TRUMP AGENDA: How Harvey changes the political winds in Washington
Lawmakers are considering a request for about $6 billion for emergency aid to Texas.
And Mike Pence pledged to Texans affected by Hurricane Harvey that “this Congress will come together and make sure those resources are there.”
The New York Times: “In swamping large swaths of Texas and Louisiana, Hurricane Harvey also forged a new reality for President Trump and the Republicans governing Washington. Gone are the confrontational talk of a government shutdown and the brinkmanship over the debt limit. Instead, both Mr. Trump and his putative allies in Congress — many of them professed fiscal hawks — are promising an outpouring of federal aid to begin a recovery and rebuilding effort that will last for years and require tens of billions of dollars, if not substantially more, from Washington.”
Tough-talking Milwaukee County Sherriff David Clarke is resigning to “pursue other opportunities.”
Trump hasn’t rushed to replace John Kelly at DHS, POLITICO notes.
The Trump administration has cut funds to promote Obamacare enrollment by 90 percent.
The Wall Street Journal: “Lawyers for Donald Trump have met several times with special counsel Robert Mueller in recent months and submitted memos arguing that the president didn’t obstruct justice by firing former FBI chief James Comey and calling into question Mr. Comey’s reliability as a potential witness, people familiar with the matter said.”
“Behind the scenes during a summer of crisis … Trump appears to pine for the days when the Oval Office was a bustling hub of visitors and gossip, over which he presided as impresario,” writes the Washington Post. “He fumes that he does not get the credit he thinks he deserves from the media or the allegiance from fellow Republican leaders he says he is owed. He boasts about his presidency in superlatives, but confidants privately fret about his suddenly dark moods. And some of Trump’s friends fear that the short-tempered president is on an inevitable collision course with White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly. Trump chafes at some of the retired Marine Corps general’s moves to restrict access to him since he took the job almost a month ago, said several people close to the president. They run counter to Trump’s love of spontaneity and brashness, prompting some Trump loyalists to derisively dub Kelly “the church lady” because they consider him strict and morally superior.”
“The Department of Homeland Security took a critical step Thursday toward building the wall promised by President Donald Trump along the U.S. southern border,” our team at NBC News writes. “Officials of Customs and Border Protection announced they've awarded contracts to four companies that will build different prototypes — individual examples of what the wall should look like. Once those sections are evaluated, the government will decide which design is best for building hundreds of miles of new barrier along the border with Mexico.”
Here’s John McCain in the Washington Post: “We can fight like hell for our ideas to prevail. But we have to respect each other or at least respect the fact that we need each other. That has never been truer than today, when Congress must govern with a president who has no experience of public office, is often poorly informed and can be impulsive in his speech and conduct. We must respect his authority and constitutional responsibilities. We must, where we can, cooperate with him. But we are not his subordinates. We don’t answer to him. We answer to the American people. We must be diligent in discharging our responsibility to serve as a check on his power. And we should value our identity as members of Congress more than our partisan affiliation.”
Republicans want to push aside the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But it may be too popular.
OFF TO THE RACES: National Dems abandon Doug Jones in Alabama?
AL-SEN: POLITICO reports that Democrats and national donors have left Democratic candidate Doug Jones on his own.
CA-GOV: “Eric Garcetti started the week toying with a 2020 presidential run on a trip to New Hampshire, but the Los Angeles mayor is still keeping his options open for a 2018 run closer to home. That includes next year’s open governor’s race, and possibly a Senate race, should Sen. Dianne Feinstein decide not to seek a fifth term.”
SC-1: Mark Sanford is getting a primary challenge from the right.
VA-GOV: The Virginia League of Conservation Voters is spending $1.8 million to boost Ralph Northam.
WV-SEN: A new poll shows support for Joe Manchin remaining solid — but party-switching governor Jim Justice is underwater.