkinson from turning the complaint over to Congress — as is normally required by law — by arguing that the allegations do not meet the definition of "urgent concern" under the whistleblower statue. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the complaint involves a conversation between President Trump and a foreign leader.
A study of 10 million college students on 1,000 campuses illustrated a nationwide increase in voting, with rates doubling in the 2018 midterm election as compared to 2014, according to a report out Thursday from the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education at Tufts University.
Why it matters: While older voters historically turned out at significantly higher rates,the new data could signal a change going into the 2020 presidential election, a year in which millennials and Generation Z are expected to make up 37% of the U.S. electorate.
Internal NASA communications show the agency's surprise after a football-field-sized asteroid narrowly missed Earth in July, according to emails acquired by BuzzFeed News via a Freedom of Information Act request.
Why it matters: The emails show that NASA officials believe the agency is lacking necessary infrastructure to reliably detect asteroids.
Why it matters: Activism around gun violence has been more sustained than usual since mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton last month, per Axios' Neal Rothschild. Immigration, which had been the top issue in terms of social media interactions throughout much of 2019, is now in second place behind guns.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that Beto O'Rourke's proposed assault weapon buyback program is unrepresentative of Democratic views, according to Albany's Times Union.
Why it matters: Schumer's dismissal of O'Rourke's proposal signals that some top Democrats are concerned that it could derail ongoing talks about gun control legislation and may allow Republicans to claim during the 2020 election cycle that Democrats intend to take Americans' guns away.
Democrats want 2020 presidential candidates to start talking about subjects much closer to their pocketbooks, Morning Consult reports.
Why it matters: Voters are tired of watching 2020 candidates debate on stage whether "Medicare for All" should get rid of private insurance or how much it would cost taxpayers.
Joining other 2020 Democrats, Beto O'Rourke released Thursday an "End the War on Drugs" proposal to legalize marijuana "and begin to repair the damage [the war on drugs] has done to communities of color."
Why it matters: The issue reflects how fast 2020 Democrats have moved toward their base. Legalizing marijuana, with a focus on social justice, unites the field, per the N.Y. Times.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told other Democratic lawmakers Wednesday that former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski should've been immediately held in contempt for refusing to cooperate with lawmakers during a Congressional hearing, the Washington Post first reported.
I would have held him in contempt right then and there."
Where it stands: Women and transgender men must take 5-8 steps to get an abortion in the most heavily regulated states. They often have to wait at least 24 hours after seeking an abortion, attend counseling against the decision and take at least 2 trips to a facility — and in 6 states, only 1 such facility is available.
Former national security adviser John Bolton told a Manhattan event Wednesday that negotiations with North Korea and Iran are "doomed to failure" and a plan to invite the Taliban to Camp David ahead of the 9/11 anniversary was "disrespectful," Politico and CNN report.
Why it matters: It was already clear that Bolton had sharp disagreements with Trump during his time at the White House. But his reported comments at the private lunch are remarkable not just because they reveal how bitter Bolton's disputes with Trump were, but also because he seems willing to openly air them just days after leaving the White House.
