President Trump "has ordered a substantial reduction" of the National Security Council's staff, Bloomberg reports, citing 5 people familiar with the president's plans.
The big picture: Some of those sources told Bloomberg the staff cuts are "part of a White House effort to make its foreign policy arm leaner under new National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien." But the move also follows a whistleblower complaint released by a CIA officer who was previously detailed to the National Security Council, per the NY Times.
President Trump attempted to pit Utahan voters against Republican Sen. Mitt Romney via Twitter on Saturday, claiming that state residents now consider voting for him in 2018 to be a mistake.
Why it matters: Romney, who criticized the Trump-Ukraine allegations after reading the whistleblower complaint, is one of the first Republican senators to denounce Trump's calls for China or Ukraine to investigate one of his top 2020 rivals.
The top of Sunday's Washington Post Outlook section has two sharp, interesting articles that help explain why Democrats think they have a strong hand on impeachment.
The big picture: For nearly a month, the White House has refused to comply with House investigations into whether Trump jeopardized national security by allegedly pressing Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 presidential election, and by withholding security assistance provided by Congress to help Ukraine.
President Trump referred to Mitt Romney as a "pompous ass" on Saturday in response to the Republican senator's criticism of Trump for his "brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine" to investigate the Bidens.
Why it matters: Romney, who criticized the Trump-Ukraine allegations after reading the whistleblower complaint, is one of the first Republican senators to denounce Trump's calls for China or Ukraine to investigate one of his top 2020 rivals.
President Trump always counted on the economy to carry him to re-election, but now he's testing it as a central argument against impeachment.
Why it matters: If Americans see their economic fortunes tied to whether Trump is impeached, it could make Democrats' next moves on impeachment that much harder — and give Trump a new insurance policy for the general election.
The Trump administration on Friday issued a proclamation requiring immigrant-visa applicants to prove they can obtain health insurance within 30 days of entering the U.S. or cover their own health care expenses.
The big picture: A recent increase in the number of people without health insurance has coincided with the Trump administration discouraging immigrants from applying for and using government health care programs, like Medicaid.
Microsoft believes an Iranian group tried to hack 241 email accounts of “a U.S. presidential campaign, current and former U.S. government officials, journalists covering global politics and prominent Iranians living outside Iran,” the company said Friday in a blog post.
The impact: The hackers — who were apparently backed by Iran's government — targeted President Trump's re-election campaign, the New York Times reports. The group allegedly compromised 4 accounts, which Microsoft said did not belong to government officials or a presidential campaign.
Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign said this week that he will participate in the next Democratic primary debate on Oct. 15 in Westerville, Ohio, after spending 3 nights in a Las Vegas hospital following a heart attack, per the New York Times.
What's happening: The 78-year-old, released from the hospital on Friday, underwent a medical procedure after a blockage was found in one of his arteries. Senior campaign adviser Jeff Weaver said all upcoming campaign events are suspended "until further notice." His wife, Jane Sanders, released a statement during his hospitalization on Thursday saying there is no need for further procedures.
Steve Bullock's 2020 campaign says it raised $2.3 million in the 3rd quarter of the year. His numbers are among the smallest of any other Democratic candidate who has revealed fundraising details for this term.
By the numbers: The campaign improved on the $2 million it raked in last quarter, and doubled the previous number of individual contributions. 97% of those were under $200.
House committees leading the impeachment inquiry against President Trump requested documents on Friday from Vice President Mike Pence to examine the extent of his participation in or knowledge of Trump's actions while he allegedly pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden and his son.
The big picture: The committees are requesting these documents by Oct. 15 — if Pence fails to comply, a subpoena will follow. Per Axios' reporting, the White House is planning to send Speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter arguing that Trump and his team can ignore lawmakers' demands until she holds a full House vote formally approving an impeachment inquiry.
More than 140 businesses and trade associations on Friday filed an amicus brief in support of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on President Trump's push to end the program.
Why it matters: Business leaders are making an economic case for the Obama-era policy, which protects more than 700,000 people brought into the country illegally as children from the threat of deportation.
GOP Sen. Mitt Romney condemned President Trump's "brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine" on Friday in a tweet, saying it's "wrong and appalling" to ask foreign countries to investigate 2020 Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
Why it matters: Romney, who criticized the Trump-Ukraine allegations after reading the whistleblower complaint, is one of the first Republican senators to denounce Trump's call on China and Ukraine to investigate his political opponent.
Elizabeth Warren's campaign said on Friday that it raised $24.6 million in the third quarter of 2019, putting her just behind Bernie Sanders for this quarter's fundraising among 2020 Democrats.
Why it matters: Warren swore off "big money fundraisers" at the start of this cycle, but she's managed to rake in a massive amount of money from grassroots, small-dollar donors.
Stephen Miller "was running a sort of secret immigration think tank out of the West Wing," the N.Y. Times' Julie Davis and Mike Shear report in "Border Wars: Inside Trump's Assault on Immigration," out Tuesday.
Quick take: Miller is Trump's top immigration adviser and the engineer of the administration's hardline policies. Miller allegedly pushed for the resignation of former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen because she pointed out legal barriers to Trump's immigration plans.
Matt Lieberman, the son of former senator and vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman, announced Thursday that he will run for senator in Georgia to fill retiring Sen. Johnny Isakson's (R-Ga.) seat as a Democrat.
Why it matters: Lieberman is the first candidate from either party to announce plans to pursue the Senate seat, per Politico. Joe, who left the Senate in 2013, will serve as his son's informal campaign adviser, reports the Atlanta Journal Consitution.
The state of play: The released messages feature conversations between Volker and other officials, including Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine, EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland, President Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giulani, and Andrey Yermak, a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
President Trump is going all in. He declared he has the "absolute right" to call for foreign nations to investigate political rivals — publicly calling on China to investigate the Bidens — and he plans to ask Democrats to vote on starting impeachment or get stonewalled.
Why it matters: It now seems increasingly inevitable the House will impeach Trump. Think about it this way: Imagine a Democrat who called for impeachment before the China comment voting against impeachment after it.
Every time President Trump seems to tempt fate — like inviting China on camera yesterday to investigate the Bidens — just remember that he's counting on his red wall in the Senate to save him even if he’s impeached.
The big picture: Here’s a visual look at just how strong that wall is: 51 Republican senators from states Trump won in 2016. He only needs 34 to save him from being convicted and removed from office if the House impeaches him.
Former U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker and Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland drafted a statement in August committing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigating the Ukrainian energy company for which Hunter Biden previously served on the board, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: The statement, which also included a commitment to investigate Ukraine's alleged role in interfering in the 2016 election on behalf of Hillary Clinton, appears to be documentary evidence of high-level diplomats shaping foreign policy to the tune of President Trump's political agenda, per the Times.
GOP Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) joined her colleague Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) Thursday in defending the whistleblower behind the Ukraine complaint that's led to a formal impeachment inquiry against President Trump, according to NBC News.
The big picture: Grassley shielded the whistleblower earlier this week after repeated attacks from Trump, stating, "We should always work to respect whistleblowers’ requests for confidentiality." Ernst echoed the sentiment, saying, "Whistleblowers should be protected."
