2020 candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Saturday held his first campaign rally since his recent heart attack and surgery, joined by freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)
Why it matters: Sanders formally secured the coveted Ocasio-Cortez endorsement during the rally in Queens. The support shows Sanders is still a "formidable contender" and shifts the "conversation away from his health issues and age, infusing his campaign with a renewed sense of vitality," writes the New York Times.
Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.) announced his retirement on Saturday, the Washington Post reports — one day after saying he was "still thinking about" whether he considers President Trump's conduct in Syria impeachable.
President Trump has issued 130 executive orders in his presidency so far — largely keeping pace with President Obama, except for the 55 orders he unleashed in 2017. (George W. Bush sent 54 in his first year).
Why it matters: Trump made it a point on the campaign trail to deride Obama's use of executive orders, saying "the country wasn't based" on them at a 2016 Republican Presidential Town Hall and that Obama's executive orders were "a basic disaster," since he couldn't "even get along with the Democrats."
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) responded to Hillary Clinton's suggestion that she is Russia's "favorite" 2020 candidate, by saying Clinton was attempting to "undermine" her campaign, and that she "knows she can't control me," reports CBS.
President Trump tweeted a video on Friday that falsely accused Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) of being a "Democrat secret asset" who aimed to "infiltrate Trump's administration as Secretary of State."
Hillary Clinton said on David Plouffe's podcast "Campaign HQ" this week that Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) is Russia's "favorite" 2020 candidate and said the country could be "grooming" her to become a third-party candidate.
"I'm not making any predictions, but I think they've got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate. She's the favorite of the Russians."
President Trump's 2020 campaign says it's releasing a line of merchandise featuring a new slogan: "Get over it."
Context: The line comes from Trump Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who declared in a press conference yesterday that Michael McKinley, a longtime diplomat who resigned over political interference in foreign policy, should "get over it."
Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) told CNN Friday that President Trump should be impeached after acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said the Trump administration had frozen military aid as leverage to get Ukraine to investigate a conspiracy theory about a DNC server.
Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.) said he doesn't believe acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney's attempt to backpedal his statement on Thursday that the White House withheld security aid to pressure Ukraine into investigating Democrats, Bloomberg reports.
The big picture: Rooney told Bloomberg the admission of quid-pro-quo "shocked" him and that he wants to "get to the facts and do the right thing." But Rooney was ambiguous on his stance on the impeachment investigation, according to Bloomberg, saying there's "a lot of water to flow down under the bridge."
The chairs of the legislative foreign affairs committees from the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.K., France, Germany and the European Parliament released a rare statement Friday condemning Turkey's invasion of Syria and the U.S. withdrawal that made it possible, per Sky News' Deborah Haynes.
What they're saying: The authors denounce Turkey's invasion as "a military aggression and a violation of international law" and say they "deeply regret the decision of the president of the United States to withdraw American troops." That move, they write, "marks another landmark in the change of American foreign policy in the Near and Middle East," adding that the ensuing Turkish offensive "may contribute to a resurgence of Islamic terrorism and undermines years of effort."
Mayor Pete Buttigieg is refunding a $5,600 donation from a former Chicago attorney who tried to block the release of a video showing a police officer fatally shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
Why it matters: The former city attorney, Steve Patton, was co-hosting a Buttigieg event, the Associated Press reported earlier today. After Axios reached out for comment, his campaign said Patton is no longer attending or co-hosting that event, which was scheduled for tonight, and he's refunding all donations previously received from Patton.
Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis jokingly roasted President Trump on Thursday during a keynote address at New York's annual Alfred E. Smith dinner, saying he was "honored" to be called "the world's most overrated general" by the president earlier this week, the Washington Post reports.
"I'm honored to be considered that by Donald Trump because he also called Meryl Streep an overrated actress. So I guess I'm the Meryl Streep of generals, and frankly that sounds pretty good to me."
A top U.S. diplomat told the House committees investigating President Trump's dealings with Ukraine Tuesday that he raised concerns about Hunter Biden's board position at a Ukrainian gas company in 2015, but was brushed off by an aide to former Vice President Joe Biden, reports the Washington Post.
Why it matters: George Kent's testimony is "the first known example of a career diplomat who raised concerns internally in the Obama administration" about Hunter Biden's work, writes the Post.
While national support for an impeachment inquiry is growing, it's not a clear winner for Democrats in the most competitive House districts just yet.
That's according to an internal impeachment polling memo, obtained by Axios, that was sent to House Democrats Thursday night.
Why it matters: Their vulnerable members this cycle are the ones who helped the party win the House in 2018 because they were in districts that flipped from Republican or that Trump won in 2016. They're not in the clear yet, as an impeachment inquiry is only "slightly favorable 49-48," per Democrats' memo.
The Trump administration is testing a novel strategy for dealing with controversy and possible illegalities: Pretend you have nothing to hide by blurting it out loud.
Why it matters: President Trump and his aides and allies seem to think that by being unapologetic and admitting things that would have touched off blazing scandals just a few years ago, they can move the goalposts of what's acceptable to Republicans and the public.
