Senate Judiciary Chair Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced on Monday that his committee will debate and vote on June 4 on a broad subpoena authorization that would allow him to compel testimony from Obama-era officials as part of an investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.
Why it matters: The authorization will mark a significant step in the Senate Judiciary Committee's review of possible FBI misconduct as it relates to both surveillance abuse and unsubstantiated allegations that the Russia investigation was politically motivated.
President Trump confirmed on Monday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo requested that he remove State Department inspector general Steve Linick, but insisted that he doesn't know Linick or specifically why Pompeo wanted him gone.
What he's saying: "I offered most of my people, almost all of them — I said, you know these are Obama appointees. If you'd like to let them go, I think you should let them go. ... I said who appointed him? They said President Obama. I said, look, I'll terminate him. I don't know what's going on other than that."
A county judge in Oregon on Monday tossed out Gov. Kate Brown's stay-at-home executive order because it was not approved by the legislature within 28 days.
The big picture: Baker County Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff agreed with a group of churches who brought the lawsuit, arguing that Brown couldn't keep coronavirus restrictions in place for more than a month without the legislature's approval. She first issued the order on March 23.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Monday that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will serve as the acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee while a federal investigation into Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) is ongoing.
The backdrop: Last week, the FBI seized Burr's phone as part of an investigation into stock trades he made shortly before the coronavirus caused global markets to crash. The next day, McConnell announced that Burr would be stepping aside from his role as chairman of the committee during the duration of the investigation.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed to the Washington Post Monday that he asked President Trump to fire State Department inspector general Steve Linick, but claimed that he didn't know Linick was investigating allegations that he had a staffer run personal errands for him and his wife.
Why it matters: Pompeo said Linick "wasn’t performing a function in a way that we had tried to get him to," though he declined to give a specific reason. Pompeo argued that his request to Trump could not have been an act of retaliation because he wasn't aware of the investigation and had never been briefed on it.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to President Trump on Monday requesting an explanation for his move to fire State Department inspector general Steve Linick, who is the fourth federal watchdog that Trump has sought to remove in the last six weeks.
The big picture: Grassley, who says he has long considered himself a "strong supporter" of the IG community during his time in Congress, wrote that firing independent watchdogs "could create a chilling effect in the oversight community." He said that Trump's explanation that he "lost confidence" in Linick is not sufficient without further details.
The White House announced Monday that President Trump will nominate Justin Herdman, currently the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Why it matters: The U.S. attorney's office in D.C. has overseen some of the most politically charged cases in the country in recent years, including the prosecutions of Trump associates Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Michael Flynn and other spinoffs from the Mueller investigation.
President Trump declined an invitation to address a virtual gathering of the World Health Organization, which proceeded today with addresses from several world leaders but only a blistering rebuke from the U.S.
The big picture: A source familiar with Trump's thinking said he has no interest in doing anything with the WHO right now. Trump has excoriated the WHO, saying it's kowtowing to China, and he's frozen U.S. funding for the global health agency.
Behind the scenes: The WHO extended an invitation earlier this month for Trump to speak at Monday's virtual gathering of the World Health Assembly, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
Trump rejected the invitation. He delivered his rejection to the WHO leadership through the U.S. Mission in Geneva, according to these sources.
The WHO invited both China's President Xi Jinping and Trump to give speeches to the "high-level welcome session" of the annual global health meeting, according to one of the sources.
"The WHO wanted to bring these two leaders together, the biggest economies in the world, at a time when they are being cold to each other, and try to create some sense of solidarity," the source said.
Xi accepted the invitation. China's president delivered a virtual speech in which he pledged $2 billion in coronavirus aid to the worldwide response. Other world leaders who addressed today's gathering included Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Emmanuel Macron.
The U.S.' only contribution was a short and brutal one.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar gave a blistering speech attacking the WHO. Azar said the WHO failed to obtain the information the world needed about COVID-19, "and that failure cost many lives."
Azar added: "We saw that WHO failed at its core mission of information-sharing and transparency when member states do not act in good faith. This cannot ever happen again. The status quo is intolerable. WHO must change and it must become far more transparent and far more accountable."
Between the lines: China has faced persistent questions for its early cover-up of the virus' outbreak in Wuhan, including the arrest of doctors and censorship of references to the disease on Chinese social media.
But critics of America's position say the Trump administration — through its abandonment of the WHO — is retreating from global leadership during a time of crisis. And in so doing, ceding the opportunity to influence the global health security agenda during a once-in-a-century pandemic.
These critics also say that Trump is trying to use China and the WHO to deflect from his own early failures to respond to COVID-19.
What they're saying: A senior White House official responded to this reporting by saying:
"If the WHO had done its job, and not enabled China’s refusal to be transparent, the world would likely be in a very different place right now. Now is the time for answers and transparency, not a photo opportunity aimed at conveying a false sense of solidarity."
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said in a statement Monday that Steve Linick, the State Department inspector general who President Trump moved to fire last week, was investigating the administration's effort to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia without congressional approval.
Why it matters: Engel and Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) have announced an investigation into Trump's ouster of Linick, the fourth inspector general the president has sought to remove in six weeks.
Attorney General William Barr said at a press conference Monday that he does not expect the Justice Department's review of the origins of the Russia probe to lead to the criminal prosecution of former President Barack Obama or former Vice President Joe Biden.
Why it matters: President Trump has tweeted hundreds of times over the past week about "Obamagate" — an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that the Russia investigation was a political hit job ordered by Obama. He has called it the "biggest political crime in American history, by far!"
Democratic politicians are coming out in strong opposition to a merger that doesn't yet exist.
Driving the news: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) tweeted Sunday: "If Uber takes over Grubhub it isn’t good for competition and it isn’t good for you." That followed an even more bombastic statement from Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), chair of the House Judiciary's antitrust subcommittee, who called the possible deal "a new low in pandemic profiteering."
The RNC will announce Monday an eight-figure hiring wave — 300 more Trump Victory staff who'll deploy to target states by June 1, bringing the field staff to 1,100+.
Why it matters: The RNC says Trump Victory, the joint field effort between the party and the Trump campaign, has transitioned volunteers to digital organizing tools like "Trump Talk," which lets them phone bank from home.
Ivanka Trump will Zoom Tuesday with Apple's Tim Cook, Lockheed Martin's Marillyn Hewson, the National Association of Manufacturers' Jay Timmons and other CEOs, as the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board meets entirely virtually for the first time.
The big picture: The White House says the discussion will include "the need for better digital infrastructure and home connectivity." Ivanka Trump added that the White House is grateful that "online learning platforms are stepping up during this crisis to meet American students and workers where they are.
Ousted State Department inspector general Steve Linick was investigating allegations that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo directed a staffer to go on errands for him and his wife, including walking his dog, multiple news outlets reported Sunday night.
Why it matters: Congressional officials said Democrats were trying to determine whether President Trump's move to remove Linick "was an effort to shut down the investigation," per the Washington Post. The Trump administration has yet to respond to requests for comment.
Political advertising around the 2020 election is expected to reach $6.7 billion this cycle, up 12% from initial projections of around $6 million, according to a new report. Nearly $2 billion will be spent on digital video, primarily on Facebook and Google.
Why it matters: The pandemic has forced campaigns to shift budgets from in-person campaign events, like canvassing and town halls, to digital advertising and virtual events. This has expedited a growing shift from traditional campaign marketing to digital.
